Posted on 03/07/2025 9:40:02 AM PST by ebb tide
The Vatican has issued a Ramadan message to Muslims, saying that its coinciding with the Christian season of Lent is “a unique opportunity to walk, side-by-side.”
“Ramadan appears to us Catholics as a school of inner transformation,” wrote the Vatican today. “By abstaining from food and drink, Muslims learn to control their desires and turn to what is essential.”
Referencing the Catholic liturgical season of Lent, the Vatican favorably compared it to Ramadan:
These spiritual practices, though expressed differently, remind us that faith is not merely about outward expressions, but a path of inner conversion.
The passages are found in the message released today from the Vatican Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue today to Muslims for the period of Ramadan. Ramadan started on March 1, and with Lent starting a few days later, an increased number of comparisons have been drawn by the Vatican and certain cardinals in apparently ecumenical attempts to align Catholicism and Islam.
“This proximity in the spiritual calendar offers us a unique opportunity to walk side-by-side, Christians and Muslims, in a common process of purification, prayer and charity,” wrote the dicastery’s new prefect Cardinal George Jacob Koovakad, who added:
For us Catholics, it is a joy to share this time with you, for it reminds us that we are all pilgrims on this earth, and that we are all seeking to live better lives. This year, we wish to reflect with you not only on what we can do together to live better lives, but above all on what we want to become together, as Christians and Muslims, in a world in search of hope.
Koovakad queried about Catholic-Islam relations: “Do we want to be simple co-workers for a better world, or genuine brothers and sisters, bearing common witness to God’s friendship with all humanity?”
Speaking of “our common vocation,” the new cardinal argued that Muslim-Christian relations can answer the world’s desire “for fraternity and genuine dialogue.”
READ: The top five lies about Islam you probably learned in church
“Together, Muslims and Christians can bear witness to this hope, in the conviction that friendship is possible despite the burden of history and ideologies that promote exclusion,” he wrote. Muslims and Christians wish to become “brothers and sisters in humanity who deeply esteem one another,” added the cardinal, continuing:
Our trust in God is a treasure that unites us, far beyond our differences. It reminds us that we are all spiritual, incarnate, beloved creatures, called to live in dignity and mutual respect. What is more, we desire to become guardians of this sacred dignity by rejecting all forms of violence, discrimination and exclusion.
This year, as our two spiritual traditions converge in celebrating Ramadan and Lent, we have a unique opportunity to show the world that faith transforms people and societies, and that it is a force for unity and reconciliation.
As has become very much the norm in such messages, Pope Francis’ 2020 interreligious encyclical Fratelli Tutti was cited, as Koovakad called for “dialogue” to build “a common future founded on fraternity.”
“We do not want simply to coexist; we want to live together in sincere and mutual esteem,” he said of the Islamic-Christian dialogue he envisaged. “The values we share, such as justice, compassion and respect for creation, should inspire our actions and relationships, and serve as our compass in constructing bridges rather than walls, defending justice rather than oppression, protecting the environment rather than destroying it. Our faith and its values should help us to be voices that speak out against injustice and indifference, and proclaim the beauty of human diversity.”
Ramadan and its culminating feast should be be an “occasion for fraternal encounters between Muslims and Christians, in which we can celebrate together God’s goodness,” urged Koovakad. “May your fasting and other pious practices during Ramadan and the celebration of ‘Id al-Fitr that concludes it, bring you abundant fruits of peace, hope, brotherhood and joy.”
Such a message is not novel for the Vatican’s Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue, as the office has issued similar notes in the past.
Particularly with Pope Francis’ personal endeavors there has been an increased push from the Vatican in recent years to develop friendly relations with adherents of Islam. While Francis has sought unity with Muslims in the style of Fratelli Tutti, a number of leading prelates have warned that Islam rejects fundamental aspects about God and is irreconcilable with Catholicism.
READ: Here’s why Pope Francis is wrong to say Muslims and Catholics worship the same God
In the words of Islam’s holy text itself, it can be noted that there is an outright rejection of many fundamental elements of Catholicism. Firstly, the Koran rejects the notion of God as Trinity; secondly, it rejects that God has a son, saying it is beneath Him to have one. Thirdly, Jesus is viewed simply as a messenger of God, thus it claims that Mary could not be the Mother of God.
In an August 2016 interview, Cardinal Raymond Burke stated that “I don’t believe it’s true that we’re all worshipping the same God, because the God of Islam is a governor.”
This was echoed by Bishop Athanasius Schneider, who in his book length interview, Christus Vincit, stated “Islam in itself is not faith.”
Indeed, while Ramadan is portrayed by secular media as a period of pious fasting, Islamic scholars have highlighted that it is not quite so. Robert Spencer explained in a 2016 article published in FrontPage Magazine that while Muslims are exhorted “to grow more generous and kind toward their fellow Muslims” during Ramadan, anti-Muslim violence increases during the same period.
“If the Ramadan imperative is to become more devout, the Muslim who applies himself diligently to the Ramadan observance will simultaneously become both more merciful to his fellow Muslims and more severe against the unbelievers,” wrote Spencer.
While the Vatican continues a soft approach toward Muslims, Cardinal Robert Sarah – the prefect emeritus of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments – has warned against such a stance.
Writing online following an October 2020 attack at a Catholic church in Nice by a Muslim man – which left three people dead – the African cardinal called upon “the West” to realize the danger of Islamism:
Islamism is a monstrous fanaticism which must be fought with strength and determination. He will not stop his war. Unfortunately, we Africans know this all too well. Barbarians are always the enemies of peace. The West, today France, must understand this. Let’s pray.
While the Vatican continues a soft approach toward Muslims, Cardinal Robert Sarah – the prefect emeritus of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments – has warned against such a stance.
Writing online following an October 2020 attack at a Catholic church in Nice by a Muslim man – which left three people dead – the African cardinal called upon “the West” to realize the danger of Islamism:
Islamism is a monstrous fanaticism which must be fought with strength and determination. He will not stop his war. Unfortunately, we Africans know this all too well. Barbarians are always the enemies of peace. The West, today France, must understand this. Let’s pray.
Ping
Now that’s Papal infallibility.
IDIOCY AND HERESY!!
Ramadan appears to us Catholics as a school of inner transformation,” wrote the Vatican today
......
Boy, so glad I don’t have them speaking for me..
R.I.P. HRCC
I wonder if things will get better for the Church after Satan calls antipope Bergolio home to hell for being a communist pedophile?
I cannot wait until the evil currently squatting in the seat of the Pope is finally gone, and we hopefully get an actual Pope again.
<< “By abstaining from food and drink, Muslims learn to control their desires and turn to what is essential.” >>
Yeah, like murdering infidels. A koranic essential.
Just one more reason to thank God that I left the Catholic Church. These people are nuts.
flat out heresy
No, I will not worship a false God, not bow down to it’s customs and rituals.
The Vatican can go to hell on this.
John 15:6
“Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
There’s no way to say this nicely.
This is disgusting, offensive, and anathema.
I Corinthians 5:5.
The current Pope didn't elect himself, a bunch of leftist Cardinals did.
Methinks the next Pope will be much worse, probably a "trans man" of color.
Agreed. The Muslims view the pope as dhimmi (subjugated non-Muslims). They view devout Christians as Dar al-Harb (House of War).
I wish Cardinal Sarah were Pope. He gets it.
An enormous example of Chrislam.
From EuroTrip.
“This is one crazy Pope!”
Good!
Just say NO to islam and Ramadan!
It’s just completing his image as the first beast of Revelations.
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