Playing politics with the global war on Christians

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Christina - - -
To: Donald - - -
Sent: Thursday, 13 September 2012, 3:05
Subject: Fw: CathNews--National curriculum at risk/Asian gender selection/Abbott's low-key Catholicism  

Dear Don,  Greetings from Down Under where we are at present welcoming lovely Spring weather. Many thanks for all your inspiring emails. I am forwarding this Cath News bulletin as it has an interesting article about the attack on Latroun and the general situation for minority groups in Israel. . . . Chris. --- On Wed, 12/9/12, Church Resources <database@churchresources.com.au> wrote:

  http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=33152

CathNews website - CathNews is a service of Church Resources. It is a daily news service with prayer, meditation and Catholic website reviews. It is the most visited Catholic website in Australia, providing a mix of news, opinions, features and prayer updated daily. The newsletter is available free of charge by email. As of September 2010, there were more than 157,000 email subscribers and almost 160,000 unique visits to the site every month. 

Playing politics with the global war on Christians
Published: September 11, 2012

Most people, most of the time, are fundamentally decent. Hence if they knew that there's a minority facing an epidemic of persecution - a staggering total of 150,000 martyrs every year, meaning 17 deaths every hour - there would almost certainly be a groundswell of moral and political outrage, writes John Allen in NCR Online.

There is such a minority in the world today, and it's Christianity. The fact that there isn't yet a broad-based movement to fight anti-Christian persecution suggests something is missing in public understanding.

In part, of course, the problem is that unquestionable acts of persecution, such as murder and imprisonment, are sometimes confused with a perceived cultural and legal "war on religion" in the West, a less clear-cut proposition. In part, too, it's because of the antique prejudice that holds that Christianity is always the oppressor, never the oppressed.

Yet as with most things, politics also has a distorting effect, and a story out of Israel last week makes the point.

On Tuesday, the doors of a Trappist monastery in Latrun, near Jerusalem, were set ablaze, with provocative phrases in Hebrew spray-painted on the exteriors walls, such as "Jesus is a monkey." The assault was attributed to extremist Jews unhappy with the recent dismantling of two settlements on nearby Palestinian land.

Founded in 1890 by French Trappists, the Latrun monastery is famed for its strict religious observance. Israelis call it minzar ha'shatkanim, meaning "the monastery of those who don't speak." Ironically, it's known for fostering dialogue with Judaism, and welcomes hundreds of Jewish visitors every week.

Tuesday's attack was not an isolated incident. In 2009, a Franciscan church near the Cenacle on Mount Zion, regarded by tradition as the site of Christ's Last Supper, was defaced with a spray-painted Star of David and slogans such as "Christians Out!" and "We Killed Jesus!" According to reports, the vandals also urinated on the door and left a trail of urine leading to the church.

Last February, the Franciscan Custodian of the Holy Land wrote to Israeli authorities to appeal for better protection after another wave of vandalism struck a Baptist church, a Christian cemetery and a Greek Orthodox monastery. That time, slogans included "Death to Christianity," "We will crucify you!" and "Mary is a whore."

FULL STORY Playing politics with the global war on Christians (NCR)

Abbot elected Dormition Abbey Jerusalem

Later further Links below . . .

http://www.indcatholicnews.com/new Father Gregory Collins OSB, Glenstal Abbey,  elected Abbot of Dormition Abbey in Jerusalem

Posted: Tuesday, July 26, 2011 3:33 pm

Dormition Abbey  Fr Gregory Collins OSB has been elected as Abbot of Dormition Abbey in Jerusalem. Following the announcement, Bishop Noel Treanor, Bishop of Down and Connor said: "I warmly welcome the election of Fr Gregory Collins OSB as the sixth Abbot of Dormition Abbey in Jerusalem. I send him my congratulations and those of the people of Belfast, the city he was born in. "I send him my good wishes and blessings as he takes up his appointment in Jerusalem - the sacred land in which Our Lord walked during his time on earth." Gregory Collins was born in Belfast in 1960. He studied at Queen's University Belfast, gaining a doctorate in Byzantine Studies in 1991. He made Solemn Profession at Glenstal Abbey in 1994. Following ordination as priest in 1995, he studied Depth Psychology at the Jung Institute in Zurich. Between 1998 and 2002 Father Gregory was Headmaster of Glenstal Abbey School, after which he spent six years teaching Orthodox Theology and the History of Theology at the Benedictine university of Sant' Anselmo in Rome. Since returning to Glenstal, Father Gregory has had a varied ministry of writing and preaching retreats. Among his publications are The Glenstal Book of Icons (Dublin: Columba Press, 2002) and Meeting Christ in His Mysteries: A Benedictine Vision of the Spiritual Life (Dublin: Columba Press, 2011) Abbot Gregory will leave for Jerusalem in early August. For more information on Dormition Abbey see: http://dormitio.net/index.html  Source: Irish Catholic Media Office

Tags: Abbot of Dormition Abbey in Jerusalem, Bishop Noel Treanor, Bishop of Down  ----- Forwarded Message ---- From: Donald . . . . . . Sent: Wed, 27 July, 2011 10:48:10 Subject: Gregory Glenstal Icons Interesting two LINKS of YouTube   ICONS AS IMAGES OF GOD ● Fr. Gregory Collins OSB  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxhKvXpAMzM   http://wn.com/Fr_Gregory_Collins_OSB_Icons_as_Images_of_God  Copies of the Glenstal Icons Book are in Nunraw store of Abbey Guest House shop.

Easter Message from Jerusalem Church Leaders

Posted: Sunday, April 24, 2011

Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem Alleluia!  Christ is Risen.  He is Risen Indeed.  Alleluia! We, the Heads of Churches of the Holy City of Jerusalem bring you our greetings  and our joy in the celebration of the Resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Christians find their joy is secure in the hope of the promise of eternal life  which our Lord has won for all who believe.  However, when we in Jerusalem, the  city of redemption, see the suffering of our Christian brothers and sisters in  Egypt, Iraq and elsewhere in our region our joy becomes more solemn. We find  sadness competes with the joy of Easter as we witness the violence which has erupted in the face of peaceful demonstrations by people throughout the Arab world these past months. We Christians are watching in prayer the developments in the Middle East. We  also pray that the reforms would lead to modern civil society where freedom of  expression, freedom of religion, human rights – including the rights of those  who are considered being a minority in numbers – are respected. We call upon all  people of faith and good will to pursue peace while at the same time we  recognize that peace cannot be bought at the price of silence and submission to  corruption and injustice. The violence, when it erupts, reminds us that the cross of Christ is ever  present for the faithful followers of the Prince of Peace.  The crucifixion is an ongoing reality for many of our clergy and people who continue to seek to live with mutual understanding and co-operation with their neighbors.  We urge all Christians to pray for reconciliation among people in the Holy Land,  where the deteriorating situation makes peace and justice seem further away than ever before. We ask the Churches around the world to stand with us in giving voice to those who are silenced, in breaking down walls that separate us from one another and in building bridges of goodwill between people. We pray for the leaders of the nations, and for those who demonstrate for  change, to use wisdom and their best judgment to serve the needs of their people  and to promote peaceful solutions to change for a better future for all of God's children.  Our Lord died for the sins of the whole world that all people will see in his example how violence only leads to death and destruction.  In his resurrection we experience his victory over violence and death and we embrace a vision of the future in which all people live together in harmony. This vision gives us hope to renew our faith in the face of despair. Christians all over the world celebrate the victory over death which is ours as a gift from God who has compassion and mercy for all of his creation.  We share our joy in  the resurrection with you.  The cross is ever before us day by day and the cross  is empty.  New life has come.  Christ is risen.  We are risen.  Alleluia. Source ICN Thanks be to God. +Patriarch Theophilos III, Greek Orthodox Patriarch +Patriarch Fouad Twal, Latin Patriarch +Patriarch Torkom II Manoogian, Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Patriarch +Fr. Pierbattista Pizzaballa, ofm, Custos of the Holy Land +Archbishop Anba Abraham, Coptic Orthodox Patriarch, Jerusalem +Archbishop Swerios Malki Murad, Syrian Orthodox Patriarch +Archbishop Joseph-Jules Zerey, Greek-Melkite-Catholic Patriarch +Archbishop Abouna Matthias, Ethiopian Orthodox Patriarch +Archbishop Paul Sayyah, Maronite Patriarchal Exarch +Bishop Suheil Dawani, Episcopal Church of Jerusalem and the Middle East +Bishop Munib Younan, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land +Bishop Pierre Malki, Syrian Catholic Patriarchal Exarch +Fr Rafael Minassian, Armenian Catholic Patriarchal  Exarch