Understand The Times, International

Comment from UTT:

For years I have been looking for a statement from a prominent Muslim leader condemning Islamic terrorists and setting the world straight that Islam is a "religion of peace." This has been rare, but nevertheless, to be fair the article we are posting makes such a statement:

In an interview with Vatican Radio published May 24, Al Tayyeb spoke out harshly against terrorism carried out by extremist Islamic groups such as ISIS, saying that �those who kill Muslims, and who also kill Christians, have misunderstood the texts of Islam either intentionally or by negligence.� �We must not blame religions because of the deviations of some of their followers,� he said, and issued a global appeal asking that the entire world to �close ranks to confront and put an end to terrorism.� If the growing problem of terrorism is neglected, it�s not just the east that will pay the price, but �both east and west could suffer together, as we have seen.�

Apparently, Pope Francis takes this statement at face value and wants to enter in dialogue with the Islamic leader. The reason of course is that Pope Francis has stated numerous times that all religions worship the same God. While history and archeology show this is not the case the Pope can get away with stating whatever he wants because his position allows him to do that without those who follow him thinking for themselves.

October 21 - Vatican and Islamic University to Officially Resume Dialogue

Article: Ecumenical Movement - Other Religions Uniting With Roman Catholics

The Vatican announced on Friday they will be sending a representative to Egypt to set plans for the official re-launching of dialogue between the Holy See and the Al-Azhar Mosque and adjunct University, marking a seismic step in Catholic-Muslim relations. According to the communique, the meeting in Cairo is to prepare for an encounter that will take place in Rome, �probably toward the end of April 2017, and which marks the official resumption of dialogue between the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue and Al-Azhar.�

The visit to Cairo will also serve as an opportunity to evaluate, together with Archbishop Bruno Musar�, nuncio to Egypt, and the Deputy of the Great Imam of Al-Azhar, Sheik Abbas Shouman, �the possibility to promote concrete initiatives for peace.� Bishop Ayuso made a similar visit to Al-Azhar in July, where he met with Sunni academic and politician Mahmoud Hamdi Zakzouk that to discuss the formal resumption of dialogue between the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue and Al-Azhar University. The current Oct. 23 meeting, then, can be seen as a fruit of that encounter.