Wednesday, May 19, 2021

Papal Notes - Muslims & Jews turn to Francis

And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. Revelation 13:3

"Turkey's president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan phoned Pope Francis Monday morning, inciting the pontiff to punish Israel for its "attacks against Palestine" by "mobilizing the Christian world and the
international community
.
"
Pope Francis met Iran's foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in the Vatican's Apostolic Palace soon after the phone call with Erdoğan. 
The duo discussed Palestine, interfaith dialogue and U.S. sanctions during a "wonderful audience," Zarif disclosed on Twitter.
 
Refusing to call "Jerusalem" by its ancient Biblical and historical name, the Turkish president referred to the City by its Islamic nomenclature — Al-Quds — in his phone call with  pope.
Francis will not take sides on the issue, it is understood, even though he is ideologically inclined to support Muslims and naïve about the existential threat Hamas posed to Israel, as well the problem of anti-Semitism in Islamic texts.

Francis' long-standing friendship with Argentinian Rabbi Abraham Skorka since the days when he was Cdl. Jorge Bergoglio and with whom the pope co-authored the book On Heaven and Earth: Pope Francis on Faith, Family, and the Church in the Twenty-First Century, is one reason cited for the pope's apparent neutrality." CM