http://www.catholicworldreport.com/...i_dialogue_cannot_substitute_for_mission.aspx "The risen Lord instructed his apostles, and through them his disciples in all ages, to take his word to the ends of the earth and to make disciples of all people," retired Pope Benedict wrote. "'But does that still apply?' many inside and outside the church ask themselves today. 'Is mission still something for today? Would it not be more appropriate to meet in dialogue among religions and serve together the cause of world peace?' The counter-question is: 'Can dialogue substitute for mission?' "In fact, many today think religions should respect each other and, in their dialogue, become a common force for peace. According to this way of thinking, it is usually taken for granted that different religions are variants of one and the same reality," the retired pope wrote. "The question of truth, that which originally motivated Christians more than any other, is here put inside parentheses. It is assumed that the authentic truth about God is in the last analysis unreachable and that at best one can represent the ineffable with a variety of symbols. This renunciation of truth seems realistic and useful for peace among religions in the world. "It is nevertheless lethal to faith. In fact, faith loses its binding character and its seriousness, everything is reduced to interchangeable symbols, capable of referring only distantly to the inaccessible mystery of the divine," he wrote.
He is right of course as always. But the worrisome question arises; why did he speak out at this present moment? What does he know that we don't? I don't know, the news from the Vatican always appears worrisome at the minute.
I wish they had invited the Grand old Theologian to speak at the recent Synod. I dont think those looking for progress would like to hear him.
Interesting...as the world proposes inter-faith dialogue, our Holy Father is not stating we should abandon our Faith. Pope Benedict seems to say we should promote our faith and not conform to world religions for the promotion of peace. That is totally against modern thinking. Our Holy Father might be preparing a line in the sand. Very brave of Him to speak out on this subject...we are blessed to have Him with us. May Gods Will be Done
I hear he is a very shy unassuming man. He kind of went down a hole after retiring, I am sure this was a deliberate choice and a wise one so as not to deflect from Pope Francis. I don't see how he could speak out like this unless he were critically concerned and on an issue that has just not hit the radar recently. It is not on our radar but is very much it seems on his. Sigh. I am not going to worry about it anymore, it would drive you crazy.
How easily the devil is able to lead us into division and separation.... There is not a word in the Pope Emeritus' talk that Pope Francis would disagree with. Pope Francis has a very different approach to the Pope Emeritus but they are of one mind, whatever the devil whispers in our ears.
Neither is there a whisper in any of the posts here that the Pope Emeritus is in conflict with Pope Francis. How easily indeed does the devil whisper in our ears.
My own fear was that same people who placed forward a certain point of radical view on issues in the Synod were moving onwards and outwards to suggest radical views on Ecumenism. I have not read of such a thing but the Pope Emeritus being at the very centre of the spiders web (so to speak) would be very much in a position to hear. Whilst it is good to raise topics of discussion in the Church I think too much of it can be a bad thing, it causes too much of a storm when things needs calming over. If such a thing is happening I think if it is it would have been much better to have been left till after the Synod was over. There enough heavy waves hitting the boat, too much and we risk getting swamped. One step at a time. Change can be good but it needs to be handled one step at a time, with both wisdom and descretion. Mark 2:22 The Patches and Wineskins 21"No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; otherwise the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear results. 22"No one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost and the skins as well; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins."
personally I think it had to do with this..... At Vatican, Shimon Peres Proposes ‘United Nations of Religions’ http://www.algemeiner.com/2014/09/04/at-vatican-shimon-peres-proposes-‘united-nations-of-religions’/ Clearly some powers at be want to create what effectively puts Roman Catholic faith in a box with all others. It is seems clear to me they want to harness the Catholic faith to nothing more than just one of the religions in the world. If this happens even Catholic missions could be seen as extremist. Our previous Pope is addressing something Pope Francis may have been too busy to preparing for the Synod. Just my take could be way off.
i would recommend that you have a look at the fantastic essays in a book entitled truth and tolerance by cardinal Ratzinger. Religious indifferentism is something our pope emeritus has written a lot about.
