Is the Pope Catholic?

The giant whirring sound you hear is popes from the previous twenty centuries spinning in their graves. Like so many liberal religious leaders, Pope Francis' admirable aim of promoting peace has caused him to fall off the cliff when it comes to affirming the uniqueness of Christianity.

I have already outlined some of the theological issues at stake when trying to say that Christianity and Islam are compatible in my previous post about the Wheaton College professor who has chosen to wear a hijab during Advent. In the above quotation, Pope Francis, who has been quoted approvingly by the Wheaton professor and others who seek to gloss over the differences between Christianity and Islam, engages in universalism and syncretism that deny the uniqueness of the Christian Gospel.

Contrast this quote from Pope Francis with the more scholarly, more accurate, and more faithful estimation of Islam by Pope John Paul II, who, while being very impressed by the religiosity of Muslims, nevertheless wrote in Crossing the Threshold of Hope,
http://www.excerptsofinri.com/printable/crossing_the_threshold_ofhope-popejpii.pdf

Whoever knows the Old and New Testaments, and then reads the Koran, clearly sees the process by which it completely reduces Divine Revelation. It is impossible not to note the movement away from what God said about Himself, first in the Old Testament through the Prophets, and then finally in the New Testament through His Son. In Islam all the richness of God's self-revelation, which constitutes the heritage of the Old and New Testaments, has definitely been set aside.
Some of the most beautiful names in the human language are given to the God of the Koran, but He is ultimately a God outside of the world, a God who is only Majesty, never Emmanuel, God-with-us. Islam is not a religion of redemption. There is no room for the Cross and the Resurrection. Jesus is mentioned, but only as a prophet who prepares for the last prophet, Muhammad. There is also mention of Mary, His Virgin Mother, but the tragedy of redemption is completely absent. For this reason not only the theology but also the anthropology of Islam is very distant from Christianity.
That the revelation of God through his Son has been "set aside," as John Paul says, is seen in verses from the Koran such as these,

• "The Messiah, Jesus the son of Mary, was no more than God's apostle . . .God is but one God. GOD FORBID THAT HE SHOULD HAVE A SON!" (4:171)
• Those who say: "The Lord of Mercy has begotten a son, preach a monstrous falsehood, at which the very heavens might crack . . ." (19:88)
• "Praise be to Allah who has never begotten a son; who has no partner in His Kingdom . . ." (17:111)
The challenge of Islam to both Christianity and Judaism is seen even more clearly when one considers the construction of the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa Mosque (completed in AD 691 and 705, respectively) on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, which was a popular site for Christian pilgrimage in the Byzantine era, thus precluding Jewish worship at Judaism's holiest site, while, at the same time, challenging Christianity with words emblazoned in Arabic on both buildings: "God has no Son." In the very place where God says his Son's throne will be established (Psalm 2:6, 10-12), Islam challenges the very existence of the Son and the reality of the promise.

Pope Benedict XVI invited controversy when he said, regarding Islam, "Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."

The early 20th century Roman Catholic author, Hilaire Belloc, was prophetic in predicting: "We shall almost certainly have to reckon with Islam in the near future. Perhaps if we lose our faith, it will rise."

Pope Francis would do well to contemplate the words of his predecessors as well as those of Belloc. While most of the world would rejoice at the prospect of genuine peace between Christians and Muslims, naïvete and bad theology in the face of a radical and aggressive Islam is no way to achieve that end.

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Pope Francis to Followers: "Koran And Holy Bible Are The Same"
http://nationalreport.net/pope-francis-followers-koran-holy-bible/
May 2015

On Monday the Bishop of Rome addressed Catholic followers regarding the dire importance of exhibiting religious tolerance. During his hour-long speech, a smiling Pope Francis was quoted telling the Vatican's guests that the Koran, and the spiritual teachings contained therein, are just as valid as the Holy Bible.
"Jesus Christ, Jehovah, Allah. These are all names employed to describe an entity that is distinctly the same across the world. For centuries, blood has been needlessly shed because of the desire to segregate our faiths. This, however, should be the very concept which unites us as people, as nations, and as a world bound by faith. Together, we can bring about an unprecedented age of peace, all we need to achieve such a state is respect each others beliefs, for we are all children of God regardless of the name we choose to address him by. We can accomplish miraculous things in the world by merging our faiths, and the time for such a movement is now. No longer shall we slaughter our neighbors over differences in reference to their God."

The pontiff drew harsh criticisms in December after photos of the 78-year-old Catholic leader was released depicting Pope Francis kissing a Koran. The Muslim Holy Book was given to Francis during a meeting with Muslim leaders after a lengthy Muslim prayer held at the Vatican.
St. John Paul II has courted several controversies since being elected as Pope Benedicto XVI's replacement in 2013. Francis has gone on record to say that homosexuals are not to be judged, Proselytism is nonsense and has endorsed the usage of contraceptive by Catholics.
The Vatican will meet again with Muslim leaders in late February where they plan to talk about further steps that can be taken to spread understanding and awareness of the Islamic religion.

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