Pope Asks God to Show Mercy on Sept. 11 Attackers

Reuters via iWon.com ^ | Sept 11, 2002 | Philip Pullella

[Valin]

Wrong.

[sinkspur]

This whole paradox is one of the reasons that I ceased to be a Christian when I became old enough to construct and rationalize my own value system. I don't have to worry about this "turn the other cheek" or "forgive them, they know not what they do" stuff.

You should worry.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

The pope also urged the world to change in situations of injustice that spurred the desire for revenge.

A veiled slap at the United States?

[sinkspur]

Light a candle for Atta on behalf of Osama today, will you? Thanks.

I think I'd rather light a candle for you.

[RedBloodedAmerican]

:D

[Desdemona]

"...urged the world to change in situations of injustice..."

No, not the United States. But a good number of other places.

[Pushi]

Very appropriate post. I made a statement in bible study at church last Sunday that I think about 80% of the public thinks that everyone is going to heaven and that about 15% believe that there is no life after death. The remaining small percentage truly believe in Christ. I believe it is true--many are called, but few are chosen.

I have seen reproductions of the painting on your post may times, but never noticed the similarity between what God does to the people in hell and what abortionists (people who think they are God) do to unwanted babies. I saw some pictures on the internet a few weeks ago of the poor babies.

[fdcc]

...since the Catholic Organization was not in existance for at least 300 years after Jesus Christ..

This is not on topic really, but you might want to do some reading here. Get a good book on the Church Fathers. You will be surprised to learn, as I was, that the "Catholic Organization" was thriving early and everywhere.

[jodorowsky]

"I believe that forgiving them is God’s function. Our job is simply to arrange the meeting."

>:)

[Truth Addict]

Even the Old Testament tells us that "It is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead."

Source please! I could not find this phrase in a search of my Bible program.

This whole dispute centers around one of the differences between Protestantism and Catholicism; you either believe in Purgatory or you do not. No one's mind is going to be changed by this discussion, just understand that these differences exist within Christendom, and leave it at that.

[BlueLancer]

"You should worry."

Nope, I'm perfectly willing to face God and justify or defend the actions that I've taken during my life. He can either uphold or condemn me as He sees fit; I don't believe that I have any say in asking for His forgiveness. It is my personal responsibility to live in such a manner so that I don't end up damned; if I do, that's my fault and I will face it when my time comes.

[NY.SS-Bar9]

But he called for changes in "scandalous situations of injustice and oppression, which continue to afflict so many members of the human family, creating conditions that are favorable to the uncontrolled explosion of the thirst for vendetta.

Translation: It's our fault.

Sorry, the hijackers and their enablers weren't "opressed". They were, and are, men of privilage and high economic standing in the Arab world.

May God exact eternal vengance on their souls.

I feel like such a hypocrite going to Church lately, the institution is corrupt and decaying from the top down.

[el_texicano]

Being from Texas, it's time to play "El Degüello" for all terrorist and those who harbor them or finance them. Called "The Cut Throat" song meaning "No quarter given to the enemy"

[dighton]

We are often told: ‘The Church does not teach that any man is damned. We only know that Hell exists for those who deserve it. Perhaps it is now empty and will remain so for all eternity.’ This was not the sentiment of earlier and healthier ages. The Last Judgment above the mediaeval door showed the lost and the saved as fairly equally divided; the path to salvation as exceedingly narrow and beset with booby-traps; the reek of brimstone was everywhere.

-- Evelyn Waugh, reviewing The Heart of the Matter. Collected in Essays, Articles, and Reviews.

[fdcc]

Thank you for your statements on this thread.

We should all remember that God is both infinitely just and infinitely merciful. It seems a little inconsistent to hope for mercy for ourselves and to wish for justice for others. Doubtless, we will all get both. This is a sobering thought. I want mercy.

[Desdemona]

"I feel like such a hypocrite going to Church lately, the institution is corrupt and decaying from the top down."

As long as you are not corrupt, no you shouldn't.

And none of this is our fault. The pope has never said that. If one works hard and is prosperous and has the fruits of labor, how is it one's fault that others hate due to envy of propesrity?

The USA is hated because of its prosperity. It's more envy than anything else, something on a national scale we in the US don't know.

[Dirk McQuickly]

Jesus looked upon those who crucified Him... in His agony... and recommended mercy on them to the Heavenly Father.

"Save yourself!" they mocked...

[Xenalyte]

May God in His infinite wisdom have mercy on the souls of those who would trample us, for we have none. For them, we have only contempt and cold steel.

[Truth Addict]

You should worry.

Aren't you expressing your judgement concerning BlueLancer's soul here? Isn't that what you are telling us not to do concerning the terrorist's souls?

[AD from SpringBay]

I concur, this is off topic, but ;)

Until the reign of Constantine Christianity in any form didn't even have a legal existance in the Roman empire. It was either ignored as a Jewish sect or severely persecuted. And as a process of history you can look to Leo the First in the mid to early 400s or to Gregory the Great in the late 500s as the first Pope that would be recognizeable in the form and authority held today.

Maybe what I'm really trying to say is that I've done my reading.