After the Pope's recent visit to Turkey, he ended his time there by going to one of the local mosques, and bowing down towards Mecca. Was this appropriate? Did he just really bash his own religion and others? If he is the closest man to God, per se in the Catholic religion, did he just bow down to "another" God? "Thou shalt have no other god's before me?"-Ten Commandments #1?
2006-12-19 02:43:49 · 19 answers · asked by billy_spell 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
What would you think of a prominent Imam going to the Vatican and inssiting on worshipping in Muslim fashion in the Patriarchal Cathedral of St. George?
2006-12-19 03:51:24 · answer #1 · answered by Praise Singer 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Apparently you do not know much about diplomacy and how ecumenisim works. Ecumenisim is the work of bring all religions into unity, this was begun by the Vatican and continues today.
The Holy Father praying towards Mecca, which is east does not conflict with Christianity. In the first century A.D. the Church prayed and worshipped facing the east as well (before Vactican I all altars were ad orientem---towards east). This practice was NOT to worship the sun. The sun was merely a created symbol that reminds us and helps understand the glory and power of God.
And so, the Holy Father did not bash Christianity nor prayed and worshipped Mecca. In fact, the Muslim do not worship Mecca. They worship Allah alone. Mecca is an important site in their faith just as the White House is to our nation or the Vatican is to us Catholics. These are important, but not worshipped.
Now if the Holy Father faced Mecca and prayed, He is praying and worshipping God and not Mecca. His direction and gesture sent the message to the Muslim nation that he to respects the importance of their faith and religious sites. If He had no respect for their faith or religious sites, he would not have done what he did. And so, in the end he showed how much he truly respects the Muslim faith and has no animosity against them. Hope this was helpful.
May the Lord bless and keep you. May He let the light of His face shine upon you.
God's and your beast of burden
Fr. john
2006-12-19 03:07:26 · answer #2 · answered by som 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Catholic Church is on record as stating that the Muslims worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob ... the same true God worshipped by Christians and Jews.
And like the Jews, the Muslims still fail to understand the true nature of Jesus Christ.
Until Jesus comes again, this may be the best we can hope for.
2006-12-19 03:54:04 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
There is only one God, so nothing wrong with bowing to God, whatever direction you happen to be facing. Gotta admit though, I wouldn't think it a very good idea to purposely bow toward mecca. Too many people are trying to placate the muslims, but there should be limits to how far a christian will go to placate them. Not a choice I would have made.
2006-12-19 02:48:50 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
If he had bowed toward Jerusalem, I would not have thought anything of it, but bowing toward Mecca means that he, for at least one moment, put Mohammed above Christ. He is no longer fit to lead the Catholic church. During the Inquisition, if one of the heathen converts had done this, they would have been branded a heretic and burned at the stake.
2006-12-19 02:51:26 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Where did you get your info????? The Pope paused for a moment of silent reflection just inside the front door of the mosque, "where his thoughts turned to God", as his press secretary said. He did not "bow down". The Muslim cleric did....not the Pope.
2006-12-19 02:47:04 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
lol who knows why he did it..
cud have been out of good gesture...out of a need to show he means well..
out of the sheer fact that in Islam anyone can pray in a mosque..
or the sheer fact that muslims can pray anywhere else too..
hmm but honestly, any ol person can see, God in Islam is the same God of Christianity. There can only be One God irrespective of religion.
2006-12-19 02:47:39 · answer #7 · answered by Antares 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
And, what ''another'' G-d did he bow to? G-d/Allah are the same.
If he bowed toward Mecca--------that is no problem. It is honoring Islam, and this is where it started-in Mecca. Only thing is--I think he was mocking or trying to save his behind after his earlier comments.
Don't forget, Jews face Jerusalem when praying, and Jews and Christians like to be buried facing Jerusalem. It is no different than facing Mecca to pray
2006-12-19 02:51:45 · answer #8 · answered by Shossi 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
What people continue to misunderstand about Islam, is that Allah is simply arabic for "The One God", which I might add is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and the Catholic Church. How is it bowing before another God?
2006-12-19 02:48:19 · answer #9 · answered by lucy_diamond66 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
He is not just the head of the Catholic Church....he's the head of the Vatican. He wears 2 hats.
What he did in Turkey was a political and a religious move.
2006-12-19 02:47:59 · answer #10 · answered by daljack -a girl 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋