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by Michael Snyder
February 06,
2019
from
EndOfTheAmericanDream Website
Pope Francis and Islam are both steeped in
Sustainable Development, aka
Technocracy.
The Pope's chosen papal name honored St.
Francis, who was the Islamic unifier during his
lifetime.
The merger solidifies the movement toward a
one-world religion.
Source
The Pope
and
Islam's most Important Imam
just Signed a
Covenant
that pushes us
much closer
to a One World
Religion...
A historic interfaith covenant was signed in the Middle East on
Monday, and the mainstream media in the United States has been
almost entirely silent about it.
Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb
is considered to be the most important imam in Sunni Islam, and he
arrived at the signing ceremony in Abu Dhabi with Pope Francis,
"hand-in-hand in a
symbol of interfaith brotherhood".
But this wasn't just a
ceremony for Catholics and Muslims. According to a British news
source, the signing of this covenant was done,
"in front of a global
audience of religious leaders from Christianity, Islam, Judaism
and other faiths"…
The pope and the grand
imam of al-Azhar have signed a historic declaration of fraternity,
calling for "peace" between nations, religions and races, in front
of a global audience of religious leaders from Christianity, Islam,
Judaism and other faiths.
Pope
Francis, the leader of the
world's Catholics, and Sheikh
Ahmed al-Tayeb, the head of
Sunni Islam's most prestigious seat of learning, arrived at the
ceremony in Abu Dhabi hand-in-hand in a symbol of interfaith
brotherhood.
In other words,
there was a concerted
effort to make sure that all of the religions of the world were
represented at this gathering.
According to the official
Vatican website, a tremendous amount of preparation went in to the
drafting of this document, and it encourages believers from all
religions,
"to shake hands,
embrace one another, kiss one another, and even pray" with one
another…
The document, signed by
Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of al-Azhar, Ahmed el-Tayeb, was
prepared,
"with much reflection
and prayer", the Pope said.
The one great danger at
this moment, he continued, is,
"destruction, war,
hatred between us."
"If we believers are
not able to shake hands, embrace one another, kiss one another,
and even pray, our faith will be defeated", he said.
The Pope explained that
the document,
"is born of faith in
God who is the Father of all and the Father of peace; it
condemns all destruction, all terrorism, from the first
terrorism in history, that of Cain."
There is a lot of
language about peace in this document, but it goes way beyond
just advocating for peace.
Over and over again, the word "God" is used to simultaneously
identify
Allah and the
God of Christianity.
Here is just one example…
We, who believe in
God and in the final meeting with him and his judgment, on the
basis of our religious and moral responsibility, and through
this Document, call upon ourselves, upon the leaders of the
world as well as the architects of international policy and
world economy, to work strenuously to spread the culture of
tolerance and of living together in peace; to intervene at the
earliest opportunity to stop the shedding of innocent blood and
bring an end to wars, conflicts, environmental decay and the
moral and cultural decline that the world is presently
experiencing.
On top of that, the
document also boldly declares that "the diversity of religions" that
we see in the world was "willed by 'God'…"
Freedom is a right of every person: each individual enjoys the
freedom of belief, thought, expression and action.
The pluralism and
the diversity of religions, color, sex, race and language are
willed by God in His wisdom, through which He created human beings.
This "divine" wisdom is the source from which the right to freedom of
belief and the freedom to be different derives.
Therefore, the fact
that people are forced to adhere to a certain religion or culture
must be rejected, as too the imposition of a cultural way of life
that others do not accept...
In essence, this is saying that
it is the "will" of God that there are
hundreds of different religions in the world and that they are all
acceptable in his sight.
We know that
the elite want a
one world religion, but to see the
most important clerics from both Catholicism and Islam make such a
dramatic public push for it is absolutely stunning.
You can find the full text of the covenant that they signed on
the
official Vatican website.
I have also reproduced the entire document
below…
INTRODUCTION
Faith leads a believer to see in the other a brother or sister
to be supported and loved.
Through faith in God, who has created
the universe, creatures and all human beings (equal on account
of his mercy), believers are called to express this human
fraternity by safeguarding creation and the entire universe and
supporting all persons, especially the poorest and those most in
need.
This transcendental value served as the starting point for
several meetings characterized by a friendly and fraternal
atmosphere where we shared the joys, sorrows and problems of our
contemporary world. We did this by considering scientific and
technical progress, therapeutic achievements, the digital era,
the mass media and communications.
We reflected also on the
level of poverty, conflict and suffering of so many brothers and
sisters in different parts of the world as a consequence of the
arms race, social injustice, corruption, inequality, moral
decline, terrorism, discrimination, extremism and many other
causes.
From our fraternal and open discussions, and from the meeting
that expressed profound hope in a bright future for all human
beings, the idea of this Document on Human Fraternity was
conceived. It is a text that has been given honest and serious
thought so as to be a joint declaration of good and heartfelt
aspirations.
It is a document that invites all persons who have
faith in God and faith in human fraternity to unite and work
together so that it may serve as a guide for future generations
to advance a culture of mutual respect in the awareness of the
great divine grace that makes all human beings brothers and
sisters.
DOCUMENT
In the name of God who has created all human beings equal in
rights, duties and dignity, and who has called them to live
together as brothers and sisters, to fill the earth and make
known the values of goodness, love and peace;
In the name of innocent human life that
God has forbidden to
kill, affirming that whoever kills a person is like one who
kills the whole of humanity, and that whoever saves a person is
like one who saves the whole of humanity;
In the name of the poor, the destitute, the marginalized and
those most in need whom God has commanded us to help as a duty
required of all persons, especially the wealthy and of means;
In the name of orphans, widows, refugees and those exiled from
their homes and their countries; in the name of all victims of
wars, persecution and injustice; in the name of the weak, those
who live in fear, prisoners of war and those tortured in any
part of the world, without distinction;
In the name of peoples who have lost their security, peace, and
the possibility of living together, becoming victims of
destruction, calamity and war;
In the name of human fraternity that embraces all human beings,
unites them and renders them equal;
In the name of this fraternity torn apart by policies of
extremism and division, by systems of unrestrained profit or by
hateful ideological tendencies that manipulate the actions and
the future of men and women;
In the name of freedom, that
God has given to all human beings
creating them free and distinguishing them by this gift;
In the name of justice and mercy, the foundations of prosperity
and the cornerstone of faith;
In the name of all persons of good will present in every part of
the world;
In the name of God and of everything stated thus far; Al-Azhar
al-Sharif and the Muslims of the East and West, together with
the Catholic Church and the Catholics of the East and West,
...declare the adoption of a culture of dialogue as the path;
mutual cooperation as the code of conduct; reciprocal
understanding as the method and standard.
We, who believe in God and in the final meeting with Him and His
judgment, on the basis of our religious and moral
responsibility, and through this Document, call upon ourselves,
upon the leaders of the world as well as the architects of
international policy and world economy, to work strenuously to
spread the culture of tolerance and of living together in peace;
to intervene at the earliest opportunity to stop the shedding of
innocent blood and bring an end to wars, conflicts,
environmental decay and the moral and cultural decline that the
world is presently experiencing.
We call upon intellectuals, philosophers, religious figures,
artists, media professionals and men and women of culture in
every part of the world, to rediscover the values of peace,
justice, goodness, beauty, human fraternity and coexistence in
order to confirm the importance of these values as anchors of
salvation for all, and to promote them everywhere.
This Declaration, setting out from a profound consideration of
our contemporary reality, valuing its successes and in
solidarity with its suffering, disasters and calamities,
believes firmly that among the most important causes of the
crises of the modern world are a desensitized human conscience,
a distancing from religious values and a prevailing
individualism accompanied by materialistic philosophies that
deify the human person and introduce worldly and material values
in place of supreme and transcendental principles.
While recognizing the positive steps taken by our modern
civilization in the fields of science, technology, medicine,
industry and welfare, especially in developed countries, we wish
to emphasize that, associated with such historic advancements,
great and valued as they are, there exists both a moral
deterioration that influences international action and a
weakening of spiritual values and responsibility.
All this
contributes to a general feeling of frustration, isolation and
desperation leading many to fall either into a vortex of
atheistic, agnostic or religious extremism, or into blind and
fanatic extremism, which ultimately encourage forms of
dependency and individual or collective self-destruction.
History shows that religious extremism, national extremism and
also intolerance have produced in the world, be it in the East
or West, what might be referred to as signs of a "third world
war being fought piecemeal". In several parts of the world and
in many tragic circumstances these signs have begun to be
painfully apparent, as in those situations where the precise
number of victims, widows and orphans is unknown.
We see, in
addition, other regions preparing to become theatres of new
conflicts, with outbreaks of tension and a build-up of arms and
ammunition, and all this in a global context overshadowed by
uncertainty, disillusionment, fear of the future, and controlled
by narrow-minded economic interests.
We likewise affirm that major political crises, situations of
injustice and lack of equitable distribution of natural
resources - which only a rich minority benefit from, to the
detriment of the majority of the peoples of the earth - have
generated, and continue to generate, vast numbers of poor,
infirm and deceased persons.
This leads to catastrophic crises
that various countries have fallen victim to despite their
natural resources and the resourcefulness of young people which
characterize these nations. In the face of such crises that
result in the deaths of millions of children - wasted away from
poverty and hunger - there is an unacceptable silence on the
international level.
It is clear in this context how the family as the fundamental
nucleus of society and humanity is essential in bringing
children into the world, raising them, educating them, and
providing them with solid moral formation and domestic security.
To attack the institution of the family, to regard it with
contempt or to doubt its important role, is one of the most
threatening evils of our era.
We affirm also the importance of awakening religious awareness
and the need to revive this awareness in the hearts of new
generations through sound education and an adherence to moral
values and upright religious teachings. In this way we can
confront tendencies that are individualistic, selfish,
conflicting, and also address radicalism and blind extremism in
all its forms and expressions.
The first and most important aim of religions is to believe in
God, to honor him and to invite all men and women to believe
that this universe depends on a God who governs it. He is the
"Creator" who has formed us with his divine wisdom and has granted
us the gift of life to protect it. It is a gift that no one has
the right to take away, threaten or manipulate to suit oneself.
Indeed, everyone must safeguard this gift of life from its
beginning up to its natural end.
We therefore condemn all those
practices that are a threat to life such as genocide, acts of
terrorism, forced displacement, human trafficking, abortion and
euthanasia. We likewise condemn the policies that promote these
practices.
Moreover, we resolutely declare that religions must never incite
war, hateful attitudes, hostility and extremism, nor must they
incite violence or the shedding of blood. These tragic realities
are the consequence of a deviation from religious teachings.
They result from a political manipulation of religions and from
interpretations made by religious groups who, in the course of
history, have taken advantage of the power of religious
sentiment in the hearts of men and women in order to make them
act in a way that has nothing to do with the truth of religion.
This is done for the purpose of achieving objectives that are
political, economic, worldly and short-sighted. We thus call
upon all concerned to stop using religions to incite hatred,
violence, extremism and blind fanaticism, and to refrain from
using the name of God to justify acts of murder, exile,
terrorism and oppression.
We ask this on the basis of our common
belief in God who did not create men and women to be killed or
to fight one another, nor to be tortured or humiliated in their
lives and circumstances. God, the Almighty, has no need to be
defended by anyone and does not want his name to be used to
terrorize people.
This document, in accordance with previous International
Documents that have emphasized the importance of the role of
religions in the construction of world peace, upholds the
following:
-
The firm conviction that authentic teachings of religions
invite us to remain rooted in the values of peace; to defend the
values of mutual understanding, human fraternity and harmonious
coexistence; to re-establish wisdom, justice and love; and to
reawaken religious awareness among young people so that future
generations may be protected from the realm of materialistic
thinking and from dangerous policies of unbridled greed and
indifference that are based on the law of force and not on the
force of law;
-
Freedom is a right of every person: each individual enjoys the
freedom of belief, thought, expression and action. The pluralism
and the diversity of religions, color, sex, race and language
are willed by God in His wisdom, through which He created human
beings. This divine wisdom is the source from which the right to
freedom of belief and the freedom to be different derives.
Therefore, the fact that people are forced to adhere to a
certain religion or culture must be rejected, as too the
imposition of a cultural way of life that others do not accept;
-
Justice based on mercy is the path to follow in order to
achieve a dignified life to which every human being has a right;
-
Dialogue, understanding and the widespread promotion of a
culture of tolerance, acceptance of others and of living
together peacefully would contribute significantly to reducing
many economic, social, political and environmental problems that
weigh so heavily on a large part of humanity;
-
Dialogue among believers means coming together in the vast
space of spiritual, human and shared social values and, from
here, transmitting the highest moral virtues that religions aim
for. It also means avoiding unproductive discussions;
-
The protection of places of worship
- synagogues, churches and
mosques - is a duty guaranteed by religions, human values, laws
and international agreements. Every attempt to attack places of
worship or threaten them by violent assaults, bombings or
destruction, is a deviation from the teachings of religions as
well as a clear violation of international law;
-
Terrorism is deplorable and threatens the security of people,
be they in the East or the West, the North or the South, and
disseminates panic, terror and pessimism, but this is not due to
religion, even when terrorists instrumentalize it. It is due,
rather, to an accumulation of incorrect interpretations of
religious texts and to policies linked to hunger, poverty,
injustice, oppression and pride. This is why it is so necessary
to stop supporting terrorist movements fuelled by financing, the
provision of weapons and strategy, and by attempts to justify
these movements even using the media. All these must be regarded
as international crimes that threaten security and world peace.
Such terrorism must be condemned in all its forms and
expressions;
-
The concept of citizenship is based on the equality of rights
and duties, under which all enjoy justice. It is therefore
crucial to establish in our societies the concept of full
citizenship and reject the discriminatory use of the term
minorities which engenders feelings of isolation and
inferiority. Its misuse paves the way for hostility and discord;
it undoes any successes and takes away the religious and civil
rights of some citizens who are thus discriminated against;
-
Good relations between East and West are indisputably
necessary for both. They must not be neglected, so that each can
be enriched by the other's culture through fruitful exchange and
dialogue. The West can discover in the East remedies for those
spiritual and religious maladies that are caused by a prevailing
materialism. And the East can find in the West many elements
that can help free it from weakness, division, conflict and
scientific, technical and cultural decline. It is important to
pay attention to religious, cultural and historical differences
that are a vital component in shaping the character, culture and
civilization of the East. It is likewise important to reinforce
the bond of fundamental human rights in order to help ensure a
dignified life for all the men and women of East and West,
avoiding the politics of double standards;
-
It is an essential requirement to recognize the right of women
to education and employment, and to recognize their freedom to
exercise their own political rights. Moreover, efforts must be
made to free women from historical and social conditioning that
runs contrary to the principles of their faith and dignity. It
is also necessary to protect women from sexual exploitation and
from being treated as merchandise or objects of pleasure or
financial gain. Accordingly, an end must be brought to all those
inhuman and vulgar practices that denigrate the dignity of
women. Efforts must be made to modify those laws that prevent
women from fully enjoying their rights;
-
The protection of the fundamental rights of children to grow
up in a family environment, to receive nutrition, education and
support, are duties of the family and society. Such duties must
be guaranteed and protected so that they are not overlooked or
denied to any child in any part of the world. All those
practices that violate the dignity and rights of children must
be denounced. It is equally important to be vigilant against the
dangers that they are exposed to, particularly in the digital
world, and to consider as a crime the trafficking of their
innocence and all violations of their youth;
-
The protection of the rights of the elderly, the weak, the
disabled, and the oppressed is a religious and social obligation
that must be guaranteed and defended through strict legislation
and the implementation of the relevant international agreements.
To this end, by mutual cooperation,
the Catholic Church and Al-Azhar
announce and pledge to convey this Document to authorities,
influential leaders, persons of religion all over the world,
appropriate regional and international organizations,
organizations within civil society, religious institutions and
leading thinkers.
They further pledge to make known the
principles contained in this Declaration at all regional and
international levels, while requesting that these principles be
translated into policies, decisions, legislative texts, courses
of study and materials to be circulated.
Al-Azhar and the Catholic Church ask that this document become
the object of research and reflection in all schools,
universities and institutes of formation, thus helping to
educate new generations to bring goodness and peace to others,
and to be defenders everywhere of the rights of the oppressed
and of the least of our brothers and sisters.
In conclusion, our aspiration is that:
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this Declaration may constitute an invitation to reconciliation
and fraternity among all believers, indeed among believers and
non-believers, and among all people of good will;
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this Declaration may be an appeal to every upright conscience
that rejects deplorable violence and blind extremism; an appeal
to those who cherish the values of tolerance and fraternity that
are promoted and encouraged by religions;
-
this Declaration may be a witness to the greatness of faith in
God that unites divided hearts and elevates the human soul;
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this Declaration may be a sign of the closeness between East and
West, between North and South, and between all who believe that
God has created us to understand one another, cooperate with one
another and live as brothers and sisters who love one another.
This is what we hope and seek to achieve with the aim of finding
a universal peace that all can enjoy in this life.
Abu Dhabi
4
February 2019
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