News Item: : Reflecting on Cardinal Nichols' Visit to Pope Francis with Four British Imams
(Category: Torch of The Faith News)
Posted by admin
Wednesday 05 April 2017 - 16:22:44

The Catholic Herald has reported on Cardinal Nichols' trip to Rome to see Pope Francis with four British imams.

At one level, this can be viewed in a positive light in terms of building peaceful and positive relations between different communities here in the UK.

To be sure, our own personal experiences of British Muslims have been consistently positive.

When I worked for the Life charity, I had to visit the headquarters for meetings with other regional education officers about once a month; my superiors frequently put me up overnight in a B&B run by a Muslim family in the British Midlands. That family were always very kind and helpful to me; and also supportive of the pro-life work in which I was engaged.

Then, too, we were once praying with a Catholic priest, who was preaching in London's Hyde Park Corner, when a group of young Muslim men stood up for us against the jeers of the drunks and anti-Catholic secularists who had gathered to mock the priest and the message he was sharing. During that exchange, one of the Muslim chaps gestured reverently towards the priest's icon of Our Lady and warned the onlookers to have respect for Her and towards our Catholic religion.

All that being said, for one who really believes in the truth of the Catholic religion, inter-religious dialogue, properly understood, would always have an eye to leading all people toward the Light of Christ and the true religion He founded for the salvation and sanctification of souls.

From the words that Cardinal Vincent Nichols says on occasions like today, one can never really be sure that this is the way he sees things.

For example, in his statements to the media during this trip to Rome, he states: ''I also hope that this moment will help the voice of authentic Islam to be heard clearly. We look forward to our continuing promotion of collaboration at a local level at the service of all in society.''

From what one hears, I imagine that many Catholics in the UK would join us in wishing that Cardinal Nichols would be as quick to affirm his hopes for the voice of authentic Catholicism to be heard in this country!

Certainly, as evidenced in his infamous ''who knows what's down the road?'' line, about Church teaching on homosexuality, he frequently gives a diluted message to the media in terms of faith and morals.

When all is said and done, spreading the Catholic Faith - and not inter-religious dialogue or political manoeuvres over Islamic immigration - is the commission which Cardinal Nichols has received from Our Lord Jesus Christ, as a successor to the Apostles.

Yesterday, the Gatestone Institute reported that, in London alone, some 500 churches have closed for lack of numbers, between 2001 and the present day. In that same period, some 423 mosques have opened in London. Many of these mosques are full to bursting with existing members and new converts. The constant drain away from the Catholic Church, and other Christian communities, underscores the fact that much that passes for Christianity today is, in fact, watered down feel-good religion. Christian leaders appear weak and unwilling to promote Christ's eternal truths; whilst Islamic leaders and their followers appear, generally speaking, much more committed to what they believe in. To that equation must be factored in the large numbers of Muslims arriving into the UK each year; and the fact that Islamic families are having far more children in general, due to the widespread promotion of contraception, abortion and homosexualization in the wider populace.

This is all indicative of the future religious and cultural situation in the capital and in many other parts of the country; such as Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester and Bradford.

Whilst Cardinal Nichols wishes his hearers to concentrate on what he deems to be the authentic voice of Islam, it is also worth reflecting on the words of Innes Bowen in The Spectator.

Bowen had drawn attention to the claim that only two of the mosques in Britain today follow the modernist interpretation of Islam, compared with 56% of mosques in the USA. Bowen added that the Wahhabis control 6% of the mosques in the UK, while the fundamentalist Deobandi control up to 45%. The news of fundamentalism is the kind of information that gets British Christians and others concerned; especially when the nation is still reeling from the unprecendented attack by the Islamist on Westminster Bridge a couple of weeks ago. After all, in the Britain we grew up in, it was safe to walk through cities and tourist attractions without being suddenly run down by Islamists. 

Again, the Gatestone Institute article pointed to a Knowledge Centre survey, which claimed that 1/3 of British Muslims do not feel themselves to be part of British culture. Furthermore, as Gatestone Institute reported, there is also a spreading acceptance of Sharia Law in the UK.

Conclusion

In so far as inter-religious dialogue leads to peace, positive community relations and social cohesion, it can only be seen as a good thing at the level of natural human interaction.

However, as Catholics we also believe in the supernatural dimension, which includes the belief that true and lasting peace, the type that the world cannot give (John 14:27), always comes from Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

If one really loves Christ, and truly loves other people and their cultures, then it is the Gospel message that one desires to spread.

But, based on all the objective evidence, is it really the Gospel of Jesus Christ that Pope Francis and Cardinal Nichols are spreading?

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This news item is from Torch of The Faith
( http://www.torchofthefaith.com/news.php?extend.1603 )