According to Cruxnow.com:
“The bond between the Vatican and Iran is a partnership destined to endure” -source
The author of this piece in Cruxnow.com is John L. Allen, Jr. Here is an excerpt from his bio:
“John L. Allen Jr. is associate editor of Crux, specializing in coverage of the Vatican and the Catholic Church.The London Tablet has called John “the most authoritative writer on Vatican affairs in the English language,” and renowned papal biographer George Weigel has called him “the best Anglophone Vatican reporter ever.” When John was called upon to put the first question to Pope Benedict XVI aboard the papal plane en route to the United States in April 2008, the Vatican spokesman said to the pope: “Holy Father, this man needs no introduction.” -source
Brethren – this article is so troubling to me and should be to you as well. I will take excerpts from the piece and interject commentary. If you have never believed that the Vatican is evil, perhaps this piece will help to change your mind.
From cruxnow.com
Although it’s forever surprising to Americans to hear this, when Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called on Pope Francis Tuesday, he did so as head of a state that has enjoyed diplomatic relations with the Vatican for much longer than the United States, and arguably representing a strategic partnership that’s almost as important as Washington.
Since when is the Vatican and its Pope considered a nation to be “called on” by heads of state for “strategic” reasons? Especially by a most provocative and controversial nation such as Iran?
Iran and the Holy See established full diplomatic ties in 1954, 30 years before the United States did so in 1984 under Ronald Reagan, and the bond has remained uninterrupted ever since, even during the Iranian Revolution and the US hostage crisis.
And the Vatican is bragging that their close ties to Iran continued “Even during the Iranian Revolution and US hostage crisis.” REALLY? This is something to be bragged about?
Rouhani was the first Iranian president since 1999 to meet the pope in the Vatican, a gap of time largely explained by the fact that it coincides with the reign of populist firebrand Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Tehran. (Rouhani and Francis were supposed to meet in November, but the Iranian leader’s European swing was canceled after the terrorist attacks in Paris.)
Oh, I suppose that would have shed a bad light on the pontiff to meet with the head of Iran right after the Islamic terrorist slaughter in Paris.
Not so long ago, when Iran’s ambitions to become a nuclear power still posed real questions about global security, such an outing would have been problematic, especially for a “Peace Pope.” Last year’s framework agreement with the P5+1 powers, however, has made it more thinkable.
So, the incredibly horrible nuclear treaty with Iran made the visit more “thinkable.” ?
At one level, the close ties between Rome and Tehran reflect the often under-appreciated fact that both the Vatican and post-revolutionary Iran are basically theocracies, representing spiritual traditions — Catholicism and Shia Islam — that have a surprising amount in common.
Wait until you read how commonalities between Shia Islam and Catholicism are expanded upon!
Iranian writer Vali Nasr, author of the 2006 book “The Shia Revival,” argues that the divide between Sunni and Shia bears comparison to that between Protestants and Catholics, with Shia being the branch closer to Catholicism.
Oh wait…… except for the fact that Protestants and Catholics do not terrorize and slaughter people.
Among those points of contact are:
An approach to the Quran accenting both scripture and tradition
They really mean both Scriptures and man-made heresy (in apostate Christianity)
A deep mystical streak
Yes! The Catholic Church is filled with mysticism!
Devotion to a holy family (in the case of Shiites, the blood relatives of Mohammad) and to saints (the Twelve Imams)
Holy family? Mohammad and his ilk were murderers and molesters of children. Well, the molesters of children would be an accurate commonality with the Catholic church.
A theology of sacrifice and atonement through the death of Hussain, grandson of Mohammad and the first imam of Shia Islam
How dare this writer compare the death of our Savior Jesus Christ, to the death of Mohammad? Jesus Christ lives and sits at the right hand of the Father. Mohammad is dead.
Belief in free will (as opposed to the Sunni doctrine of pre-destination)
Free will? That’s laughable.
One recent sign of the spiritual vicinity is that Iranian scholars recently translated the Confessions of Augustine and the Catechism of the Catholic Church into Farsi, the result of a 12-year effort.
That is because in the 2nd Vatican Council, it was added into the Catechism that Muslims worship the same God as do Christians. COMPLETE LIE
In terms of sheer realpolitik, both parties also have strong motives for keeping their relationship green.
An article I wrote last year about this “relationship”
An Unholy Alliance – Islam and the Vatican
From Iran’s point of view, it aspires to being not merely a regional but a global player, and to do so it requires not merely “hard” power, to invoke the famous distinction of Harvard political scientist Joseph Nye, but also “soft,” meaning moral legitimacy. The perception of being in dialogue with the Vatican is crucially important, counteracting Bush administration rhetoric about Iran being part of an “axis of evil.”
Oh, but Bush was right! Iran IS part of an axis of evil!
Tehran also sees the Vatican as a firebreak with sometimes hostile Western nations. In 2007, when it seemed as if concerns over Iran’s nuclear program might lead to armed conflict with the United States, Iranian diplomats quietly sought out the Vatican as a potential mediator.
“Hostile Western nations?” Unbelievable. Incredible propaganda!
Pope Francis meets Iranian leader to discuss Middle East, possible trip
‘Marrakesh Express’ aims to prove that ISIS is not the real face of Islam
As far as the Vatican is concerned, few geopolitical challenges these days loom larger than the future direction of Islamic societies, including the fate of the Christian minorities within those nations. Given the decisive role Iran plays in neighboring countries such as Syria and Iraq, the Vatican believes that engagement is critically important.
More PROPAGANDA! ISIS is definitely the face of fundamentalist Islam!
Ironically, some Vatican diplomats actually have greater confidence in the protection of Christians in the Middle East by Iran and Russia than by the Western powers, who, in their judgment, simply don’t take religion seriously as a source of identity.
I actually have no words for this excerpt. Well, maybe ‘bull hockey’ would suffice.
Francis has already made trips to Turkey, Israel, Palestine, and Jordan, and has also repeatedly voiced frustration that security concerns so far have made it impossible for him to go to Iraq and Syria. In that context, an outing to Iran would fit naturally both with the pope’s political priorities and also his outreach to the Islamic world, which recently found confirmation in indications that he’s also planning to make a first-ever papal stop at Rome’s Great Mosque.
Oh, poor Francis cannot go to Iraq or Syria. I’m sure he looses sleep over this. Isn’t it just so exciting that he plans to stop in at Rome’s Great Mosque!! <insert sarcasm>
For his role in heading off an anti-Assad offensive, Foreign Policy magazine called Francis a “lion-slayer.”
I just like to call Pope Francis the “False Prophet.”
Nonetheless, when Francis and Rouhani parted company on Tuesday, they did so as friends, and possibly with a papal trip on the drawing board.
In other words, this is a partnership destined to endure.
Well, I’m sure that this partnership is destined to endure – right into hell.
I’m sorry if I offended any readers with this piece, but we need to speak out against this pope of Rome. His words have had nothing to do with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He is mouthpiece for the U.N. and it’s Sustainable Initiatives. He is a Marxist Socialist. I am sick and tired of hearing news commentators speak of this pope as if he is deity. He is FAR from that!
Come Lord Jesus!
MARANATHA!