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Pope includes Hindu verses in prayers on Good Friday
merinews ^ | Apr 14, 2009

Posted on 02/08/2011 7:12:21 AM PST by Gamecock

HINDUS HAVE applauded Pope Benedict for including verse from ancient Hindu scripture Upanishads in the Good Friday Meditations and Prayers led by him at Roman Colosseum.

Acclaimed Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that it was a remarkable gesture from Pope and invited him to study more ancient Hindu scriptures, which were very rich in philosophical thought. He or other Hindu scholars would gladly provide the help and resources in this regard, if asked, Zed added.

Zed, who is president of Universal Society of Hinduism, also commended His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI for inclusion of a verse from India’s Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore’s Gitanjali and reference to peace icon Mahatma Gandhi in these prayers.

This year’s 'Way of the Cross at the Colesseum' Meditations and Prayers on Good Friday, led by Pope, included well-known verse from Brahadaranyakopanishad (“Lead me from the unreal to the real, from darkness to light, from death to immortality”), line from Tagore’s Gitanjali (“Give me the strength to make my love fruitful in service”) and reference to Mahatma Gandhi.

Rajan Zed stressed that all religions should work together for a just and peaceful world. Dialogue would bring us mutual enrichment, he added.

Pope Benedict heads the Roman Catholic Church, which is the largest of the Christian denominations. Hinduism, oldest and third largest religion of the world, has about one billion adherents and moksha (liberation) is its ultimate goal.


TOPICS: Catholic; General Discusssion
KEYWORDS: catholicbashing; hindu
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To: Terry Mross

I pray several times EVERY day for this. EVERY DAY!!!


21 posted on 02/08/2011 7:37:10 AM PST by RetiredArmy (Read 1 Cor 15: 1-4. Paul's gospel explained. Read it.)
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To: Gamecock; 1000 silverlings; Alex Murphy; bkaycee; blue-duncan; boatbums; caww; count-your-change; ..

First a pope kissing the Koran.

Then a pope praying Hindu verse.

What next?

I shudder to imagine.

And yet the Catholic church denounces and condemns Protestants.

Unreal.....


22 posted on 02/08/2011 7:40:50 AM PST by metmom (Welfare was never meant to be a career choice.)
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To: Hodar
There are several world religions that have admirable traits, thoughts and philosophies that can help us gain a better understanding of what we are to be.

And you my friend are as lost as a bear in the mall. There is ONLY one God. He is in three persons. He is the God in Heaven. He does not tell us to worship cows, little fat stone men, a pedophile in a cave in Arabia. He tells us to worship Him. I will pray for you and those like you that "think" there are great religions around the world. There are thousands of "religions". There are over 1,000 religions in the USA alone. But, there is only ONE Him. One Faith. That is through Jesus Christ.

23 posted on 02/08/2011 7:41:40 AM PST by RetiredArmy (Read 1 Cor 15: 1-4. Paul's gospel explained. Read it.)
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To: Gamecock; Christian Engineer Mass; Cronos; squarebarb; icwhatudo; The Comedian; MEGoody; ...
The article is from 2009. The Good Friday meditations from that year can be found at Way of the Cross at the Colosseum. It has this subheading: "MEDITATIONS AND PRAYERS BY The Most Reverend THOMAS MENAMPARAMPIL, S.D.B., Archbishop of Guwahati (India)." So he was the author, not the Pope.

I browsed through the 14 Stations, and found the reference. Here's the full context, from the 14th Station:

Tragedies make us ponder. A tsunami tells us that life is serious. Hiroshima and Nagasaki remain pilgrim places. When death strikes near, another world draws close. We then shed our illusions and have a grasp of the deeper reality. People in ancient India prayed: “Lead me from the unreal to the real, from darkness to light, from death to immortality.”[1]

After Jesus left this world, Christians began to look back and interpret his life and mission. They carried his message to the ends of the earth. And this message itself is Jesus Christ, who is “the power of God and the wisdom of God”.[2] It says that the reality is Christ [3] and that our ultimate destiny is to be with him. [4]

[1] Brihadaranyaka Upanishads 1.III.28.
[2] 1 Cor 1:24.
[3] Cf. Col 2:17.
[4] Cf. Phil 1:23.

Ah, so he didn't pray the pagan verse. It was a quotation. The meditations by the Indian bishop also included a quote from Shakespeare, but the overwhelming quotations/citations were from Scripture.

24 posted on 02/08/2011 7:42:42 AM PST by Pyro7480 ("If you know how not to pray, take Joseph as your master, and you will not go astray." - St. Teresa)
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To: Gamecock

Since I hear only the Tridentine Mass as approved and guaranteed by Pope Pius X, I am spared ridiculously evil situations like this one.

What explanations will be forthcoming to God from the originators and those subsequent popes to Vatican II? They won’t mean a thing.


25 posted on 02/08/2011 7:44:27 AM PST by IbJensen (Grab your pitchforks!)
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To: jtal
But if it is true I agree that it is disturbing given the context. Nevertheless a pope doing something foolish like this ( or kissing the koran ) affects not at all the truth of Catholicism.

Then the church needs to reevaluate it's pope selection process and find men of more wisdom and discernment.

There are better ways to connect with those of different religions to hear the gospel and to encourage them to receive Christ.

26 posted on 02/08/2011 7:44:38 AM PST by metmom (Welfare was never meant to be a career choice.)
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To: metmom; jtal; Juana la Loca

See post #24.


27 posted on 02/08/2011 7:45:14 AM PST by Pyro7480 ("If you know how not to pray, take Joseph as your master, and you will not go astray." - St. Teresa)
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To: Gamecock
Soooo, did you pray this Hindu verse? Did your local house of worship offer this pagan prayer up?

There's nothing particularly pagan about that verse. No pagan deity is mentioned.

This article is referring to the Pope's own meditations on the way of the Cross on Good Friday, not to the liturgy. I would encourage you, yes you, Gamecock, to find a reverent Catholic parish and attend the Good Friday Liturgy. (It's not a Mass.)

You will find that it is profoundly Christ-centered and steeped in Scripture. The Gospel of John, chapters 18 and 19, is read in its entirety, along with other passages of Scripture, none of which have anything to do with Hinduism.

28 posted on 02/08/2011 7:45:45 AM PST by Campion
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To: Pyro7480

Thanks for the research. A typical distortion by those who hate the Church.


29 posted on 02/08/2011 7:47:12 AM PST by jtal
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To: Campion

See post #24.


30 posted on 02/08/2011 7:47:24 AM PST by Pyro7480 ("If you know how not to pray, take Joseph as your master, and you will not go astray." - St. Teresa)
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To: Pyro7480
Ah, so he didn't pray the pagan verse. It was a quotation.

This is the religion forum, Pyro. Facts and evidence are not allowed. /s

31 posted on 02/08/2011 7:47:32 AM PST by Campion
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To: Pyro7480

Thanks for doing the research that should have been done in the first place.


32 posted on 02/08/2011 7:48:24 AM PST by Carpe Cerevisi
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To: AD from SpringBay

I’m not sure... where the infallibility begins and ends is still a bit of a mystery to me. I think the Pope aught to have a special hat he can put on when he is feeling infallible, to clear up any confusion.


33 posted on 02/08/2011 7:48:34 AM PST by Boogieman
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To: Carpe Cerevisi; Campion

Not like it’s going to matter much- there will be a new spin. Count on it.


34 posted on 02/08/2011 7:49:14 AM PST by Pyro7480 ("If you know how not to pray, take Joseph as your master, and you will not go astray." - St. Teresa)
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To: IbJensen

See post #24.


35 posted on 02/08/2011 7:50:05 AM PST by Pyro7480 ("If you know how not to pray, take Joseph as your master, and you will not go astray." - St. Teresa)
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To: Pyro7480
Thanks, Pyro, for the truth.

And for everyone -- this quote:

Our actions have a tongue of their own; they have an eloquence of their own, even when the tongue is silent. For deeds prove the lover more than words. -- St. Cyril of Jerusalem


36 posted on 02/08/2011 7:50:32 AM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: Hodar

Our Lord had this sobering teaching to the Church:

Matthew 7:13-23

13 ‘Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy* that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. 14For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

A Tree and Its Fruit

15 ‘Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? 17In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20Thus you will know them by their fruits.

Concerning Self-Deception

21 ‘Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord”, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only one who does the will of my Father in heaven. 22On that day many will say to me, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?” 23Then I will declare to them, “I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.”


37 posted on 02/08/2011 7:51:56 AM PST by DarthVader (That which supports Barack Hussein Obama must be sterilized and there are NO exceptions!)
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To: Boogieman

The Pope is not infallible in every single act and writing. In fact, it’s a very narrow thing that has been only solemnly used twice- 1854 and 1950- the proclamations of the doctrines of the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption.


38 posted on 02/08/2011 7:52:02 AM PST by Pyro7480 ("If you know how not to pray, take Joseph as your master, and you will not go astray." - St. Teresa)
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To: Christian Engineer Mass; Gamecock
My first reaction is negative.

But then I remember Paul who used the pagan statue of the unknown God to teach pagans about the One God.

The verse itself does not say anything incompatible with Christianity, at least when it's quoted out of context.

39 posted on 02/08/2011 7:52:53 AM PST by DannyTN
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To: RetiredArmy
He is in three persons.

Do you have any scriptural basis for that statement? I don't think God is schizo; I don't think he talks to himself, nor prays to himself. Perhaps I'm missing a verse. So, before you make accusations of 'lost as a bear in the mall' - please let me know where you came across the 'Trinity' concept. It's not in the Old, nor the New Testament - it's a man-made construct. So, please provide a source.

Please feel free to use ANY of the 91 Versions of the Bible in print. Please enlighten me as to where a prophet, Jesus or any of his disciples (including Judas or Jesus's mother) have stated the Trinity as you have described.

40 posted on 02/08/2011 7:53:50 AM PST by Hodar (Who needs laws .... when this "feels" so right?)
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