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Francis’ New Book Hails Islam as a ‘Religion of Peace’Pontiff claims Islamic State terrorist outfit is a creation of the West In a new book recounting the last 10 years of his pontificate, Pope Francis is defending Islam as a "religion of peace" and suggesting the possibility of making celibacy optional for Latin rite priests. Non Sei Solo: Sfide, Risposte, Speranze (You Are Not Alone: Challenges, Answers, Hopes), published in Italian and released Tuesday, is a series of dialogues with journalists Sergio Rubin and Francesca Ambrogetti. The pontiff calls upon Europe to integrate Muslim migrants, insisting that "radical Islam is...

Prelate Defends Giving Communion to Muslim SheikhBrazilian archbishop quotes Pope Francis and Vatican II's 'Nostra Aetate'A pro-LGBT Brazilian archbishop is invoking Pope Francis' apostolic letter on liturgical formation and the documents of Vatican II to justify his choice to administer Holy Communion to a Muslim sheikh at a funeral service. "Every reception of Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ was already desired by Him in the Last Supper," argues the archbishop of Londrina, Geremias Steinmetz, quoting Pope Francis in a clarification issued on the diocesan website on Aug. 30.Viral VideoA video of Abp. Steinmetz giving the Sacred Host...

Islam—The View from Disney CountryWilliam Kilpatrick The Diocese of Orlando recently reprimanded a sixth grade teacher at a Catholic school for an “unfortunate exhibit of disrespect.” What did he do? He provided printouts to students of St. John Bosco’s negative assessment of Islam. St. John Bosco called Islam a “monstrous mixture of Judaism, Paganism, and Christianity,” and explained that Muhammad “propagated his religion, not through miracles or persuasive words, but by military force.”Citing Nostra Aetate, Jacquelyn Flanigan, an associate superintendent with the Diocese of Orlando’s schools, said that “the information provided in the sixth-grade class is not consistent with the...

But giving Nostra Aetate such weight, despite it only being a declaration and not a doctrinal text, has led some to see it as having a revolutionary impact, possibly breaking with nearly two millennia of Church teaching and tradition. Documents from the Councils of Florence 1438-1445 and Trent 1545-1563 seem to radically contradict the current teaching, leading some to believe this not to be a development of doctrine but a corruption of it.

Chief Rabbi Goldschmidt, left, shakes hands with Pope Francis during their meeting in the Vatican on April 20, 2015. Pope Francis called on Christians to stand united with Jews to defend themselves against discrimination and persecution. The Pope made the call during a meeting with a 30-member delegation from the Conference of European Rabbis on Monday at the Vatican. The highest leader of the Catholic Church cited the "troubling" anti-Semitic movements in Europe, in his address to rabbis who met with him in anticipation of the 50th anniversary in October of the "Nostra Aetate," the Second Vatican Council's declaration on...

Prior to the opening of formal conversations between officials of the Holy See and leaders of the Lefebvrist Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), which began on Oct. 26, the mainstream media frequently misrepresented these discussions as a negotiation aimed at achieving a compromise that both sides can live with. That was to be expected from reporters and commentators for whom everything is politics and everything is thus negotiable. Alas, similar misrepresentations came from “Vatican insiders” who suggested that the teaching of the Second Vatican Council was under joint review by the Holy See and the SSPX, which only made...

ROME, NOV. 10, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Audiences were thrilled once again by the Vatican's most popular musical artist and his most recent composition, based on the Divine Mercy devotion. Monsignor Marco Frisina is a widely acclaimed specialist in the sacred. World Youth Day fans or those who partook in the days of prayer for Pope John Paul II will recognize some of the monsignor's works, such as "Jesus Christ, You Are My Life" and "Emmanuel." Director of the Liturgical Office for the Vicariate of Rome since 1991, Monsignor Frisina has now added another gem to his enormous repertoire, "I Trust in...

The Catholic Church should categorically reject any attempts to convert Jews, the American Jewish Committee's Rabbi David Rosen said Thursday. "Even though the Nostra Aetate says that no attempts should be made to convert Jews, many Catholics continue to express a hope for conversion," he told The Jerusalem Post from Rome during the Vatican's 40th anniversary celebration of the Nostra Aetate document, which revolutionized the Catholic Church's relations with Jews. Rosen, the AJC's international director of interreligious affairs, has been involved in Vatican-Israeli negotiations for more than a decade. He and Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger, a retired Paris Archbishop and Jewish...

Pope Benedict XVI marked the 40th anniversary of a landmark Vatican document on relations with Jews by calling Thursday for a renewed commitment for Catholics and Jews to deepen their bonds and work for the good of all humanity.Benedict issued a message that was read out during a commemoration of the "Nostra Aetate" document of the Second Vatican Council, in which the Catholic Church deplored anti-Semitism and repudiated the "deicide" charge that blamed Jews as a people for Christ's death.Rome's chief rabbi, Riccardo di Segni, told The Associated Press that he had refused to attend the ceremony because of the...