Day: March 10, 2024

Italy: Catholic diocese urges Catholics to participate in Islamic prayers and iftar meals during Ramadan

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SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2024/03/italy-catholic-diocese-urges-catholics-to-participate-in-islamic-prayers-and-iftar-meals-during-ramadan; republished below in full, unedited, for informational, educational, & research purposes:

Lord, what fools these Infidels be. My comments are below; I’m quoted in the article:

“Italian diocese urges Catholics to join Muslims for prayers and meals in Ramadan,” by Jules Gomes, Catholic Herald, March 8, 2024:

An Italian diocese is instructing its priests to participate in Islamic rituals, citing Pope Francis’ directives on interreligious dialogue.

The Diocese of Bergamo issued a communiqué on Monday urging priests to seek out opportunities for interreligious dialogue during the “holy month” of Ramadan by invite the faithful to join in praying with Muslims and joining in the Iftar ritual meal.

The letter from the northern Italian diocese asks the faithful to pray for “a continuous realisation of all the dimensions that make up humanity desired by the Creator” and for “continuous growth in the dialogue between peoples and different faiths.”

Fr Massimo Rizzi, director of the diocese’s Office for Interreligious Dialogue who signed the directive, upset local Catholics for dating the letter according to the Islamic calendar (23 Sha’ban 1445)….

In comments to the Catholic Herald, Islamic scholar Robert Spencer explained that “the idea of Ramadan providing a possibility of outreach to Muslims is a tragicomic display of the failures and inherent limitations of the ‘dialogue’ imperative”.

Spencer, author of over 23 books on Islam and the Middle East, said: “Ramadan is a month in which Muslims are to redouble their efforts to please Allah.

“The highest form of service to Allah, according to Muhammad, is jihad, which principally involves warfare against unbelievers.

“Every Ramadan, therefore, we see an increase in jihad attacks. The idea that this is a time to seek friendship and cooperation with Muslims is laughably naive and demonstrates abject ignorance of Islam.”

Responding to the diocesan letter’s plea for dialogue in the hope of resolving the Middle East crisis, Spencer pointed out that the Vatican has failed to address the clause in Hamas’ charter that threatens genocide against Israel.

In its preamble, the Hamas charter states, “Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it”….