URL –http://nabsites.net/demo/why-jewish-muslim-and-hindu-leaders/
Mike Ghouse
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Pope Francis follows one of the most conservative and contentious popes in recent memory in respect to interfaith relations, and he may have his work cut out for him restoring the trust and mutual respect compromised by Pope Benedict XVI’s lack of tact toward Judaism, Islam, and Native American religions.
In 2006, Benedict gave a lecture at the University of Regensburg in which he quoted a 14th century Byzantine Emperor, saying, “Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.” Benedict later explained the quote was for the purposes of the lecture and not his personal opinion. In 2007, Benedict lifted restrictions on the Tridentine Mass—a Latin liturgy banned by the Second Vatican Council that calls in part for the conversion of Jews to Christianity and an end to what it calls Jewish spiritual “blindness.” Also in 2007, Benedict claimed in an address to the Brazilian people that the Native Americans “silently longed” for Christianity, causing another storm of indignation and disappointment.
Pope Francis follows one of the most conservative and contentious popes in recent memory.
“Pope Francis can certainly repair the damage,” said Mike Ghouse, a spokesperson for the World Muslim Congress in Dallas, Texas. By distancing the modern church from the destructive closed-mindedness of the past and admitting wrongs “in the humility of Jesus,” Francis can help restore the relationship between Christians and Muslims, according to Ghouse.
Already, Pope Francis has displayed such humility. Last Thursday, he visited a jail in Rome where he washed the feet of prisoners, including a female Muslim convict. This marks a notable break with tradition, as Muslims are not typically included in clerical foot-washing ceremonies.
As far as Ghouse is concerned, both Christianity and Islam “focus on serving mankind, [and] treating others as you want to be treated” regardless of theological differences, and any violent conflict between the two is “politics” as a “byproduct of fear and insecurity.”
Ghouse, also president of the Foundation for Pluralism, believes the pope has the power to bring faiths together in order to achieve practical goals as well.
“Pope Francis can call on Muslims, Christians, Hindus, Jews, Sikhs, Buddhists, atheists, and others to jointly serve,” Ghouse said. “Eventually the feeling of doing good things will minimize the conflicts to the back burner, and people will learn to respect the otherness of others without having to agree.”
Pope Francis might be especially suited to changing education and practice, thanks to his career with the Jesuit clerical order
The Hindu American Foundation represents an inherently pluralistic faith and hopes that Pope Francis will reaffirm the church’s past commitments to respecting varieties of doctrine and celebrating similar values.
“Foundation leaders expressed hope that the Catholic Church, under Pope Francis I, as he will be called, will respect and privilege pluralism and interfaith relations, based on earlier efforts with Nostra Aetate,” the foundation said in a press release.
The Nostra Aetate is a proclamation, made by Pope Paul VI in 1965, that defines the Catholic Church’s relationship with non-Catholic religions. “[The church] considers above all in this declaration what men have in common and what draws them to fellowship,” the Nostra Aetate says. It continues:
The Catholic Church rejects nothing that is true and holy in [non-Catholic religions]. She regards with sincere reverence those ways of conduct and of life, those precepts and teachings which, though differing in many aspects from the ones she holds and sets forth, nonetheless often reflect a ray of that Truth which enlightens all men.
Despite this official recognition of truth in other faiths, the Hindu American Foundation is concerned the Nostra Aetate doesn’t go far enough. According to Padma Kupta, a member of the foundation’s board of directors, Catholicism as a whole needs to better understand religious pluralism and the effect evangelism has on pluralistic faiths if Catholics are to mend damaged relationships.
“Whenever a faith has a mission of conversion, that’s something that needs to be examined,” Kupta said, referring to what she called “predatory proselytizing”—everything from social pressure to conform to forceful conversions throughout Western history—on the part of Catholics. Kupta encouraged the church and its leaders to be conscious of the impact these practices had and have on non-Catholics throughout the world.
“People will learn to respect the otherness of others without having to agree.”
When it comes to any “unfinished business” between the faiths, Rosen said, “The major challenge is an educational challenge.” Despite a massive shift in church culture over the past several decades, from discriminating against Jews to embracing Judaism as the theological root of Christianity, “there are many places in the world where…Jews do not appear on the Catholic ‘radar screen’ and places where even bishops don’t know the content of the Nostra Aetate,” Rosen said. Pope Francis’ decades working with Jewish communities could provide a greater shift toward universal Catholic understanding of Judaism.
Pope Francis might be especially suited to changing education and practice within the wide variety of Catholic faithful, thanks to his career with the Jesuit clerical order, a catholic order known for their 16th to 18th century evangelism in Asia and the Americas. “The Jesuits had some issues with the Vatican over questions of local adaptation of Catholic rites,” said Dr. Jose Bento da Silva, a professor at Warwick University and author of the upcoming book The Government of the Society of Jesus.
“Pope Francis I is not only a former member of an organization that knows several practices need to be adapted; he himself is quite a multinational figure.” Francis was born to Italian parents in Argentina, where he was raised and served as Bishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio before being elected pope.
Regardless of past insensitivities, tensions, and ignorance between the Catholic Church and other faiths, all agree that “what’s done is done,” Kupta said. “What we need to do is focus on the future.”
URL – http://www.yesmagazine.org/happiness/why-jewish-muslim-hindu-leaders-have-high-hopes-pope-francis
My full interview was as follows:
Given
the long history of conflict between Christians and Muslims and the current
world in which Western Christian culture tends to be especially fearful of
Islam, what sort of actions or gestures can the new pope make that would be
most effective at encouraging reconciliation between Christians and Muslims?
foundation for the conflict between Muslims and Christians is genuine and is
irreconcilable, but not out of the realm of solutions. The crux of the problem
is God himself and how he is viewed in both traditions. The issue is the Holy
Trinity V Tauheed (monotheism).
Politics is a byproduct of fear and insecurity. When Muslims outnumbered
Christians through conversions in the 10th century Syria, the Christians
legitimately feared the possibility of Muslim fanatics making their life
difficult, although that was not the case at that time. However, to keep the
Christians within the fold, a pastor in 957 AD declared that “Quran was a false
book written by a false prophet” – those words continue to reverberate in halls
of Christian corridors even today.
Muslims’ strongly believe in Quran; 112:3 لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ
يُولَدْ (Asad) “He
(God) begets not, and neither is He begotten;” and the unforgivable sin for a
Muslim is to associate any one with God as his deputy, assistant or a partner.
The idea is articulated in many verses including is 31:13 (Asad) And, lo, Luqman spoke thus unto his son,
admonishing him: “O my dear son! Do not ascribe divine powers to aught beside
God: for, behold, such [a false] ascribing of divinity is indeed an awesome
wrong!”
The above completely goes against the doctrine of trinity, Father, the Son, and
the Holy Spirit who exists together as a communion of three persons.
Muslims just cannot fathom that, and Christians can’t grasp a God who is not a
being and not a thing.
Many of us, including me,
who is active in interfaith dialogue has understood Christian belief in Christ
as a son of God, or God in flesh and what it means to Christians, and
respecting the Christian belief without agreeing with it. Unfortunately, most
Muslims do not have that opportunity and are hung up with the idea that God can
have a son; likewise, many Christians do understand Muslim belief in Christ as
a prophet, but those who do not interact take it as an offense that Muslims
reduce God to a mere mortal prophet.
Christianity and Islam are based on diagonally opposite idea of God, however
both still believe in one Supreme God, there is a room for understanding
there.
There is a greater call from God than reconciliation; to coexist. In one of the
verses of Quran God acknowledges the diversity of his creation, and guides us
that conflicts are a part of the diversity and advises, the best one among you
is the most righteous one among you. The righteous one is one who treats others
as he would want to be treated.
That brings me to the topic of Pluralism. Pluralism is not about appeasing each
other; pluralism is not about converging or meshing our beliefs; and Pluralism
is not about faking civility, but rather, genuinely respecting the
otherness of others and accepting each other’s path as equally divine. It is
indeed truly respecting the creator for creating us to be unique, respecting
you with all my heart and mind is respecting the one who created you. If we can
learn to accept each other’s uniqueness, then conflicts fade and solutions
emerge.
49:13 (Y.Ali) “O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male
and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each other
(not that ye may despise (each other). Verily the most honoured of you in the
sight of Allah is (he who is) the most righteous of you. And Allah has full
knowledge and is well acquainted (with all things)”
Quran further guides; you believe what works for you and I believe what
works for me, as long as we do not mess with each other’s space, sustenance and
nurturance. Both will go to Janna (paradise) if we care about God’s creation.
can urge Muslims and Christians to accept the otherness of the other without
the temptation to correct the other.
2. How can the new pope repair the damaged caused by the previous Pope Benedict’s statements against Islam?
Pope Francis can certainly repair the damage caused by the previous Pope Benedict’s statement. If he has the power, he can make a proclamation that the reference made to the unsavory remark made by the Byzantine emperor will not be a part of future Church reference or a statement. Following Jesus, in humility he can seek forgiveness from Muslims in attending his highness’s place made up of different denominations, to complete the transaction and put this behind. If it is not political he can forgive Pope Benedict as well to release him from the anguish.
3. And how can the pope use his influence to bring both Catholics and members of other faiths together to create a more just and tolerant society?
Pope Francis has all what it takes. I pray and hope that his strong background of living a austere life, and focused on poverty elimination, Pope Francis can call on Muslims, Christians, Hindus, Jews, Sikhs, Buddhists, Atheists and others to jointly serve in poverty reduction programs, health care, Aid elimination, potable water and basic common education. Let each unit be represented by all faiths to work together. Eventually the feeling of doing good things will minimize the conflicts to the back burner and people will learn to respect the otherness of others without having to agree.
4. In your blog, you say that Islam is a pluralistic faith. In what ways is Islam compatible with Christianity and Catholicism?
Islam is certainly compatible with Christianity in all aspects of life except the God issue of Trinity/Tauheed.
Both the traditions are fully compatible in terms of birth control, pre-marital
and extra marital sexual relations, taking care of the elderly, poor, the
hungry, sharing, caring, charity and
raising kids with sound religious values. If it is not news, any Muslim who can
afford to send his or her child will invariably send his child to a Catholic
Convent over other schools.
They focus on serving the mankind, treating others as you wanted to be treated.
The Catholic Charities are admired by the whole humanity, Mother Teresa’s
compassion is legendary, indeed, and she is one of my mentors as Jesus is. Then
there is Abdul Sattar Edhi, a Muslim in Pakistan who serves mankind without
distinction.
can Christians and Muslims come together for worship and theological study?
1400 years ago; as a matter of fact he is the first religious figure to have
initiated interfaith dialogue. He used to invite Christians, Jews and others to
have religious discussion in his Mosque;
Masjid-e-Nabawi in Medina. One of the famous stories is when Christians
from Najran (Yemen) were having a dialogue with him in the Mosque, the time for
Christians to pray came up, as the guests sought permission to be excused, the
Prophet offered them to pray at the Mosque, as it was not the time for Muslims
prayer at that time. Of course, the
Christians went out and prayed, but the incident established one of the most
fundamentals of a civil dialogue; to respect the otherness of others. Prophet knew well that they would invoke
Jesus as son of the God, which was against his own preaching.
the dialogue on the basis of pluralism, that is respecting the otherness of
others, then conflicts fade and solutions emerge.
broader sense, how is Islam compatible with all faiths?
religion in divinity leaving little room for critical analysis, the bottom line
essence of all religions is to bring solace to an individual so he can function
coherently within, and with others around him.
The 2nd bottom line of Islam and all faiths is- to build a cohesive
society where no one has to be afraid of the other. The religions stand on
accountability of one’s action, truthfulness and justice which builds trust in
the society, so each member of the society feels secure.
The incompatibility comes when we talk about God; no God, One God or many Gods
and each one of us is hung up and probably God is laughing at us.
Some of my work on Catholic tradition in the last thirty days:
- What made me go to the Catholic Church today for Easter? instead of Baptist, Unitarian, Mormon, Presbyterian, Marthoma, Unity, Methodist or a New age church? http://nabsites.net/demo/what-made-me-go-to-catholic-churc/
- I welcomed him on the day he was elected, I congratulated him;http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2013/03/congratulations-to-pope-francis.html
- Dallas Morning News – What piece of Advice would you give the New pope http://nabsites.net/demo/texas-faith-what-piece-of-advice-would/
- Huffington Post – Pluralist Muslim Celebrating Easter http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse/a-muslim-pluralist-celebrates-easter_b_2976582.html#es_share_ended
- The essay on Christian- Muslim conflict is shared;http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2013/03/congratulations-to-pope-francis.html
- I am pleased to see several Muslim websites post some of my articles on Easter.http://imamsalim.com/blog/2013/03/31/mike-ghouse-a-muslim-pluralist-celebrates-easter/
- References:
Muslim Speaker – http://www.mikeghouse.net/InterfaithSpeaker_MikeGhouse.asp
Interfaith Speaker – http://www.mikeghouse.net/InterfaithSpeaker_MikeGhouse.asp
world Muslim congress – www.worldMuslimcongress.com
Foundation for Pluralism – www.foundationforpluralism.com
Mike Ghouse profile – http://www.mikeghouse.net/Profile.asp