Kate, from some where in the USA made a request:
Dear Tom, your website is excellent!!, thank you for all the very hard work and time you put into it..I have one
thing I'd like to mention, and thats the Catechism discusses Muslims and the same God as we worship. too many
Protestants debate on this and we don't have enough understanding about it... it's become rampant now.. one
man said he can not remain catholic due to this and a few other things, but this is what needs to be addressed at
this time . If your up to it, please sometime, make a page regarding this... thank you. God Bless you, Kate
To Kate: The Document Below is from Vatican II
I will write more of my comments as Time permits. If one truly understands
what it means to be a member of the Body of Christ, which is the One Church
established by Jesus Christ, to which we further understand that the same is that
ancient Church we call "The Catholic Church," ...if one is truly Catholic, he
would never leave, in spite of his lack of understanding the teachings of the
Church.
Do you recall John Henry Cardinal Newman, Apologia pro vita sua (London
Longman, 1878)
who said, "Ten thousand difficulties do not make one doubt." ? (Footnote 32)
In leaving the One Body of Christ, where else would one go?
God Bless! Tom
Dear Tom, your website is excellent!!, thank you for all the very hard work and time you put into it..I have one
thing I'd like to mention, and thats the Catechism discusses Muslims and the same God as we worship. too many
Protestants debate on this and we don't have enough understanding about it... it's become rampant now.. one
man said he can not remain catholic due to this and a few other things, but this is what needs to be addressed at
this time . If your up to it, please sometime, make a page regarding this... thank you. God Bless you, Kate
To Kate: The Document Below is from Vatican II
I will write more of my comments as Time permits. If one truly understands
what it means to be a member of the Body of Christ, which is the One Church
established by Jesus Christ, to which we further understand that the same is that
ancient Church we call "The Catholic Church," ...if one is truly Catholic, he
would never leave, in spite of his lack of understanding the teachings of the
Church.
Do you recall John Henry Cardinal Newman, Apologia pro vita sua (London
Longman, 1878)
who said, "Ten thousand difficulties do not make one doubt." ? (Footnote 32)
In leaving the One Body of Christ, where else would one go?
God Bless! Tom
DECLARATION ON
THE RELATION OF THE CHURCH TO NON-CHRISTIAN RELIGIONS
NOSTRA AETATE
PROCLAIMED BY HIS HOLINESS
POPE PAUL VI
ON OCTOBER 28, 1965
1. In our time, when day by day mankind is being drawn closer together, and the
ties between different peoples are becoming stronger, the Church examines more
closely he relationship to non- Christian religions. In her task of promoting unity
and love among men, indeed among nations, she considers above all in this
declaration what men have in common and what draws them to fellowship.
One is the community of all peoples, one their origin, for God made the whole
human race to live over the face of the earth.(1) One also is their final goal, God.
His providence, His manifestations of goodness, His saving design extend to all
men,(2) until that time when the elect will be united in the Holy City, the city
ablaze with the glory of God, where the nations will walk in His light.(3)
Men expect from the various religions answers to the unsolved riddles of the
human condition, which today, even as in former times, deeply stir the hearts of
men: What is man? What is the meaning, the aim of our life? What is moral good,
what sin? Whence suffering and what purpose does it serve? Which is the road to
true happiness? What are death, judgment and retribution after death? What,
finally, is that ultimate inexpressible mystery which encompasses our existence:
whence do we come, and where are we going?
2. From ancient times down to the present, there is found among various peoples
a certain perception of that hidden power which hovers over the course of things
and over the events of human history; at times some indeed have come to the
recognition of a Supreme Being, or even of a Father. This perception and
recognition penetrates their lives with a profound religious sense.
Religions, however, that are bound up with an advanced culture have struggled to
answer the same questions by means of more refined concepts and a more
developed language. Thus in Hinduism, men contemplate the divine mystery and
express it through an inexhaustible abundance of myths and through searching
philosophical inquiry. They seek freedom from the anguish of our human
condition either through ascetical practices or profound meditation or a flight to
God with love and trust. Again, Buddhism, in its various forms, realizes the
radical insufficiency of this changeable world; it teaches a way by which men, in
a devout and confident spirit, may be able either to acquire the state of perfect
liberation, or attain, by their own efforts or through higher help, supreme
illumination. Likewise, other religions found everywhere try to counter the
restlessness of the human heart, each in its own manner, by proposing "ways,"
comprising teachings, rules of life, and sacred rites. The Catholic Church rejects
nothing that is true and holy in these religions. She regards with sincere reverence
those ways of conduct and of life, those precepts and teachings which, though
differing in many aspects from the ones she holds and sets forth, nonetheless
often reflect a ray of that Truth which enlightens all men. Indeed, she proclaims,
and ever must proclaim Christ "the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6), in
whom men may find the fullness of religious life, in whom God has reconciled all
things to Himself.(4)
The Church, therefore, exhorts her sons, that through dialogue and collaboration
with the followers of other religions, carried out with prudence and love and in
witness to the Christian faith and life, they recognize, preserve and promote the
good things, spiritual and moral, as well as the socio-cultural values found among
these men.
3. The Church regards with esteem also the Moslems. They adore the one God,
living and subsisting in Himself; merciful and all- powerful, the Creator of
heaven and earth,(5) who has spoken to men; they take pains to submit
wholeheartedly to even His inscrutable decrees, just as Abraham, with whom
the faith of Islam takes pleasure in linking itself, submitted to God. Though
they do not acknowledge Jesus as God, they revere Him as a prophet. They
also honor Mary, His virgin Mother; at times they even call on her with
devotion. In addition, they await the day of judgment when God will render
their deserts to all those who have been raised up from the dead. Finally, they
value the moral life and worship God especially through prayer, almsgiving
and fasting.
Since in the course of centuries not a few quarrels and hostilities have arisen
between Christians and Moslems, this sacred synod urges all to forget the past
and to work sincerely for mutual understanding and to preserve as well as to
promote together for the benefit of all mankind social justice and moral
welfare, as well as peace and freedom.
4. As the sacred synod searches into the mystery of the Church, it remembers the
bond that spiritually ties the people of the New Covenant to Abraham's stock.
Thus the Church of Christ acknowledges that, according to God's saving design,
the beginnings of her faith and her election are found already among the
Patriarchs, Moses and the prophets. She professes that all who believe in
Christ-Abraham's sons according to faith (6)-are included in the same Patriarch's
call, and likewise that the salvation of the Church is mysteriously foreshadowed
by the chosen people's exodus from the land of bondage. The Church, therefore,
cannot forget that she received the revelation of the Old Testament through the
people with whom God in His inexpressible mercy concluded the Ancient
Covenant. Nor can she forget that she draws sustenance from the root of that
well-cultivated olive tree onto which have been grafted the wild shoots, the
Gentiles.(7) Indeed, the Church believes that by His cross Christ, Our Peace,
reconciled Jews and Gentiles. making both one in Himself.(8)
The Church keeps ever in mind the words of the Apostle about his kinsmen:
"theirs is the sonship and the glory and the covenants and the law and the
worship and the promises; theirs are the fathers and from them is the Christ
according to the flesh" (Rom. 9:4-5), the Son of the Virgin Mary. She also recalls
that the Apostles, the Church's main-stay and pillars, as well as most of the early
disciples who proclaimed Christ's Gospel to the world, sprang from the Jewish
people.
As Holy Scripture testifies, Jerusalem did not recognize the time of her
visitation,(9) nor did the Jews in large number, accept the Gospel; indeed not a
few opposed its spreading.(10) Nevertheless, God holds the Jews most dear for
the sake of their Fathers; He does not repent of the gifts He makes or of the calls
He issues-such is the witness of the Apostle.(11) In company with the Prophets
and the same Apostle, the Church awaits that day, known to God alone, on which
all peoples will address the Lord in a single voice and "serve him shoulder to
shoulder" (Soph. 3:9).(12)
Since the spiritual patrimony common to Christians and Jews is thus so great, this
sacred synod wants to foster and recommend that mutual understanding and
respect which is the fruit, above all, of biblical and theological studies as well as
of fraternal dialogues.
True, the Jewish authorities and those who followed their lead pressed for the
death of Christ;(13) still, what happened in His passion cannot be charged against
all the Jews, without distinction, then alive, nor against the Jews of today.
Although the Church is the new people of God, the Jews should not be presented
as rejected or accursed by God, as if this followed from the Holy Scriptures. All
should see to it, then, that in catechetical work or in the preaching of the word of
God they do not teach anything that does not conform to the truth of the Gospel
and the spirit of Christ.
Furthermore, in her rejection of every persecution against any man, the Church,
mindful of the patrimony she shares with the Jews and moved not by political
reasons but by the Gospel's spiritual love, decries hatred, persecutions, displays of
anti-Semitism, directed against Jews at any time and by anyone.
Besides, as the Church has always held and holds now, Christ underwent His
passion and death freely, because of the sins of men and out of infinite love, in
order that all may reach salvation. It is, therefore, the burden of the Church's
preaching to proclaim the cross of Christ as the sign of God's all-embracing love
and as the fountain from which every grace flows.
5. We cannot truly call on God, the Father of all, if we refuse to treat in a
brotherly way any man, created as he is in the image of God. Man's relation to
God the Father and his relation to men his brothers are so linked together that
Scripture says: "He who does not love does not know God" (1 John 4:8).
No foundation therefore remains for any theory or practice that leads to
discrimination between man and man or people and people, so far as their human
dignity and the rights flowing from it are concerned.
The Church reproves, as foreign to the mind of Christ, any discrimination against
men or harassment of them because of their race, color, condition of life, or
religion. On the contrary, following in the footsteps of the holy Apostles Peter
and Paul, this sacred synod ardently implores the Christian faithful to "maintain
good fellowship among the nations" (1 Peter 2:12), and, if possible, to live for
their part in peace with all men,(14) so that they may truly be sons of the Father
who is in heaven.(15)
THE RELATION OF THE CHURCH TO NON-CHRISTIAN RELIGIONS
NOSTRA AETATE
PROCLAIMED BY HIS HOLINESS
POPE PAUL VI
ON OCTOBER 28, 1965
1. In our time, when day by day mankind is being drawn closer together, and the
ties between different peoples are becoming stronger, the Church examines more
closely he relationship to non- Christian religions. In her task of promoting unity
and love among men, indeed among nations, she considers above all in this
declaration what men have in common and what draws them to fellowship.
One is the community of all peoples, one their origin, for God made the whole
human race to live over the face of the earth.(1) One also is their final goal, God.
His providence, His manifestations of goodness, His saving design extend to all
men,(2) until that time when the elect will be united in the Holy City, the city
ablaze with the glory of God, where the nations will walk in His light.(3)
Men expect from the various religions answers to the unsolved riddles of the
human condition, which today, even as in former times, deeply stir the hearts of
men: What is man? What is the meaning, the aim of our life? What is moral good,
what sin? Whence suffering and what purpose does it serve? Which is the road to
true happiness? What are death, judgment and retribution after death? What,
finally, is that ultimate inexpressible mystery which encompasses our existence:
whence do we come, and where are we going?
2. From ancient times down to the present, there is found among various peoples
a certain perception of that hidden power which hovers over the course of things
and over the events of human history; at times some indeed have come to the
recognition of a Supreme Being, or even of a Father. This perception and
recognition penetrates their lives with a profound religious sense.
Religions, however, that are bound up with an advanced culture have struggled to
answer the same questions by means of more refined concepts and a more
developed language. Thus in Hinduism, men contemplate the divine mystery and
express it through an inexhaustible abundance of myths and through searching
philosophical inquiry. They seek freedom from the anguish of our human
condition either through ascetical practices or profound meditation or a flight to
God with love and trust. Again, Buddhism, in its various forms, realizes the
radical insufficiency of this changeable world; it teaches a way by which men, in
a devout and confident spirit, may be able either to acquire the state of perfect
liberation, or attain, by their own efforts or through higher help, supreme
illumination. Likewise, other religions found everywhere try to counter the
restlessness of the human heart, each in its own manner, by proposing "ways,"
comprising teachings, rules of life, and sacred rites. The Catholic Church rejects
nothing that is true and holy in these religions. She regards with sincere reverence
those ways of conduct and of life, those precepts and teachings which, though
differing in many aspects from the ones she holds and sets forth, nonetheless
often reflect a ray of that Truth which enlightens all men. Indeed, she proclaims,
and ever must proclaim Christ "the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6), in
whom men may find the fullness of religious life, in whom God has reconciled all
things to Himself.(4)
The Church, therefore, exhorts her sons, that through dialogue and collaboration
with the followers of other religions, carried out with prudence and love and in
witness to the Christian faith and life, they recognize, preserve and promote the
good things, spiritual and moral, as well as the socio-cultural values found among
these men.
3. The Church regards with esteem also the Moslems. They adore the one God,
living and subsisting in Himself; merciful and all- powerful, the Creator of
heaven and earth,(5) who has spoken to men; they take pains to submit
wholeheartedly to even His inscrutable decrees, just as Abraham, with whom
the faith of Islam takes pleasure in linking itself, submitted to God. Though
they do not acknowledge Jesus as God, they revere Him as a prophet. They
also honor Mary, His virgin Mother; at times they even call on her with
devotion. In addition, they await the day of judgment when God will render
their deserts to all those who have been raised up from the dead. Finally, they
value the moral life and worship God especially through prayer, almsgiving
and fasting.
Since in the course of centuries not a few quarrels and hostilities have arisen
between Christians and Moslems, this sacred synod urges all to forget the past
and to work sincerely for mutual understanding and to preserve as well as to
promote together for the benefit of all mankind social justice and moral
welfare, as well as peace and freedom.
4. As the sacred synod searches into the mystery of the Church, it remembers the
bond that spiritually ties the people of the New Covenant to Abraham's stock.
Thus the Church of Christ acknowledges that, according to God's saving design,
the beginnings of her faith and her election are found already among the
Patriarchs, Moses and the prophets. She professes that all who believe in
Christ-Abraham's sons according to faith (6)-are included in the same Patriarch's
call, and likewise that the salvation of the Church is mysteriously foreshadowed
by the chosen people's exodus from the land of bondage. The Church, therefore,
cannot forget that she received the revelation of the Old Testament through the
people with whom God in His inexpressible mercy concluded the Ancient
Covenant. Nor can she forget that she draws sustenance from the root of that
well-cultivated olive tree onto which have been grafted the wild shoots, the
Gentiles.(7) Indeed, the Church believes that by His cross Christ, Our Peace,
reconciled Jews and Gentiles. making both one in Himself.(8)
The Church keeps ever in mind the words of the Apostle about his kinsmen:
"theirs is the sonship and the glory and the covenants and the law and the
worship and the promises; theirs are the fathers and from them is the Christ
according to the flesh" (Rom. 9:4-5), the Son of the Virgin Mary. She also recalls
that the Apostles, the Church's main-stay and pillars, as well as most of the early
disciples who proclaimed Christ's Gospel to the world, sprang from the Jewish
people.
As Holy Scripture testifies, Jerusalem did not recognize the time of her
visitation,(9) nor did the Jews in large number, accept the Gospel; indeed not a
few opposed its spreading.(10) Nevertheless, God holds the Jews most dear for
the sake of their Fathers; He does not repent of the gifts He makes or of the calls
He issues-such is the witness of the Apostle.(11) In company with the Prophets
and the same Apostle, the Church awaits that day, known to God alone, on which
all peoples will address the Lord in a single voice and "serve him shoulder to
shoulder" (Soph. 3:9).(12)
Since the spiritual patrimony common to Christians and Jews is thus so great, this
sacred synod wants to foster and recommend that mutual understanding and
respect which is the fruit, above all, of biblical and theological studies as well as
of fraternal dialogues.
True, the Jewish authorities and those who followed their lead pressed for the
death of Christ;(13) still, what happened in His passion cannot be charged against
all the Jews, without distinction, then alive, nor against the Jews of today.
Although the Church is the new people of God, the Jews should not be presented
as rejected or accursed by God, as if this followed from the Holy Scriptures. All
should see to it, then, that in catechetical work or in the preaching of the word of
God they do not teach anything that does not conform to the truth of the Gospel
and the spirit of Christ.
Furthermore, in her rejection of every persecution against any man, the Church,
mindful of the patrimony she shares with the Jews and moved not by political
reasons but by the Gospel's spiritual love, decries hatred, persecutions, displays of
anti-Semitism, directed against Jews at any time and by anyone.
Besides, as the Church has always held and holds now, Christ underwent His
passion and death freely, because of the sins of men and out of infinite love, in
order that all may reach salvation. It is, therefore, the burden of the Church's
preaching to proclaim the cross of Christ as the sign of God's all-embracing love
and as the fountain from which every grace flows.
5. We cannot truly call on God, the Father of all, if we refuse to treat in a
brotherly way any man, created as he is in the image of God. Man's relation to
God the Father and his relation to men his brothers are so linked together that
Scripture says: "He who does not love does not know God" (1 John 4:8).
No foundation therefore remains for any theory or practice that leads to
discrimination between man and man or people and people, so far as their human
dignity and the rights flowing from it are concerned.
The Church reproves, as foreign to the mind of Christ, any discrimination against
men or harassment of them because of their race, color, condition of life, or
religion. On the contrary, following in the footsteps of the holy Apostles Peter
and Paul, this sacred synod ardently implores the Christian faithful to "maintain
good fellowship among the nations" (1 Peter 2:12), and, if possible, to live for
their part in peace with all men,(14) so that they may truly be sons of the Father
who is in heaven.(15)
| How Catholics are to Relate to Others |
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| How Catholics Relate to Others |