Deliberately
Misdirected Sermon.
by
Steven Shamrak
Pope Benedict XVI has used his
traditional Christmas Midnight Mass to call for an end to "hatred and
violence" in the Middle East, implying that it is all Israel's fault by
saying "hearts will be opened, so borders will be opened".
He said nothing about the fact that
Christians living in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip are holding only small,
quiet Christmas celebrations after local leaders received warnings from Muslim
groups against any public display of Christianity this holiday season. He was
silent about the fact that Bethlehem has become a Muslim city because
Christians have been driven away by Muslim violence and intimidation, which has
dramatically increased since the PA took over Judea. He also forgot to pray for
the Christmas who have been killed in Iraq and are persecuted through all
Islamic world.
For perverse reasons, based of two
millennium history, Israel - the Holy Land which the Pope is in no hurry to
visit, while playing all sort of political mind games - is the highest concern
of the Church and his Holiness! He has said nothing about the suffering of the
Jews, especially the children of Sderot, from Islamic terror. There was no
attempt to make confession for the past demonic deeds the Church has inflicted
upon Jews. The Church made Apologies: to Australian aborigines; to Africans for
slavery, which the Catholic Church made legal; to the victims of abuse by
priests and nuns. But a whole-hearted and unadulterated apology to Jews is not
in the mind of the Church. So much for the Christmas time. Reconciliation for
all but not for Jews!
This article is written not as an
anti-Catholic or anti-Christian statement. It is a call for true reconciliation
and partnership. We are facing a global threat from expansionism. We are all in
their target list - Israel is the first entry! Most Jews feel that the word
"reconciliation", which has become so fashionable now in the Vatican,
is not meant for Jews. Please, prove us wrong!
Vatican Denies
Pope's Deathbed Prayer. The Vatican denied that Pope John XXIII wrote a
deathbed "prayer for the Jews" in which he asked God's forgiveness
for Christian anti-Jewish persecution over the centuries. Rev. Lombardi, the
director of Vatican Radio, said that "historical truth is more than
sufficient" to appreciate this without resorting to fiction. (The
"Historical truth" of the Vatican attitude toward Jews is ugly! What about Catholic tradition of confession
of sins? Well, it is not applicable when Jews are concerned!)