During the month of May, Catholics around the world honor the Virgin Mary in a practice dating back to the 13th century. But at one shrine to Mary in Harissa, Lebanon, it isn’t just Catholics coming to pray.
The Shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon has drawn Muslim visitors since it opened in 1908, said the shrine’s rector, Father Younen Obeid, in a recent video produced by Catholic News Service. They come as tourists, but also to pray and participate in Christian ceremonies at the site.
“All of [the Muslim visitors] have big respect for Mary,” Obeid said.
This respect stems directly from the Quran, the holy book of Islam, which references Mary 37 times — even more occasions than the Bible. The 19th chapter of the Quran is in fact named after Mary and tells the story of her life and how she came to give birth to Jesus, though Islam does not hold the belief of Jesus’s divinity. Continue reading…
“The review will be chaired by Professor Mona Siddiqui, an internationally renowned expert in Islamic and inter-religious studies who was appointed OBE for her services to inter-faith relations. Professor Siddiqui will lead a panel of experts that includes experienced family law barrister Sam Momtaz, retired high court judge Sir Mark Hedley and specialist family law lawyer Anne Marie Hutchinson OBE QC. The panel will be advised by 2 religious and theological experts – Imam Sayed Ali Abbas Razawi and Imam Qari Asim. They will ensure the panel has a full and thorough understanding of the religious and theological issues relating to specific aspects of Sharia Law, and the way it is applied.” –
“President Calvin Coolidge warned in a speech given May 15, 1926, at the College of William and Mary, in Williamsburg, Virginia: “But there is another … recent development … the greatly disproportionate influence of organized minorities. Artificial propaganda, paid agitators, selfish interests, all impinge upon members of legislative bodies to force them to represent special elements rather than the great body of their constituency. When they are successful, minority rule is established. … The result is an extravagance on the part of the government which is ruinous to the people and a multiplicity of regulations and restrictions for the conduct of all kinds of necessary business, which becomes little less than oppressive. …” –
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The feast of the Holy Trinity is an invitation for us to commit to enriching our everyday relationships by promoting communion, consolation, and mercy, Pope Francis said during his weekly Sunday Angelus address.
“Pope Francis has met the grand imam of Cairo’s Al-Azhar Mosque at the Vatican in a historic encounter that was sealed with a hugely symbolic hug and exchange of kisses. The first Vatican meeting on Monday between the leader of the world’s Catholics and the highest authority in Sunni Islam marks the culmination of a significant improvement in relations between the two faiths since Francis took office in 2013. …Ties were badly soured when the now-retired Benedict made a September 2006 speech in which he was perceived to have linked Islam to violence, sparking deadly protests in several countries and reprisal attacks on Christians.”
The Philippines’ president-elect Rodrigo Duterte has described the Catholic Church as the country’s “most hypocritical institution” and says he is ready to take on senior Filipino bishops in a debate about their wrongdoings before he takes office next month.
“God is being eroded, eclipsed, liquidated … “in the name of ‘tolerance’” in the U.S., he said, citing “legalization of same-sex marriage, the obligation to accept contraception within health-care programs, and even ‘bathroom bills’ that allow men to use the women’s restrooms and locker rooms.” “Should not a biological man use the men’s restroom?” he asked. “How simpler can that concept be?” The cardinal shifted his focus from the social and political realm to the church itself, warning against subversion of its orthodoxy and “demonic ‘gender ideology’” that threatens to wound the family unit itself.” –
WARSAW, Poland — Polish Army troops will help secure a meeting taking place in July between Pope Francis and thousands of youths from around the world in southern Poland, a spokesman said Thursday.