CATHOLICS PRAYING TO MOTHER TERESA.August 31, 2001 (David W. Cloud, One of the many abominable doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church is that of praying to the dead. Catholics are encouraged to pray to Mary, Joseph, and the other "saints," expecting these dead people to answer their petitions. Mother Teresa died in September 1997 and even before she has been declared a "saint," Catholics are praying to her and claiming answers. Many are making pilgrimages to her tomb. Archbishop Henry D'Souze of Calcutta recently said, "I have received several letters even from abroad from devotees saying their prayers have been heard through the intercession of Mother Teresa." Advertisements are appearing in Indian magazines thanking Mother Teresa for "favours received." There are Evangelicals who say they are opposed to Catholic doctrine, but when they should be lifting their voice to condemn this abominable idolatry they are strangely silent. Beware of compromising Evangelicals who refuse to plainly mark and avoid error.

Pope John Paul II Urges Christian And Muslims To Pray

With the grand Mufti of heavily Islamic Kazakhstan in the audience at Astana's Congress Hall on Monday evening, the pope said "I wish to reaffirm the Catholic Church's respect for Islam, for authentic Islam: The Islam that prays, that is concerned for those in need. Hatred, fanaticism and terrorism profane the name of God and disfigure the true image of man," the pope said.

John Paul noted the good relations between Muslims and Christians in Kazakhstan. He has sought to strengthen his own church, a tiny minority comprised mainly of descendants of Catholics who were sent into labor camps and exile here.
At a Mass earlier Monday, John Paul called on the faithful to rebuild the Catholic Church in post-Communist Central Asia and warned them against aggressive proselytizing in a land of many faiths.

To make his point, the pope used the words of a Kazak scholar, Abai Kunanbai: "Precisely because we worship God fully and have faith in him, we have no right to claim that we must force others to believe in him and worship him." [ MSNBC ]

Pope John Paul II attends a Mass in the Catholic cathedral in Astana on Monday.

Pope backs authentic Islam, urges peace Pontiff closes Kazakhstan visit, heads to Armenia

CALL FOR RECONCILIATION
The pope's calls for religious reconcilation began with his first Mass on Sunday. "We must not let what has happened lead to a deepening of divisions. Religion must never be used as a reason for conflict," he said.
Addressing the devout and those "searching for truth," the pope pleaded for people to follow the "logic of love" propagated by Jesus Christ, "above all through generosity to those in need."
"It is a logic that can bring together Christians and Muslims and commit them to work together for the æcivilization of love," the pope told a crowd of about 50,000 in the city's central Mother of the Homeland Square.
In a special, English-language prayer at the end of the service, John Paul urged both Christians and Muslims to pray for a world where there is "no room for hatred, discrimination or violence."
"From this place, I invite both Christians and Muslims to raise an intense prayer to the One, Almighty God whose children we all are, that the supreme good of peace may reign in the world,ö the pope said." With all my heart, I beg God to keep the world in peace." [ http://www.msnbc.com/news/632231.asp#BODY ]

Pope delivers cooperation plea
September 24, 2001

The Pope has received a warm welcome in Kazakhstan

ASTANA, Kazakhstan -- Pope John Paul II has continued his theme of cross-religious cooperation on the third day of his trip to Kazakhstan [ http://www.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/central/09/24/pope.convert/ ]

Pope rallies faithful in Kazakhstan

Pope John Paul II has called on Christians and Muslims to work together for peace and not to allow the attacks on America to further divide civilisation.

Speaking in the ex-Soviet republic of Kazakhstan, less than 500 miles north of Afghanistan, he did not directly refer to the possibility of military action in the region.

Pope Urges Peace Among All Faiths By Sharon Lafraniere - The Washington Post Sept 24, 2001

ASTANA, Kazakhstan - In a special prayer at the end of an open-air Mass, Pope John Paul II on Sunday urged Christians and Muslims to react to growing international tensions by working together for peace, saying, ``Religion must never be used as a reason for conflict.

``We must not let what has happened lead to a deepening of divisions,'' the pope said in the capital of the former Soviet republic in Central Asia. ``With all my heart I beg God to keep the world in peace.''

His words held special meaning for many of the 15,000 people who read from prayer booklets and waved yellow flags from behind blue iron barriers as the pontiff celebrated Mass before a wooden altar under sunny skies in the town's central square.

Although Kazakhstan so far has escaped the Islamic extremism that troubles some of its neighbors, its citizens fear a war in nearby Afghanistan could upset the religious harmony among the many faiths and nationalities in this land between Russia and China.

``We are afraid, very afraid,'' said Galina Kim, 26, a teacher who took an overnight train from her village in southern Kazakhstan. ``It's not far away. We already see refugees. We don't even want to think about it. Because if there is a war, it will be the last war.''

The Mass was attended by Muslims, Russian Orthodox Christians, Roman Catholics and people of no particular faith.

Their nationalities were more diverse, a reflection of the more than 2 million people deported to Kazakhstan by former Soviet dictator Josef Stalin. Worshipers waved Polish flags, cheered the pope in German, and held aloft banners with greetings from Ukraine, Russia and Uzbekistan.

Catholics appeared to be in the minority, although trains transported believers from hundreds of miles away.

Less than 2 percent of Kazakhstan's 16.5 million people are Catholic. Although the Catholic church has won converts since the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union, they roughly equal the number of Catholics leaving Kazakhstan for their homelands.

Pope John Paul, 81, sought to include all in his message of peace and reconciliation. ``I wish to make an earnest call to everyone, Christian and the followers of other religions, that we work together to build a world without violence, a world that loves life, and grows in justice and solidarity,'' he said in a final prayer repeated in German, English, Russian and Kazakh.

The pope's first visit to Kazakhstan - the 95th foreign trip of his pontificate - is significant in several respects. Like Syria, where he traveled in May, Kazakhstan is predominantly Muslim, and a good setting for his call for harmony among religions.

Like Ukraine, which he visited in June, Kazakhstan is on Russia's doorstep. Much of the former Soviet Union adheres to Eastern Orthodoxy, which broke from Roman Catholicism in 1054. The pope hopes to mend the rift, but thus far Russian Patriarch Alexei II has kept the pope from Russia.

Sunday, Pope John Paul again spoke of hopes to unite the two churches, saying all Christians should work together to meet the third millennium ``with one voice and one heart.''

Kazakhstan is also of interest to the pope as a former Soviet state. The pontiff, who used the Vatican's financial and moral authority to challenge communism in his native Poland, repeatedly congratulated Kazakhstan on its 10 years of independence, urging people to cherish their freedoms.

Vatican observers said the pope overrode his security advisers' concerns to make this four-day trip, which put him roughly 1,000 miles from Afghanistan. He was shot by a Turkish terrorist in Rome in 1981, and a second assassination plot in the Philippines was foiled in 1995.

Philippine officials have established links between the Manila conspirators against the pope and Osama bin Laden, the Islamic extremist blamed by the United States for the Sept. 11 attacks.
http://tampatrib.com/nationworldnews/MGADWG9SZRC.html

World: Diverse crowd shows up to hear pope in Kazakhstan
Copyright APonline

By Judith Ingram, Associated Press

ASTANA, Kazakhstan (September 23, 2001 7:24 a.m. EDT) - Bundled in scarves and sweaters against the autumn chill, Catholics, Muslims and self-proclaimed religious skeptics gathered Sunday under Astana's World War II memorial, hoping to hear Pope John Paul II's message of peace following this month's terrorist attacks.
"What's happened has shocked the world so much that people need his words of hope and love and faith," said Zinova Bigaliyev, a 42-year-old cellist who traveled 20 hours by bus and train from the neighboring Central Asian nation of Kyrgyzstan to attend the Sunday Mass. " That's why we came."..
A construction engineer said:
"I hope he'll help us unite, especially in the situation the world is in. This trip is very timely."
Catholics comprise roughly 3 percent of Kazakhstan's 15 million people. Islam and Russian Orthodox Christianity are the two main religions. [ http://www.nandotimes.com/world/story/102782p-1186894c.html ]

Bigger role for key bishops could ease burden on top Anglican, report says

London (ENI). The Archbishop of Canterbury's duties need to be restructured so that he can concentrate on his role as leader of the 70 million-strong world-wide Anglican Communion, a report has argued. In addition to his international role, the Archbishop, Dr George Carey, is spiritual head of the Church of England and the diocesan bishop of the See of Canterbury. The report says this creates a heavy burden where the Archbishop is always "on show". [ ENI-09/07/2001]

Vatican coins featuring Pope to be legal tender in Europe

Rome (ENI). The Vatican will produce its own euro coins with the image of Pope John Paul II when the new currency starts circulating next year. Although not part of the European Union, the Vatican City State obtained authorisation to adopt the euro through a convention with Italy, signed in Rome at the end of last year. Banknotes will be identical throughout the euro zone. Coins, however, will have a common design on one face, while the other face will feature a design unique to each country.[ ENI-09/07/2001]

Leading French Lutheran pastor joins Roman Catholic Church

Paris (ENI). The former superintendent of the Paris district of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of France has announced that he has joined the Roman Catholic Church, and has made it clear that he wishes to be ordained a
Catholic priest. He told the French daily, La Croix, that his decision followed the signing in 1999 of the joint declaration on justification between the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran World Federation, which
aimed to put an end to mutual condemnations dating from the Reformation era. "For me that agreement represented a historic stepping stone. From then on I could see no reason for maintaining the schism," he said.
[ENI-08/10/01]