Posted on 05/09/2009 4:08:27 PM PDT by americanophile
AMMAN, Jordan, May 9 (UPI) -- Pope Benedict XVI prayed Saturday at the King Hussein Mosque in the Jordanian capital Amman, Vatican officials said.
The trip to the mosque, the largest in Jordan, marked the second day of the pope's visit to the Middle East, the BBC reported.
Afterwards, Benedict addressed local Muslim leaders, observers said. Earlier in the day he visited Mount Nebo, which, according to the Bible, is where Moses saw the Promised Land before he died.
Vatican analysts said the pope is anxious to mend relations with Muslims and Jews on his eight-day sojourn to Israel and the West Bank, his first to the region as pontiff.
On Sunday, he is scheduled to celebrate an open-air mass at Wadi Kharrar on the east bank of the River Jordan -- the place where Christians believe Jesus was baptized. The next day, Benedict will go to Tel Aviv to begin four days in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, the BBC reported.
Uh no. He didn’t pray a Muslim prayer.
He’s also visited a Catholic Church and Catholic Disability Center. He’ll also be visiting a Synagogue. You expect him to snub Muslims by not visiting a Mosque? Please keep in mind that he has flock there who are vulnerable to the whim of Islam.
There is no reason nor sense in any worship of a Catholic in a mosque as a Muslim would not worship in a church.
The two are anathema to each other.
Paraphrasing Mrs. Thatcher: Don’t go wobbly on us, Benedict.
...it’s one thing to visit a mosque, like a tourist, it’s quite another for the head of the Catholic Church to be offering prayers there!!
I like it.
Who said he offered prayers there...?
Yeah, because EVERYONE KNOWS that God doesn't hear prayers in mosques or temples (Buddhist, Jewish, or Mormon), and definitely doesn't hear prayers in the athiest streets of Hollywood...
/sarc
The Lord’s Prayer on his lips to save the heathens among him.
Yes, I’m ok with it too. Maybe a prayer to the Christian God will cast a little light in that dark place and push the darkness back.
...that’s the whole point of the article.
I’m not concerned about whether or how God hears the prayer, I’m concerned about the message it sends when a pope prays in a mosque. Surely you can understand that to the eyes of the average Muslim observer, one can’t help but see it as the Pope praying to Allah.
...you go to a mosque to pray to Allah, not the God of the Bible.
Yes! I mean, how dare the Apostle Paul also preach at the Temple of Artemis, and Jesus Christ teach and preach in a Jewish temple! Don’t they realize that Christians can only pray and preach at churches?
People can pray ANYWHERE, at any time. I don’t think there’s much danger that B XVI has turned coat on us Catholics. I’m sure it was a simple, “God bless these poor benghted lost folks and have mercy on their souls” kind of thing.
“Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said the pope did not pray during his visit to the mosque but did stop in a “respectful moment of reflection.” He was not asked to take his shoes off when he entered the mosque, which is customary for Muslims, said Lombardi.”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090509/ap_on_re_mi_ea/pope_mideast
You either believe a reporter from UPI or you believe the Vatican spokesman. Which is it?
And in the eyes of a Christian observer, I see the Pope praying for the awakening of the souls of all Muslims...
I for one believe that prayers should be said continually without ceasing - does that make me wrong when I pray when I am in a Buddhist temple, here in Shanghai? Does that make me wrong when I prayed at my Jewish friend’s wedding at his synagogue?
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