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Dear Alex,
I would not have a problem kissing a Catholic cross either. My wife loves her Celtic cross.

God bless

I can't believe folks are actually defending the pope's kissing the Koran! I love the Holy Father and think of him as an example of sanctity but there is no excuse for what he did. There is some silly notion in Catholicism that feels that it must defend the Pope in regard to His personal actions. To be logically consistant, we'd also have to defend the wicked actions of countless popes. When the guardian the Christian faith and vicar of Jesus Christ kisses a book that says,

"God forbid that he should have a Son." 4:171

and in other places denies that Jesus is the Son of God or that Our Lady is the Mother of God, he is living in contradiction. The Koran is an evil book inspired by Satan and his demons. Any spirit or angel that says Jesus is not the Son of the Father is Satanic and Antichrist. This does not mean that God couldn't save a Muslim in whom God by his grace infused a worshipful devotion to Jesus, but all sorts of hate groups have used this episode to undermine the Catholic Church. It was a major error.

Greetings Marshall,
Love your Holy Father but excuse and forgive his action. I myself do not know how much of the Quran is satanically inspired except for the verses that deny our Lord's divinity but there are verses borrowed from the Judeo-Christian Tradition that are ours. One can be of the black-n-white opinion that the Quran is an evil book. One can also be of the opinion that there are mixtures of truths and lies in it. They have no concept of God Incarnate.
What do we do with the acceptable and unacceptable verses of the Quran? It is a confusing book to read and understand. They have our version of Holy Tradition, the Hadiths and Sunnah. Overall, Islam is an evil fraternal twin of Christianity. Their Quran does not deserve our kiss anymore than the fact they reject and degrade our Bible in our faces as well as behind our backs. A Muslim to kiss our Bible that speaks of Christ as God does not happen. Nowadays Christians feel compelled to do anything to please somone else whether by the kissing of the Quran or giving Bill Clinton the "Host". I don't mean to be derrogative but relativism is a reality within the Roman communions. Spiritual warefare is a neccessity for the Roman communions if they are to survive the onslaught of heresies like relativism.

Asbestos undie's time again (but be sure to wear an N-95 particulate respirator lest the fibers get in your lungs and cause death.)

The act of kissing the Koran was a simple act of 'kissing the Koran'. How one interprets this action is up for grabs. Why did the Pope do it? Probably to show respect to his hosts.

Is he accepting anything or everything in it? Hell, no. What a stupid question. Is he abnegating Christian belief? Same answer as above.

OUR scripture tells us: "God is Love. Whoever abides in love, abides in God; and God in him." I believe that John Paul was LIVING that verse in Damascus; the same way he did when he prayed at the Rome synagogue; and with the Ecumenical Patriarch, and with the Anglicans, and the Lutherans and with the Dalai Lama. Hey folks: It's an object lesson.

(And considering the ways things sometimes go on this board -- among Christians, no less -- I think it's a lesson we all need to take to heart. This business of "you changed the words/liturgy/theology/hierarchy" etc. and therefore I'll subject you to scorn, ridicule and public despisement sounds an awful lot like what happened to Christ. Remember Him?)

Blessings!

"Something 'off'."

That was probably Count Paul Stroganoff who was Tsar-ally ******-off when he found out the Tibetan Buddhists eschew beef!

(BTW Alex: Today is the anniversary (1981) of the death of my avant garde crypto-Coptic Orthodox hero, "de man wid de luv ov Je'-suus Creest in de heart, bruder man," de High Priest of Reggae, me man, Bob Marley. Sans 'de herb and his womanizing, he was a deeply spiritual and moral man. And he did receive the Last Rites and Burial of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. So, those of us who have even a tenous---'grasp on reality'---I mean, grasp of Orthodoxy/Catholicism, can relate to 'de man wid de luving heart.'


Please light a candle for him this Sunday.

Thanks

If the Pope did indeed kiss the Koran he should be publicly chastised.
Yes he sould meet with muslims and attempt to be a source of peace and reconciliation but this was stepping over the line.

A bad action however by any Pope does nothing to disprove the infaliblility of the Papacy. If you think it does then you don't know the doctrine and what it means.

Even Peter fell into moral scandal by being fickle about eating with non Jews but this had nothing to do with teaching ex cathedra catholic dogma.

Stephanos
Unworthy Monk and Arch sinner

If this story is true and the Pope kissed the Koran then I am no longer a Catholic (as long as he knew what he was doing)! Neither Eastern or whatever! I will become a Greek Orthodox or just give up my faith altogther for I shall never be a Protestant.... By kissing the Koran you are giving validity to Mohammed and his prophecy of lies!

This trobles me deeply! I am going to ask my local priest about this tommorrow...

Please keep me posted!

Ray

Dear Ray, and all in Christ!

Christ is Risen!

May I refer everyone to the extensive, exhaustive and "heated" discussion of the various aspects of this question, in which the Holy Father reportedly showed respect for Islam, and their book?

East & West, titled: Pope kisses the Quran?

That thread was closed, after it was felt that the subject had been exhaustively discussed and debated. Many good points were made there in that place.

I consider it prudent that the thread remain closed for the time being, and that it not be repeated or "rehashed" here.

For those interested in knowing more about the event, or the debate, please feel free to read the closed thread.

I do feel it was thoroughly and completed discussed there. Unless there is some new information, or additional point of view, may I respectfully refer anyone interested in that topic to that thread?

Thank you!

Christ is Risen!

Elias

Christ is Risen!

No one comes to the Father except through the Son. Muslims do not worship the same God as we do because they deny the incarnation of God the Word. We worship the Trinity, consubstantial and undivided, there can be no God the Father without God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is the Triune God of Christ's Church. All too soon are we ready to pretend that non-Christian are having authentic "spiritual" experiences. Without Christ, the pagan's searching is in vain and his fantasies are only deception and pride. Those Muslims having authentic spiritual experiences are those on the road to Holy Orthodoxy, as well as for anyone else.
So, Robert is right on the money in saying he will kiss the Muslim made in the Imgage of God rather than the book which denies Christ's incarnation.
Peace,
Matthew

Fr. Elias,
I did not notice your post while I was typing my own reply. You posted while I was in the posting screen. Sorry.

Dear Matthew,

Christ is Risen!

Apology accepted, thank you.

Calling everyone's attention to my post just above, and to the thread on this topic where this subject was exhaustively treated, and closed, it is again closed.

Elias