Posted on 09/29/2013 8:03:20 PM PDT by haffast
Never before in the history of Christian-Jewish relations have a Pope and a Rabbi celebrated their friendship by living in the Vatican together for several days, sharing all meals, including on two Jewish festivals and the Sabbath at which the Rabbi said prayers in Hebrew, and discussing what more they can do together to promote dialogue and peace in the world.
That is what actually happened over the past four days at the Vatican guesthouse (Santa Marta) where Pope Francis lives and where his friend from Buenos Aires, Rabbi Abraham Skorka, has been his guest from September 25 to this day.
“I eat with him at breakfast, lunch and dinner every day. He cares for me, and controls everything regarding my food to makes sure it is all kosher, and according to my religious tradition. These are festive days, and I have to say certain prayers at meals and, I expand the last prayer and translate it. He accompanies me together with the others at table -his secretaries and a bishop, and they all say ‘Amen’ at the end”, the Rabbi said.
By acting in this way, the Pope and Rabbi are sending an extraordinary message of friendship, dialogue and peace not only to their respective religious communities but also to the whole world. And they plan to do even more together, Rabbi Skorka revealed when we talked together at Santa Marta, on September 27.
He and the Pope are planning to travel together to the Holy Land next year. The Israeli and Palestinian authorities have invited Pope Francis, and the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew1, wants him to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the historic meeting of his predecessor, Athenagoras, with Paul VI in the Holy City.
snip
(Excerpt) Read more at vaticaninsider.lastampa.it ...
Joint statement on latest talks between Holy See and Palestine
Vatican Radio ^ | 2013-09-26 17:05:24 | Vatican Radio
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3071801/posts
2 John 1:
9Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son. 10If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting; 11for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds.
http://biblehub.com/2_john/1-10.htm
This Pleases Me! :)
This is simply amazing.
This Pope is making his positive mark in humanity-shaking ways!
Even when he is quoted out of context, his humanity and his ability to touch fingers with people on the one hand and God on the other is undeniable.
I am sensing a historic whirlpool around this man.
My joy is only muted by a slight fear about what it means in the Times and Tide.
I’m not catholic, but I really admire this Pope!
John wasn't talking about having friendships outside of the Faith, he was referencing those who claimed to preach the Gospel of Jesus, but denied his humanity. This is known as Docetism and was one of the earliest heresies that the early Church fought against.
In fact, John addressed this in another letter (1 John 4:1-3):
1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.
Phil Lawler recently wrote an article about Pope Francis and the 99 Lost Sheep.
It appears he is working on that.
:: sigh ::
I really, really like Pope Francis.
I like this guy.
I don’t think he has come as a teacher to the Pope. Or do you suggest that you shouldn’t invite anyone into your house unless they are already a believer?
Isn’t that the attitude the Pharisees had when Jesus ate and enjoyed the company of those that were not acceptable?
Are you happy that back in May of this year the pope stated atheists are going to go to heaven for “being good”?
Do you really not understand the Gospel or the Law, which clearly convicts us and sends us begging to the Gospel?
“My joy is only muted by a slight fear about what it means in the Times and Tide.”
A big yes to this statement. Despite the twisting of his words and the willingness of many to read evil doings in every line what this Pope says seems wonderful. There still remains the possibility of the road to hell being paved with such good intentions especially at this juncture in history.
Mel
Pretty sure this has happened many, many years ago at the LAST SUPPER....Pope and Rabbi eating together!!
Found the quote. Pope Francis said you [the atheist he was writing to at La Repubblica] can be saved "If you turn to Him with a sincere and contrite heart."
It's possible that part wasn't quoted in whatever garbled version of it you might have read in the MSM.
For some unfathomable reason.
Did they discuss ,How to get rid of Homosexual Priests in the near future ?
Good morning. You didn’t answer my question in post 10, so I don’t feel obligated to follow your deflection attempt and answer yours.
Jewish Rabbi Abraham Skorka would deny Jesus is the Christ.
Therefore according to the spiritual litmus test of 1 John 4:1-3, which you posted in your post 6, Skorka is not of God.
Rabbi, or “teacher”, Skorka said all the little Catholics said “Amen” after his talks and prayers.
John warned in 2 John 1:
9Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son. 10If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting; 11for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds.
http://biblehub.com/2_john/1-10.htm
http://biblehub.com/matthew/10-34.htm
http://biblehub.com/luke/12-51.htm
This probably doesn’t give you the warm fuzzies as much as the Babylon builder’s version gives you.
Who knows, maybe Rabbi Skorka will convert Pope Francis! The “New Evangelism” could backfire.
Catholic Questions Answered
http://www.gotquestions.org/Catholic-questions.html
Doesn't say, though they might have. The rabbi might have picked up a few tips on how to hide clerical sex abuse and shift church funds into cemetery trust funds to shield the money from sexual abuse lawsuits. Somebody has to cut the grass!
Fair enough that I didn’t answer your question, so I will now.
No, he does not. Now address my position.
Rabbi Skorka is a personal friend of the Pontiff. They were friends in Argentina, and the Rabbi came and visited with his friend in Vatican City.
I notice in your re-quoting of 2 John, that you once again start at verse 9 and not at verse 7.
The reason you do that is because if you start at verse 7, you will see that John was not talking about inviting a traveler or a friend into your house, but one who claimed to be a teacher of the Gospel and yet denied that Jesus came in the flesh.
Rabbi Skorka does not claim to be a teacher of the Gospel. He does not teach that Jesus was the Messiah but did not come to Earth in physical form.
That is the heresy that John warns against.
You are twisting the words of the Apostle John.
You are evil in your words. Take care that you do not give way to legalism and pride. That your self-righteousness does not lead you into the realm of the Pharisees.
Would you have been one to quote scripture to Jesus concerning his disciples harvesting on the Sabbath in violation of the law? Would you have been one to declare that Jesus was a sinner because he ate with those who could not present themselves for sacrifice?
You are a hypocrite if you say that you have never had anyone in your house who is not a believer. And you are attempting to remove the speck out of the eye of the Pope when the beams of pride, legalism, mis-attribution of scripture, and heresy rest heavily on your own.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.