Pope breaks with the Great Commission

[Matthitjah]

I, yi, yi...............

Quote Jeruslam Post;

'Vatican to stop missionizing Jews'

May. 12, 2009

JPost.com Staff , THE JERUSALEM POST

In his welcoming address Tuesday to Pope Benedict XVI at Jerusalem's Heichal Shlomo, adjacent to the capital's Great Synagogue, Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi Yona Metzger said that the pontiff had agreed that the Catholic Church would cease all missionary activity among Jews, and thanked him for the gesture.

Metzger opened by congratulating the pope on his arrival to "our holy land - the land to which we prayed to return during 2000 years of exile... And, with God's help, our meeting today is taking place in the Land of Israel, in our city of Jerusalem - the eternal capital of the Jewish people."

Speaking of the necessity of dialogue between the faiths, Metzger said that "if a historical meeting such as this, where the head of the largest religion in the world meets in Jerusalem with the head of the Jewish religion, had taken place many years ago, much blood would have been spared and senseless hatred averted."

Metzger thanked Benedict for preventing the return to the fold of Holocaust-denying Bishop Richard Williamson.

"Had you not done so," Metzger explained, "a message may have been understood by another Holocaust denier- the president of Iran, granting legitimacy to his sinful declarations of his will and intention to destroy our country. I commend with appreciation your clear proclamation that anti-Semitism is not only a sin against the Jews, but also a sin against God."

In a hint of criticism over Benedict's speech at Yad Vashem on Monday, which was received with some disappointment for his failure to apologize on behalf of the Catholic Church while paying tribute to the memory of the six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust, Metzger hailed Benedict's predecessor, "Pope John Paul II, who visited us nine years ago, placed a note between the stones of the Western Wall, and in it a request for forgiveness from the Jewish people for the suffering caused to them throughout history, and of the Christian commitment towards true fraternity between our peoples."

Alluding to the threat of Islamic extremism, Metzger said "we must teach the leaders of other religions that it is not with terror that they will obtain their aims, not by the killing of innocent people do they represent their God."

The chief Ashkenazi rabbi went on to thank the pope for his "historic agreement and the commitment given by the Vatican, that the Church will henceforth desist from all missionary and conversion activities amongst our people. This is for us an immensely important message."

Metzger then asked the pope to act on the issue of lost Jewish refugees; children saved by Christians during the Holocaust and never told by their adopting parents that they were Jewish.

"Your Holiness, as you know, during the Holocaust many parents deposited their children in trust with the various churches throughout Europe," he said. "To our sorrow, six million Jews did not return. Many of the children who survived thanks to the Church, grew up unaware of their Jewish heritage. We ask that under your guidance the Church display transparency and reveal their roots so that they may choose their national and religious paths.

"A lack of transparency on this sensitive issue may perpetuate the suffering of many Jews and ultimately obtain the Nazi's aim - the annihilation of the Jewish People."

Metzger also mentioned the pope's visit to the Western Wall, which is a "house of prayer for all nations," but lamented that "unfortunately there are those who have transformed their houses of prayer into warehouses of weapons and terror.

"One thing alone still threatens us all," he said, "the use of religion as a means for the killing of innocent people."

He concluded by calling to establish "an international body, a UN for religions alongside the UN for diplomats and statesmen. There, side by side, around one table will sit the representatives of all the religions. Even those coming from countries that still lack diplomatic relations between them, will sit together to solve conflicts and differences of opinions arising from a religious cause."

"It is my heartfelt blessing that together we will merit to add love, mutual respect and peace in our world," the rabbi ended his speech. "For each people will walk in the name of his God; And we will walk in the name of the Lord our God..."

Speaking after Metzger, the pope vowed to maintain the dialogue between Christianity and Judaism in an effort to continue the reconciliation process between the two religions.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid...ticle%2FPrinter

Can you say, "One World Religion?"

"For each people will walk in the name of his God;

I feel bad for the Pope.

Mt

[EricH]

I don't think Jesus listed any exceptions to the Great Commission

[georgedrw81]

The Vatican has for some years taken steps , started with Pope Paul John II, to re-approach many rivals.

Blessings

[MorningGlory]

The Vatican has for some years taken steps , started with Pope Paul John II, to re-approach many rivals.

Blessings

Like the muslims?

[OneLight]

It won't be much longer.

[Fez]

"For each people will walk in the name of his God; And we will walk in the name of the Lord our God..."

Anyone notice the difference in the mention of God? What is the rabbi saying? I worship a God, he worships God?

Nuts to that statement. I worship God! the one and only, the great I AM, the Alpha and Omega, my Lord and Saviour.

And as for the pope saying that catholics will stop fishing for jewish souls (against the instruction of the great commission), I'm here to tell him, I got a fishing permit from Jesus, and it does not have any exclusions on it!

[elkieDannsa' Air An Drochaid]

I, yi, yi...............

Quote Jeruslam Post;

'Vatican to stop missionizing Jews'

May. 12, 2009

JPost.com Staff , THE JERUSALEM POST

In his welcoming address Tuesday to Pope Benedict XVI at Jerusalem's Heichal Shlomo, adjacent to the capital's Great Synagogue, Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi Yona Metzger said that the pontiff had agreed that the Catholic Church would cease all missionary activity among Jews, and thanked him for the gesture.

Metzger opened by congratulating the pope on his arrival to "our holy land - the land to which we prayed to return during 2000 years of exile... And, with God's help, our meeting today is taking place in the Land of Israel, in our city of Jerusalem - the eternal capital of the Jewish people."

Speaking of the necessity of dialogue between the faiths, Metzger said that "if a historical meeting such as this, where the head of the largest religion in the world meets in Jerusalem with the head of the Jewish religion, had taken place many years ago, much blood would have been spared and senseless hatred averted."

Metzger thanked Benedict for preventing the return to the fold of Holocaust-denying Bishop Richard Williamson.

"Had you not done so," Metzger explained, "a message may have been understood by another Holocaust denier- the president of Iran, granting legitimacy to his sinful declarations of his will and intention to destroy our country. I commend with appreciation your clear proclamation that anti-Semitism is not only a sin against the Jews, but also a sin against God."

In a hint of criticism over Benedict's speech at Yad Vashem on Monday, which was received with some disappointment for his failure to apologize on behalf of the Catholic Church while paying tribute to the memory of the six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust, Metzger hailed Benedict's predecessor, "Pope John Paul II, who visited us nine years ago, placed a note between the stones of the Western Wall, and in it a request for forgiveness from the Jewish people for the suffering caused to them throughout history, and of the Christian commitment towards true fraternity between our peoples."

Alluding to the threat of Islamic extremism, Metzger said "we must teach the leaders of other religions that it is not with terror that they will obtain their aims, not by the killing of innocent people do they represent their God."

The chief Ashkenazi rabbi went on to thank the pope for his "historic agreement and the commitment given by the Vatican, that the Church will henceforth desist from all missionary and conversion activities amongst our people. This is for us an immensely important message."

Metzger then asked the pope to act on the issue of lost Jewish refugees; children saved by Christians during the Holocaust and never told by their adopting parents that they were Jewish.

"Your Holiness, as you know, during the Holocaust many parents deposited their children in trust with the various churches throughout Europe," he said. "To our sorrow, six million Jews did not return. Many of the children who survived thanks to the Church, grew up unaware of their Jewish heritage. We ask that under your guidance the Church display transparency and reveal their roots so that they may choose their national and religious paths.

"A lack of transparency on this sensitive issue may perpetuate the suffering of many Jews and ultimately obtain the Nazi's aim - the annihilation of the Jewish People."

Metzger also mentioned the pope's visit to the Western Wall, which is a "house of prayer for all nations," but lamented that "unfortunately there are those who have transformed their houses of prayer into warehouses of weapons and terror.

"One thing alone still threatens us all," he said, "the use of religion as a means for the killing of innocent people."

He concluded by calling to establish "an international body, a UN for religions alongside the UN for diplomats and statesmen. There, side by side, around one table will sit the representatives of all the religions. Even those coming from countries that still lack diplomatic relations between them, will sit together to solve conflicts and differences of opinions arising from a religious cause."

"It is my heartfelt blessing that together we will merit to add love, mutual respect and peace in our world," the rabbi ended his speech. "For each people will walk in the name of his God; And we will walk in the name of the Lord our God..."

Speaking after Metzger, the pope vowed to maintain the dialogue between Christianity and Judaism in an effort to continue the reconciliation process between the two religions.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid...ticle%2FPrinter

Can you say, "One World Religion?"

"For each people will walk in the name of his God;

I feel bad for the Pope.

Mt 10:32

Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.

Mt 10:33

But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.

Peace,

Dave

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READ WHAT WAS REALLY SAID FOR YOURSELF

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Permalink: http://www.zenit.org/article-25872?l=english

Benedict XVI's Visit to the Grand Rabbinate

"Our Two Communities Are Challenged to Engage People of Good Will at the Level of Reason"

JERUSALEM, MAY 12, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Here is the text of Benedict XVI's address during a courtesy visit today to the "Hechal Shlomo" center, seat of the Grand Rabbinate, after he visited the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem.

* * *

Distinguished Rabbis,

Dear Friends,

I am grateful for the invitation to visit Heichal Shlomo and to meet with you during this trip of mine to the Holy Land as Bishop of Rome. I thank Sephardi Rabbi Shlomo Amar and Ashkenazi Rabbi Yona Metzger for their warm words of welcome and the desire they have expressed to continue strengthening the bonds of friendship which the Catholic Church and the Chief Rabbinate have labored so diligently to forge over the past decades. Your visits to the Vatican in 2003 and 2005 are a sign of the good will which characterizes our developing relations.

Distinguished Rabbis, I reciprocate by expressing my own respect and esteem for you and your communities. I assure you of my desire to deepen mutual understanding and cooperation between the Holy See, the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and Jewish people throughout the world.

A great source of satisfaction for me since the beginning of my pontificate has been the fruit yielded by the ongoing dialogue between the Delegation of the Holy See's Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews and the Chief Rabbinate of Israel's Delegation for Relations with the Catholic Church. I wish to thank the members of both delegations for their dedication and hard work in implementing this initiative, so earnestly desired by my esteemed predecessor Pope John Paul II, as he said during the Great Jubilee Year of 2000.

Our encounter today is a most fitting occasion to give thanks to the Almighty for the many blessings which have accompanied the dialogue conducted by the Bilateral Commission, and to look forward with expectation to its future sessions. The willingness of the delegates to discuss openly and patiently not only points of agreement, but also points of difference, has already paved the way to more effective collaboration in public life. Jews and Christians alike are concerned to ensure respect for the sacredness of human life, the centrality of the family, a sound education for the young, and the freedom of religion and conscience for a healthy society. These themes of dialogue represent only the initial phases of what we trust will be a steady, progressive journey towards an enhanced mutual understanding.

An indication of the potential of this series of meetings is readily seen in our shared concern in the face of moral relativism and the offences it spawns against the dignity of the human person. In approaching the most urgent ethical questions of our day, our two communities are challenged to engage people of good will at the level of reason, while simultaneously pointing to the religious foundations which best sustain lasting moral values. May the dialogue that has begun continue to generate ideas on how Christians and Jews can work together to heighten society's appreciation of the distinctive contribution of our religious and ethical traditions. Here in Israel, given that Christians constitute only a small portion of the total population, they particularly value opportunities for dialogue with their Jewish neighbors.

Trust is undeniably an essential element of effective dialogue. Today I have the opportunity to repeat that the Catholic Church is irrevocably committed to the path chosen at the Second Vatican Council for a genuine and lasting reconciliation between Christians and Jews. As the Declaration Nostra Aetate makes clear, the Church continues to value the spiritual patrimony common to Christians and Jews and desires an ever deeper mutual understanding and respect through biblical and theological studies as well as fraternal dialogues. May the seven Bilateral Commission meetings which have already taken place between the Holy See and the Chief Rabbinate stand as evidence! I am thus grateful for your reciprocal assurance that the relationship between the Catholic Church and the Chief Rabbinate will continue to grow in respect and understanding in the future.

My friends, I express again my deep appreciation for the welcome you have extended to me today. I am confident that our friendship will continue to set an example of trust in dialogue for Jews and Christians throughout the world. Looking at the accomplishments achieved thus far, and drawing our inspiration from the Holy Scriptures, we can confidently look forward to even stronger cooperation between our communities -- together with all people of good will -- in decrying hatred and oppression throughout the world. I pray that God, who searches our hearts and knows our thoughts (Ps 139:23), will continue to enlighten us with his wisdom, so that we may follow his commandments to love him with all our heart, soul and strength (cf. Dt 6:5), and to love our neighbor as ourselves (Lev 19:18). Thank you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Guest shiloh357]

Anyone notice the difference in the mention of God? What is the rabbi saying? I worship a God, he worships God?

The Jewish people see Jesus as "the Gentiles' god."

But I would point out that the early church believed that the Jews were worshipping demons, which is why you will see midieval artwork where Jews look like gargoyles, hunched over with long hooked noses and sullen faced with blue or gray skin.

The early church equated synagogues with brothels or places to worship demons and such. So, really this is pretty mild compared what Christians in the past have said about Jews.

Much Jewish antagonism toward Jesus didn't occur in a vacuum, and we need to understand that today. Historically, the church has been a far greater enemy to the Jewish people than even the Muslims. Anti-semitism and replacement theology are alive and well in today's churches.

[Guest yod]

This is probably a good thing. The Vatican has rarely tried to evangelize jews but it always ended with disastrous results.

Like the Inquisition...

[elkieDannsa' Air An Drochaid]

Nostra Aetate

Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions

The Second Vatican Council

Promulgated by His Holiness Pope Paul VI

October 28, 1965

Paul, Bishop, Servant of the Servants of God, together with the Fathers of the Sacred Council. For Everlasting Memory.

IN OUR TIME, when day by day mankind is being drawn closer together, and the ties between different peoples are becoming stronger, the Church examines more closely her relationship to non-Christian religions. In her tasks of promoting unity and love among men, indeed among nations, she considers above all in this declaration what men have in common and what draws them to fellowship.

One is the community of all peoples, one their origin, for God made the whole human race to live over the face of the earth (1). One also is their final goal, God. His providence, His manifestations of goodness, His saving design extend to all men (2), until that time when the elect will be united in the Holy City, the city ablaze with the glory of God, where the nations will walk in His light (3).

Men expect from the various religions answers to the unsolved riddles of the human condition, which today, even as in former times, deeply stir the hearts of men: What is man? What is the meaning, the aim of our life? What is moral good, what sin? Whence suffering and what purpose does it serve? Which is the road to true happiness? What are death, judgement and retribution after death? What, finally is the ultimate inexpressible mystery which encompasses our existence: whence do we come, and where are we going?

2. From ancient times down to the present, there is found among various peoples a certain perception of that hidden power which hovers over the course of things and over the events of human history; at times some indeed have come to the recognition of a Supreme Being, or even of a Father. This perception and recognition penetrates their lives with a profound religious sense.

Religions, however, that are bound up with an advanced culture have struggled to answer the same questions by means of more refined concepts and a more developed language. Thus in Hinduism, men contemplate the divine mystery and express it through an inexhaustible abundance of myths and through searching philosophical inquiry. They seek freedom from the anguish of our human condition either through ascetical practices or profound meditation or a flight to God with love and trust. Again, Buddhism, in its various forms, realizes the radical insufficiency of this changeable world; it teaches a way by which men, in a devout and confident spirit, may be able either to acquire the state of perfect liberation, or attain, by their own efforts or through higher help, supreme illumination. Likewise, other religions found everywhere try to counter the restlessness of the human heart, each in its own manner, by proposing "ways," comprising teachings, rules of life, and sacred rites.

The Catholic Church rejects nothing that is true and holy in these 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. Indeed, she proclaims, and ever must proclaim Christ, "the way the truth, and the life" (John 14, 6), in whom men may find the fullness of religious life, in whom God has reconciled all things to Himself (4).

The Church therefore, exhorts her sons, that through dialogue and collaboration with the followers of other religions, carried out with prudence and love and in witness to the Christian faith and life, they recognize, preserve and promote the good things, spiritual and moral, as well as the socio-cultural values found among these men.

3. The Church regards with esteem also the Moslems. They adore the one God, living and subsisting in Himself, merciful and all-powerful, the Creator of heaven and earth (5), who has spoken to men; they take pains to submit wholeheartedly to even His inscrutable decrees, just as Abraham, with whom the faith of Islam takes great pleasure in linking itself, submitted to God. Though they do not acknowledge Jesus as God, they revere Him as a prophet. They also honor Mary, His virgin mother; at times they even call on her with devotion. In addition, they await the day of judgement when God will render their deserts to all those who have been raised up from the dead. Finally, they value the moral life and worship God especially through prayer, almsgiving and fasting.

Since in the course of centuries not a few quarrels and hostilities have arisen between Christians and Moslems, this Sacred Synod urges all to forget the past and to work sincerely for mutual understanding and to preserve as well as to promote together for the benefit of all mankind social justice and moral welfare, as well as peace and freedom.

4. As the Sacred Synod searches into the mystery of the Church, it remembers the bond that spiritually ties the people of the New Covenant to Abraham's stock.

Thus the Church of Christ acknowledges that, according to God's saving design, the beginnings of her faith and her election are found already among the Patriarchs, Moses and the prophets. She professes that all who believe in Christ -- Abraham's sons according to faith (6) -- are included in the same Patriarch's call, and likewise that the salvation of the Church is mysteriously foreshadowed by the chosen people's exodus from the land of bondage. The Church, therefore, cannot forget that she received the revelation of the Old Testament through the people with whom God in His inexpressible mercy concluded the Ancient Covenant. Nor can she forget that she draws sustenance from the root of that well-cultivated olive tree onto which have been grafted the wild shoots, the Gentiles (7). Indeed, the Church believes that by His cross Christ Our Peace reconciled Jews and Gentiles, making both one in Himself (8).

The Church keeps ever in mind the words of the Apostle about his kinsmen: "There is the sonship and the glory and the covenants and the law and the worship and the promises; theirs are the fathers and from them is the Christ according to the flesh" (Rom. 8, 4-5), the Son of the Virgin Mary. She also recalls that the Apostles, the Church's main-stay and pillars, as well as most of the early disciples who proclaimed Christ's Gospel to the world, sprang from the Jewish people.

As Holy Scripture testifies, Jerusalem did not recognize the time of her visitation (9), nor did the Jews, in large number, accept the Gospel; indeed not a few opposed its spreading (10). Nevertheless God holds the Jews most dear for the sake of their Fathers; He does not repent of the gifts He makes or of the calls He issues -- such is the witness of the Apostle (11). In company with the Prophets and the same Apostle, the Church awaits that day, known to God alone, on which all peoples will address the Lord in a single voice and "serve him shoulder to shoulder" (Soph. 3, 9) (12).

Since the spiritual patrimony common to Christians and Jews is thus so great, this Sacred Synod wants to foster and recommend that mutual understanding and respect which is the fruit, above all, of biblical and theological studies as well as fraternal dialogues.

True, the Jewish authorities and those who followed their lead pressed for the death of Christ (13); still, what happened in His passion cannot be charged against all the Jews, without distinction, then alive, nor against the Jews of today. Although the Church is the new People of God, the Jews should not be presented as rejected or accursed by God, as if this followed from the Holy Scriptures. All should see to it, then, that in catechetical work or in the preaching of the Word of God they do not teach anything that does not conform to the truth of the Gospel and the spirit of Christ.

Furthermore, in her rejection of every persecution against any man, the Church, mindful of the patrimony she shares with the Jews and moved not by political reasons but by the Gospel's spiritual love, decries hatred, persecutions, displays of anti-Semitism, directed against Jews at any time and by anyone.

Besides, as the Church has always held and holds now, Christ underwent His passion and death freely, because of the sins of men and out of infinite love, in order that all may reach salvation. It is, therefore, the burden of the Church's preaching to proclaim the cross of Christ as the sign of God's all-embracing love and as the fountain from which every grace flows.

5. We cannot truly call on God, the Father of all, if we refuse to treat in a brotherly way any man, created as he is in the image of God. Man's relation to God the Father and his relation to men his brothers are so linked together that Scripture says: "He who does not love does not know God" (1 John 4, 8).

No foundation therefore remains for any theory or practice that leads to discrimination between man and the man or people and people, so far as their human dignity and the rights flowing from it are concerned.

The Church reproves, as foreign to the mind of Christ, any discrimination against men or harassment of them because of their race, color, condition of life, or religion. On the contrary, following in the footsteps of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, this Sacred Synod ardently implores the Christian faithful to "maintain good fellowship among the nations" (1 Peter 2, 12), and, if possible to live for their part in peace with all men (14), so that they many truly be sons of the Father who is in heaven (15).

The entire text and all the individual elements which have been set forth in this Declaration have pleased the Fathers. And by the Apostolic power conferred on us by Christ, we, together with the Venerable Fathers, in the Holy Spirit, approve, decree and enact them; and we order that what has been thus enacted in Council be promulgated, to the glory of God.

Rome, at St. Peter's, 28 October, 1965.

I, PAUL, Bishop of the Catholic Church

There follow the signatures of the Fathers.

Footnotes:

(1) Cf. Acts 17, 26

(2) Cf. Wis. 8, 1; Acts 14, 17; Rom. 2, 6-7; 1 Tim 2, 4.

(3) Cf. Apoc. 21, 23f.

(4) Cf 2 Cor. 5, 18-19.

(5) Cf St. Gregory VII, Letter XXI to Anzir (Nacir), King of Mauritania (PL 148, col 450 f.)

(6) Cf. Gal. 3, 7.

(7) Cf. Rom. 11, 17-24.

(8) Cf. Eph. 2, 14-16.

(9) Cf. Luke 19, 44.

(10) Cf. Rom. 11, 28.

(11) Cf. Rom 11, 28-29; cf Dogmatic Constitution, Lumen Gentium (Light of Nations), AAS, 55 (1965), p. 20.

(12) Cf Is. 66, 23; Ps 65, 4: Rom. 11, 11-32.

(13) Cf. John 19, 6.

(14) Cf. Rom. 12, 18.

(15) Cf. Matt. 5, 45.

Transcribed by Paul Halsall