Dear netmilsmom,
Thanks for posting this Long message which was very informative and was a good post by you; but since I am a South Asian Catholic Christian -- I was and I am aware of the dangers of evangelization in the Persian Gulf.
I feel it is sad when Catholic Freepers do not seem to understand what Catholics in predominantly Islamic Countries are going through or the difficulties they have in evangelizing or living oyt their Catholic Faith.
Freepers RKBADemocrat and Straight Vermonter had a debate with me as to how could The Apostolic Vicar in Saudi Arabia could have said this or that.
They are not aware of what is involved in just practicing your Catholic Faith in Islamic Countries. I am aware regarding the practice of the Catholic Faith in Islamic Countries as i still have some relatives in Pakistan.
I tried to explain to two freepers on this thread about what was said by this Bishop but one of them accused me of wanting to send souls to hell.
I wish some Freepers would take up the challenge of living and evangelizing the Catholic Faith in any Islamic country.
It will certainly not be a pleasant experience.
Two Posters on this Thread spoke about Martyrdom of the Saints of the Catholic Church and if neccessary it should take place in Islamic Countries so that the Catholic Faith may be spread.
All I would like to say to any Catholic Freeper living in the West is would you like to be a Missionary to any Islamic Country and give up your Life for Christ -- leaving your family behind.
I am not sure what their answer would be. I would love to give up my life for Christ but I also wish to live in the Present.
I was the original Freeper who posted this Thread and I was not the one with the misconceptions as I have a lot of Friends who are Indian Catholics and who live in Dubai, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia etc.
I am well aware of what is going on in all the countries in the Persian Gulf and I am sure Catholics in the Arabian peninsula are more than grateful that some Emirs as in the case of Dubai have given their permission for the construction of Catholic Churches and Shrines unlike in the case of Saudi Arabia.
In Kuwait I think there is a Catholic Church dedicated to Our Lady of Arabia.
Dear Freepers in Christ,
Many Thanks to Freeper NetmilsMom for posting that wonderful Message from obviously a Catholic Friend who lives in the Persian Gulf.
Catholic Freepers who live in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, or in any part of Europe have immense freedom to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ as well as to spread the Catholic Faith.
Although, I have never met Bishop Paul Hinder who is the Apostolic Vicar for Saudi Arabia and for some countries in the Persian Gulf -- I believe based on this article as well as on some other articles that I have come across on the Internet that he is a Holy Man and is a True Shepherd in more ways than one.
Unless, one lives in the Persian Gulf -- one will never be able to even understand what Catholics or Christians from a number of Ethnic Groups are going through.
You continue to either misunderstand or misrepresent what I said. I have tried to explain myself, maybe language is an issue, I don't know. I have no ill will towards the bishop or anyone else who are doing God's work in the Muslim world.
I still think saying publicly that converts are not welcome is a bad idea. You disagree that's fine. I never accused YOU of wishing to send souls to hell, I did suggest that the end result of turning away converts is souls going to hell. That would seem to hard to dispute.
BTW, if you are going to talk about me to others on this forum I would ask that you to ping me to the post so I can respond.