Posted on 06/03/2006 3:08:12 PM PDT by NYer
Increasing the Catholic, Muslim dialogue
Speaking in Arabic to open his address to the Western New York Chapter of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, Bishop Edward U. Kmiec proposed the elevation of the dialogue between the Diocese of Buffalo and the local Muslim community to deal with issues of mutual concern.
"Bismallah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim. I greet you 'In the name of God, the compassionate, the merciful,'" the bishop said, quoting from the first line of the Holy Quran to an audience of several hundred at the Adam's Mark Hotel in downtown Buffalo on May 20.
Noting that an effective Muslim-Catholic dialogue was encouraged by his predecessor, Archbishop Henry J. Mansell, "and diligently and effectively pursued by the Reverend Francis X. Mazur, the Ecumenical and Interfaith Director of our diocese, in the name of our local Church, " the bishop indicated that he intends to become more involved in the conversation. "What may be new is a more personal and public insertion in the process that I warmly welcome."
Dr. Khalid J. Qazi, president of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, said, "I am delighted and elated that the bishop has embarked on this journey with us. We will make sure that we will be there every step of the way to make sure it is a successful conversation. It will not be short term."
Across the country, similar Muslim-Catholic dialogues have been underway for about a decade. The Mid-West Dialogue published a document in Indianapolis earlier this year on the many areas that Christians and Muslims have in common. "Mutual respect allows Christians and Muslims to form lasting bonds of friendship and to cooperate in projects for the good of society, especially for those who are in great need." Father Mazur and Imam Fajri Ansari were part of that eight year dialogue, which stated, "In an environment of respect, freedom and cooperation, Christians and Muslims are able to enter into a truly inter religious dialogue in which they discuss their faith and through which they enrich and encourage one another through religious insight and practice."
The Mid-Atlantic Dialogue, which evolved from the Mid-West Dialogue, includes Father Mazur, Dr. Qazi and Imam Ansari, is addressing marriage and family living.
The next steps will not be easy, said Dr. Qazi. "The biggest challenges will be time. Most of the (Muslim) community is young. They have professional and family commitments that are very pressing, but I think this is equally important and we will find time. The second challenge will be the naysayers. Fortunately, we are a collection of people moving forward with what we want to do."
Focusing on what Muslims and Catholics have in common, he said, will be a key component to the success of the dialogue. "We are children of Abraham and there should be no difference in the perception of who we pray to. There is no difference in relation to what we want. We want a happy family life, we want a happy community life, and we want to move together for the security of the nation and human race, including the ability to put bread on the table every evening in every house," Dr. Qazi stated.
There are about 25,000 Muslims in the eight counties of Western New York.
The bishop also talked about the involvement of the diocese with the Network of Religious Communities, an inter religious and ecumenical organization of denominations, congregations, and religious organizations that have come together to discuss issues that effect the entire community. Bishop Kmiec extended an invitation to "our local community of Muslims and Catholics, and beyond that, to all religious groups in our geographical confines to build alliances within our diverse community of faith.
"We have a duty to this generation, and many to come, to witness the positive role of faith in public life. Humbled through that faith, we can, with God's help, create a more just and peaceful future for the world we live in."
As DV commented above, NY has an unfair distribution of ultra leftist bishops, spread out across the entire state. That leaves very few places for refuge. Given your previous experience with Bishop Kmiec, you can then appreciate the agony suffered by many catholics in this state. The bishops of Albany and Rochester, were appointed 28+ years ago, at the recommendation of Archbishop Jean Jadot. Other men who became bishops under Jadot's tenure include former Santa Fe Archbishop Roberto Sanchez, who resigned in a sex scandal; former San Jose Bishop Pierre DuMaine; former HonoluluBishop Joseph Ferrario; San Antonio Archbishop Patrick Flores; former Newark Archbishop Peter Gerety; Joliet, Ill., Bishop Joseph Imesch; Louisille Archbishop Thomas C. Kelly, O.P., a former staffer at the apostolic nuncio under Jadot; Bernard Cardinal Law of Boston (whom Jadot selected as bishop for Springfield-Cape Girardeau, Mo.), Cincinnati Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk; Saginaw, Mich., Bishop Kenneth Untener - to name a few more - all of whom, supposedly, mirrored his own progressive image as a "man of the people."
Yep. Sorry, but Arabic-speaking Christians address their prayers to "Allah". NYer can probably confirm that for us.
The word simply means "God" or "the God".
Even if you accept a modern Muslim's conception of Allah as a monotheistic being instead of chief of a polytheistic religion, the character of the diety circumscribed by the term "Allah" and the term "Jehovah" are radically different.
That is quite true. Catholic theologian Scott Hahn was once debating (in public) with a Muslim. Dr. Hahn kept referring to "God the Father" this and "God the Father" that. Finally, the Muslim angrily interjected "Allah is not "Father". Allah is master!"
And that about sums up the central difference between Islam and Christianity.
The fallacy of Islam is not that they worship a false God. They worship the one true God. Thus, any Arabic-speaking Christian could safely pray "in the name of God, the merciful and compassionate." It's not unlike the way St. Paul established a rapport with the Athenians who worshipped "an unknown God." St. Paul didn't rail against the Athenians for worshipping a moon-diety or some similar fundamentalist nonsense - rather, he took the Athenians' claims at face value, used them as a starting point, and built from there.
It is simply false that Muslims worship the "moon god." They truly worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Jesus. The do so deficiently, since they have no conception of either the Trinity or the atonement. That deficiency, however, doesn't invalidate their legitimate claim to be worshipping God. Especially since Arabic Christians since time immemorial worship God under the name Allah.
Well phrased.
Dear jude24,
That's close to how Catholics think about this. We believe that Muslims worship the true God falsely.
We believe that knowledge that there is one true God can come from human reason unaided by supernatural grace. One can know with unaided human reason that the one God is omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent.
This is what Islam believes. It is clear that the object of Muslim worship is the true God. But Islam, being a false religion of a false revelation by a false prophet, can teach little beyond what can be known by reason. Thus, the nature of God that is discovered only through Divine Revelation is impenetrable to Islam.
sitetest
And it's not just the muzlims...
There's a lot of religion in that little ecumenical group but there's not a Christian in the whole bunch...
It is a basic characteristic of the left wing to infiltrate perfectly legitimate organizations, and take them over.
They've done that with "environmental" groups.
In the 1890's the Sierra Club consisted of people who liked to go hiking.
The current crop of leftwing "environmentalists" running the same group have never strayed 10 feet from their cars.
The same in what were once perfectly legitimate animal lover's groups, book lover's library associations, etc etc etc.
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