How ecumenical?: Immigration, Islam & the Vatican
Cipolla, Benedicta
announced a new plan to transfer governing power to Iraqis by June 2004. But the following month the administration took two steps backward by prohibiting those countries that had not supported the...
...The pope entered the fray, albeit indirectly, in a speech to European interior ministers on October 31...
...In effect, there is a change in tone in the Civilth Cattolica article as well as in the Catholic world in general," Cervellera said...
...I get on the ladder and start the ball rolling," " he explains...
...The most important issues that still need careful, flexible attention are: the Iraqi army, Iraq's economy, providing security, police functions, and the judiciary...
...We must bring viable political, economic, and social development to the Iraqi people, no matter what our prior failures or disagreements with our traditional allies...
...Through its masters and doctoral degree programs, and an array of educational and formational opportunities, CTU prepares women and men for lay and ordained ministry in the U S. and around the world...
...Why can't Christians be the minority, though...
...Visit: www ctu.edu...
...The letter sounded much like others written since 1967, when the first one was sent: cordial holiday greetings mixed with a call to Christians and Muslims to work together toward peace...
...thesis projects...
...No one should find pleasure in the quagmire Iraq has be-come...
...Canceling the religious distinctiveness of a people "would not be very democratic," he said, "because it runs contrary to the spirit of nations and to the sentiments of the majority of their populations...
...minorities, the world church, and the missionary nature of theology...
...Still, faced with an in-creasing number of foreign-born residents, including an estimated 1 million Muslims, the church is also facing a demographic shift that, to some, threatens the country's identity...
...Comparing it to the situation in Vietnam is not an argument for bringing our troops home immediately or for denying the value of establishing democracy in Iraq...
...But when you get into discussion with them privately they will admit they they have a resonance with him...
...Maybe they'd be better witnesses to the gospel...
...Both are seen as standing up to the great superpower...
...The Vatican on Islam n November 2003, Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, wrote a letter to the worldwide Muslim community...
...The challenge, therefore, is to raise critical points with-out alienating partners in dialogue...
...De Rosa simply makes no attempt to examine the church's past...
...No one likes to hear the truth," said Justo Lacunza, president of the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies...
...Jack Roche, another British Muslim convert, was recently charged by Australian police with plotting to blow up the Israeli embassy in Canberra and the consulate in Sydney...
...Catholic Theological Union at Chicago is the largest U S. Catholic graduate school of theology...
...It would likely guarantee work absence for prayers, Islamically accept-able meal options in cafeterias, and the ability to collect charitable donations from Italian citizens via income-tax returns...
...Historians are not to become accusers or judges, he said, but "it is necessary above all to reconcile with the past before beginning a process of reconciliation with other people or communities...
...With a number of colleagues, he has recently written Toward a More Secure America, available at www.secureamerica.us...
...he ex-claimed...
...They have gradually become more integrated into British society and can now be found sitting in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, running major companies, occupying key academic and legal positions, and hosting TV and radio programs...
...The media in the UK concentrates too much on these groups...
...The Civiltd article made few waves...
...If there's a discussion on TV, there will always be a representative from one of these groups on it...
...hardly anyone noticed it...
...Essential to peace, Archbishop Fitzgerald wrote, is forgiveness, "for it opens up the possibility of beginning again, on a new basis, in a restored relationship...
...In truth, dhirnmitude is no longer a reality in many Islamic countries...
...Benedicta Cipolla HOW ECUMENICAL...
...In July 2003, the police raided its offices and the homes of two of its leaders, but no arrests were made...
...Italy was never a colonial power, so historically it did not draw as many immigrants as, say, France or Britain...
...They survive on publicity and the more you give them, the more confident they become...
...The women and men on its faculty include Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish scholars who write the leading books on theology and ministry...
...Other responsibilities include academic advisement for master's and doctoral students, and directing M.A...
...More recently, many Italians reacted negatively when a judge ordered a crucifix removed from a public class-room in response to a lawsuit brought by a Muslim man...
...But De Rosa's presentation of over one thousand years of history is remarkably one-sided...
...If you ask Muslims publicly if they support Osama bin Laden, they'll say no...
...Applicants must demonstrate commitment to teaching excellence, quality research, and the mission of the Catholic church...
...one person involved in Christian-Muslim dialogue told me that most Islamic leaders have no interest in bringing it back...
...Many Muslims are concerned about the emergence of Islamic fundamentalists in the UK...
...During the past year, Muslims have been working with the Italian government on an accord similar to the ones Italy has signed with other faiths...
...CTU is committed to theological education within a community of faith, in interaction with a living Catholic tradition, as well as ecumenical, interfaith and cross-cultural perspectives...
...Send letter, curriculum vitae, and at least three references by Jan...
...He argued for greater religious liberty in Islamic countries, noting that while Christians were not allowed to worship freely in Saudi Arabia, the Italian government had donated the land for Europe's largest mosque, constructed with Saudi funds "in the heart of Christianity...
...Crowds have gathered at the park for 150 years to hear and argue with all manner of people who stand on small ladders or plastic crates and express their unpopular and sometimes extreme views of life, politics, religion, and science...
...Applicants must have completed or nearly completed a Ph.D...
...The group also has connections with London's Finsbury Park Mosque, which is run by Sheikh Abu Hamza al Masri, currently wanted by the authorities in Yemen for alleged terrorist activities...
...Subtle forms of religious discrimination still exist in Muslim countries...
...Persons of color are encouraged to apply...
...De Rosa made a similar point in his article in La Civilta Cattolica...
...They would see a lot of parallels between bin Laden and Muhammad...
...Italian society is religious and Catholic, and for this reason Muslims who come must at least respect what is already here....In reality, the cross is the sign of a cultural tradition and the motive behind the great acceptance of immigrants...
...Chowdhury-Mueen Uddin, deputy director of the Islamic Foundation, in Leicester, distances himself from groups such as al-Muhajiroun: "These groups are very insignificant and don't rep-resent the mainstream Muslim community...
...Radical Muslims turn up every Sunday in Hyde Park to proclaim their beliefs and, in some cases, their support for Osama bin Laden...
...Success in Iraq may still be feasible, but its costs, economically and in U.S...
...Each begs for international assistance, especially from U.S...
...degree programs...
...At stake is the fate of the Iraqi nation, the Middle East, and ultimately that of the United States...
...blood, will continue to escalate unless the administration moves beyond tired labels and assumptions...
...Commonweal 13 January 16, 2004 tian identity...
...Applicants should be committed to professional development by participation in professional societies related to their field and through writing and publishing...
...David Burrell, CSC, a University of Notre Dame professor who specializes in comparative philosophical theology, suggested that De Rosa "is unconsciously writing from a dominant perspective....And he resents situations in which someone else dominates...
...Participate in interdisciplinary team-teaching, and be able to teach from the perspective of U.S...
...ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF DOCTRINE—Teach foundational and advanced courses on theological method, the history of ministry and theology, and church tradition...
...Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, who attended the London School of Economics, masterminded the kidnapping and murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl in Pakistan...
...There is no right to invasion...
...20, 2004: Pastoral Ministry Search Committee OR Doctrinal Theology Search Committee Catholic Theological Union, 5401 S. Cornell Ave., Chicago, IL 60615...
...The Civilta article strikes a discordant note precisely be-cause it ignores the pope's counsel...
...Benedicta Cipolla, a former correspondent for Catholic News Service in Rome, is a freelance writer in New York...
...Al-Muhajiroun claims to function in twenty-five British cities and to run seventy-five prayer groups a week...
...But there has to be politeness in relationships...
...theses and D.Min...
...One month earlier, La Civiltn Cattolica, a Rome-based Jesuit paper whose contents are approved by the Vatican, published an article on Islam markedly different in tone...
...He blamed the dwindling numbers of Christians in Muslim countries on their inferior status under Islamic law, and accused radical Islamists in Algeria, Sudan, and Nigeria of countenancing anti-Christian violence...
...Yet over the last two decades, Italy's long coastline and fairly generous immigration policies have spurred an influx of immigrants—legal and illegal—from the Balkans, Eastern Europe, and North Africa...
...The same day that the pope spoke about the importance of the specific religious identity of European countries, he sent a message to a meeting of church scholars stressing the need to bring to light the full truth of the church's two thousand years of history...
...In 1994 Osama bin Laden established his "media office" in London under the control of Khalid al Fawwaz...
...Secondary fields of expertise might include field education, leadership development, or practical spirituality...
...The author, an elderly Jesuit, is neither involved in interreligious dialogue nor an expert on Islam...
...What is important is the approach...
...In 2000, Cardinal Giacomo Biffi of Bologna provoked a great uproar when he suggested that Italy favor Catholic immigrants over Muslims who, he said, integrated into Italian life less easily...
...Rather, the similarities between our failure in Vietnam and the in-creasing dangers in Iraq should prompt the Bush administration to rethink its policy assumptions...
...Still, the striking departure from the Vatican's usual stance signals, if not a shift in official policy, then a minority voice that should be taken into account...
...In the years following Vatican II, dialogue, the new discovery, was emphasized, and there was hope of a development and opening up of Islam...
...The linchpin of his argument was dhimmitudethe concept of protected but not quite equal status for the "People of the Book" (Christians and Jews) in Islamic societies...
...God, Christ, church, and spirituality...
...MATT © THE TELEGRAPH / ROTHCO Commonweal 14 January 16, 2004...
...Still, De Rosa has a point: freedom of worship certainly is not guaranteed everywhere in the world the way it is in Western countries...
...If nothing else, it reflects the complex reaction to Muslim immigration in Italy and in the rest of Europe...
...While the majority of Arabs in the United Kingdom are moderate Muslims and dutiful citizens, there is growing anxiety over the number of Islamic terrorists with ties to Britain...
...While praising the cooperation and "unity in diversity" that immigration can bring, he said there should be legislative recognition of countries' specific religious traditions...
...Jay Smith, an American member of the Brethren in Christ International Fellowship, is the founder of the Hyde Park Christian Fellowship, whose members meet for prayer each Sunday at All Souls Church and then make their way along Oxford Street to what's known as Speakers' Corner...
...There are an estimated 1.6 million Muslims in the UK, the majority living in London and other urban centers...
...Greg Watts ISLAMIC BRITAIN How the UK deals with radical Muslims ondon has become the center of the Arab political world, leading one writer to describe it as "Beirut-on-Thames...
...Instead, the phenomenon of fundamentalism and terrorism has become a problem that threatens religions, dialogue, and the international community...
...As Muslims continue to arrive in Italy and other traditionally Catholic nations, the Vatican will have to balance the need to welcome these immigrants with attempts to preserve Europe's ChrisDoctrine & Pastoral Ministry Positions CATHOLIC THEOLOGICAL UNION Catholic Theological Union invites applications for the following positions: ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF PASTORAL MINISTRY & DIRECTOR OF FIELD EDUCATION—Teach interdisciplinary foundational and advanced courses on practices of ministry and pastoral ministry...
...But the following month the administration took two steps backward by prohibiting those countries that had not supported the war from bidding on contracts for the reconstruction of Iraq...
...Normally the Muslims come around to the front and try to shout me down...
...It was closed in 1998...
...Administrative responsibilities include the supervision and continued development of the Field Education program within the M.Div...
...and M.A.P.S...
...In addition, applicants should have both extensive experience in pastoral ministry and a doctorate that qualifies them to teach a variety of courses related to ministry, pastoral theology, and/or pastoral care...
...Preference will be given to candidates with strong cross-cultural experience...
...or its equivalent in systematic or historical theology...
...The Catholic Church, of course, has a long history of ministering to immigrants and lobbying for social justice, and the church in Italy is no exception...
...Applicants should be sensitive to intercultural communication and address diverse learning styles with a variety of pedagogical techniques...
...I was talking about whether Muhammad was a prophet or not...
...Criticizing predominantly Muslim countries for their treatment of Christians, Giuseppe De Rosa, SJ, wrote of Islam's "warlike face" and obsession with conquering Europe...
...The occasion was Eid al-Fitr, the Islamic celebration that marks the end of Ramadan...
...The capture of Saddam Hussein could make asking for this necessary help considerably easier...
...allies...
...He does not mention Christian-sponsored violence against Muslims, such as the Crusades, or the impact of Western colonization of Middle Eastern countries...
...Shoe bomber" Richard Reid was a member of the Brixton mosque, and nine British Muslims are currently being held at Guantanamo Bay...
...The racks outside news-paper stands on Edgware Road and Queensway are stacked with dozens of Arabic newspapers and magazines, many produced in the capital...
...In August I was slammed in the face by a big, tall Muslim who was standing next to me...
...One of the most radical groups in the UK is al-Muhajiroun, which has alleged-ly recruited large numbers of young British Muslims for the Taliban and for Al Qaeda training camps...
...In the sevL "Right, there was an Englishman, an Englishman and an Englishman...
...It will have to decide whether the fraternal and sometimes penitential voice of official dialogue is sufficient to discuss the thorniest of issues—including, as De Rosa suggests, the threat posed by fundamentalist Islam...
...and doctrinal themes, theologians, and historical periods...
...Dialogue cannot fall into flat definitions in which everything is OK...
...George A. Lopez is director of policy studies at the Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame...
...Roman Catholic candidates preferred...
...Critics held a "hands off rlt1lpllrl/ I ANTONUCCI Commonweal 12 January 16, 2004 our crosses" protest, while most Muslims distanced them-selves from the suit...
...In a recent inter-view in Lahore, former al-Muhajiroun member Ali Qureshi claimed that the recruits would arrive in Afghanistan with money collected from British mosques...
...Although Italy is a secular state, laws from the 1920s re-quire schools to display crucifixes...
...Bernardo Cervellera, director of AsiaNews, a church-run news service that often reports on restrictions on religious freedom, said via e-mail that the crucifix controversy did not indicate that Italy, or the church, opposed Muslim immigration...
Vol. 131 • January 2004 • No. 1
