Free Republic

(Vatican Radio) The death of several hundred migrants off the Italian island of Lampedusa this month has focused international spotlight on the broader, complex questions of EU policies regarding immigration and integration. According to one American Muslim leader, the United States model of integration has much to teach European countries at the present time. Syrian-born Imam Mohamad Bashar Arafat is founder and president of the Civilizations Exchange and Cooperation Foundation, which is based in Baltimore, in the United States. The organisation works to promote cooperation, rather than confrontation, between young people of different religions, cultures and backgrounds. He spoke to...

Bishop Andrej Glavan of Novo Mesto, the president of the Slovenian Bishops’ Conference, participated in the laying of the foundation stone for the nation’s first mosque on September 14, according to a statement from the conference. Bishop Glavan called the mosque a “symbol of the opening of the Slovenian society, but also a symbol of commitment to future generations to live in dialogue, mutual respect and friendship.” The bishop “also expressed the desire that Christians in the Muslim world could enjoy the same mode of religious liberty,” according to the conference. The nation’s bishops have found in Slovenia’s leading Muslim...

Never before in the history of Christian-Jewish relations have a Pope and a Rabbi celebrated their friendship by living in the Vatican together for several days, sharing all meals, including on two Jewish festivals and the Sabbath at which the Rabbi said prayers in Hebrew, and discussing what more they can do together to promote dialogue and peace in the world. That is what actually happened over the past four days at the Vatican guesthouse (Santa Marta) where Pope Francis lives and where his friend from Buenos Aires, Rabbi Abraham Skorka, has been his guest from September 25 to this...

Pope Francis on Sunday urged Christians and Muslims to promote mutual respect , especially through the education of new generations. His remarks came at the end of his Angelus address when he sent greetings to Muslims throughout the world who have just celebrated the end of the fasting month of Ramadan. Text from page http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/08/11/pope_francis_greets_muslims_and_urges_both_christians_and_muslims_to/en1-718872 of the Vatican Radio website

Secretary of State John Kerry has announced the creation of the Office of Faith-Based Community Initiatives, whose mission, he said, is “to engage more closely with faith communities around the world, with the belief that we need to partner with them to solve global challenges.” “There is common ground between the Abrahamic faiths, and, in fact, between the Abrahamic faiths and all religions and philosophies, whether you’re talking about Hindu or Confucianism or any other of the many of the world’s different approaches to our existence here on the planet and to our relationship with a supreme being,” said Kerry....

(Vatican Radio) Caritas Internationalis President Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga has released a statement backing Pope Francis’ call to welcome refugees as our brothers and sisters. Cardinal Maradiaga issued his statement on Monday 8 July, the day in which Pope Francis journeyed to the Island of Lampedusa, the landing point of tens of thousands of migrants trying to reach Europe in hope of a better future. Please find below the full text of the statement issued by Caritas Internationalis: “The Pope’s visit to Lampedusa reminded us of the plight of millions of refugees around the world. Religious leaders and faith based...

Every bishop is called to be “a servant of communion” working tirelessly to overcome divisions so that differences become a treasure and not a source of conflict, Pope Francis has said. The Christian community should be “like a great mosaic in which every small piece joins with others as part of God’s one great plan”, the Pope said yesterdat as he celebrated the feast of Ss Peter and Paul and bestowed the pallium on 34 archbishops from 19 countries. snip Pope Francis said that when he gave the archbishops their palliums as a sign of communion, it was not a...

Israel is the center of the world “in so many ways,” the archbishop of Canterbury said Thursday in Jerusalem. He stressed Israel’s legitimacy and right to security, and also spoke, in the context of persecution of Christians by Islamists in the Middle East, about the Christian imperative to “love our enemies.” It was his maiden visit to the region since being appointed to one of the highest positions in the Protestant Church. The Most Reverend Justin Welby, who has a Jewish father, is the leader of the Church of England and of 80 million Anglicans worldwide. He was enthroned in...

Internet evangelist Bill Keller is on a mission to convince Christians to reject both Democratic President Barack Obama and Republican contender Mitt Romney. Rather than selecting either of the main candidates, Keller is challenging believers to choose Jesus Christ for president — literally. As of July 2012, he claimed to have already convinced nearly 200,000 Christians to write in the savior’s name, rather than select any of the men officially running for the presidency. Now, just four months later, Keller’s pool of supporters has increased monumentally to more than 1.6 million. While this may seem like a number that is...

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is financing a new organization designed to bring all the world’s religions together. “The organization hopes to prevent conflict through interfaith dialogue,” writes Spencer Kimball for the German news site Deutsche Welle. ”The foreign ministers of Austria, Saudi Arabia and Spain signed the founding treaty of a new international organization designed to foster dialogue between the world’s major religions on Thursday.” “The thesis is valid that world peace cannot exist without peace between the world’s major religions,” Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said during the signing ceremony in Vienna, according to Deutsche Welle:...

The U.N. Meddling with Religion: Part 8 Actual Evil Within the United Nations Let's begin with a list of items that I will attempt to show:The United Nations has been infused with the evil New Age religion of Theosophy which reveres Lucifer.The United Nations operates its own Meditation Room and Catholic chapel.The UN Meditation Room is used monthly by a few Theosophical groups who meditate there around the changing of the moon.The United Nations General Assembly room is reported to contain a "being" called the Avatar of Synthesis.People who channel demons have done so inside of the UN headquarters in...

My earlier prediction from September:Imam Rauf decided to pick a spot near Ground Zero so that there would be an outcry… and he’ll keep stringing this along until one day when he’ll do the “honorable” and “right thing”: announce that instead of an Islamic Community Center which promotes Interfaith Understanding, he’ll build an Interfaith Center devoted equally to all religions… and the crowds will cheer and people will actually be happy about an Interfaith Center… maybe for the first time ever...recent article from March 30:Two co-founders of the controversial plan to build an Islamic cultural center and mosque two blocks...

MELBOURNE, December 11, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In an address to a gathering sponsored by the World Parliament of Religions (PWR) last Friday, former US President Jimmy Carter has once again blamed traditional religion, particularly Southern Baptists and Roman Catholics, for "creating an environment where violations against women are justified."It is a theme that Carter has successfully used to garner media attention for several years.  Although in a July column in The Observer Carter admits to "not having training in religion or theology," in his address to the PWR Carter appeals to his authority as someone who has "taught Bible lessons...

President Obama will unveil a revamped office of Faith-Based Initiatives Thursday, and a new approach to the controversial program established by former President George Bush. The office, tasked with steering federal funds to charitable organizations tied to churches and faith-based organizations, will be headed by Josh DuBois – a 26 year-old Pentecostal minister who was in charge of religious outreach for the Obama campaign. According to a White House official, the basic structure of the office will remain the same as it was under Bush, but Obama is introducing a new component: an advisory council of 25 leaders — secular...

Madonna has suggested that Barack Obama could be helped by the wisdom of the Kabbalah* (Traditionally spelt 'Cabbala') in making tough decisions during his presidency particularly in regards to seeking world peace and unifying the nation, according to unconfirmed ...............

Notice one of Deepak's gods with all the arms which could be put to better use if she would only pick up a few - simultaneously, of course - American and world history books.Thou shalt have no other gods before meDeepak seems to have accused the Indian Mumbai attacks on the United States for "inflaming moderate Muslims," and that we should reach out and study the "poverty" and "humiliation," which these poor people suffer. He should know that the a large number of Muslims have a divine mandate to manifest destiny over infidels, independent of their richness or poverty. Deepak...

This is a “guru” who wrote the book “Golf for Enlightenment” - pathetic. I didn’t know that gurus and enlightened ones such as the Buddha were interested in playing games like golf. In addition to an essay he has written “Does God Have Orgasms?”, his message on golf as a Bhagavad Gita is “I nourish my relationship with the ball by saying, `You're part of me ... When you soar, I will soar with you."' He lives the high life, he lives a rich lifestyle certainly beyond my means, and certainly beyond the life of the average Hindu in India...

KATHMANDU (AFP) – A young man believed by followers to be a reincarnation of Buddha has returned to Nepal's jungles to meditate alone, police said Saturday, as scholars cast doubt on his supporters' claims. Known as the "Buddha Boy," Ram Bahadur Bomjam, 18, became famous in 2005 after supporters said he could meditate motionless for months without water, food or sleep. "Bomjam went back into the jungle late Friday and all the devotees have left," police officer Gobinda Kushwaha told AFP from Neejgad, a town in Bara District, 60 kilometres (37.5 miles) south of Kathmandu. The "Buddha Boy" reappeared earlier...

For a blind watchmaker, Evolution is quite the seer. Science articles often personify Evolution into a wizard and worker of miracles. This is odd, considering that evolution is supposed to be an aimless, purposeless process of chance and necessity with no goals in mind. Evolution, the Learner: Evolution learns from past environments, we are told by Science Daily. Scientists at the Weizmann Institute believe that evolution learns its lessons so well it can parry them into inventions by digging into its bag of mistakes. The article states nonchalantly, “evolution can learn the rules of the environment and develop organisms that...

A website launched Friday with the backing of technology industry and Hollywood elite urges people worldwide to help craft a framework for harmony between all religions. The Charter for Compassion project on the Internet at www.charterforcompassion.org springs from a "wish" granted this year to religious scholar Karen Armstrong at a premier Technology, Entertainment and Design (TED) conference in California. "Tedizens" include Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin along with other Internet icons as well as celebrities such as Forest Whittaker and Cameron Diaz. Wishes granted at TED envision ways to better the world and come with a promise that...