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The Pope spoke forcefully against invoking the name of God in any religion "to justify evil and violence."
"Faced with a world lacerated by conflict, where violence is still justified in the name of God, it is important to reiterate that religions must never become a vehicle of hatred," the Pontiff said.
"On the contrary, religions can and should offer precious resources to build a humanity of peace, because they speak of peace at the heart of man."
The Pope addressed scholars and religious leaders attending a three-day inter-faith gathering in the southern Italian port city of Naples. The conference is called "For a World Without Violence: Religions and Cultures in Dialogue."
Less than two weeks ago more than 130 Muslim scholars called for peace and understanding between Islam and Christianity, and said the world's survival could be at stake.
The Pope sat down to lunch on Sunday with one of them, Izzeddin Ibrahim, a cultural adviser to the government of the United Arab Emirates.
"With respect for the differences between different religions, we are all called to work for peace and an effective effort to promote reconciliation between peoples," the Pope said.
The Pope also met religious leaders including Israel's Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi Yona Metzger, the spiritual head of Orthodox Christians, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, the head of the world's Anglicans.
1Th 5:3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
The Pope and The middle East Peace Talks
is in progress.
In this photo provided by the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, Pope Benedict XVI receives a gift from President of the World Jewish Congress (WJC) Ronald S. Lauder during a private audience at the Vatican, Monday, Oct. 8, 2007. Top officials from the World Jewish Congress met Monday with Pope Benedict XVI to voice concern about Iran but also to encourage pursuing a dialogue with moderate Muslims, participants said. (AP Photo/L'Osservatore Romano, ho)
Jewish Congress Chief Meets With Pope
By NICOLE WINFIELD – 3 days ago
Rev 17:12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet;but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
Rev 17:13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
Rev 17:14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.
Rev 17:15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.
Rev 17:16 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.
Rev 17:17 For God hath put in their hearts to fulfill his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.
Rev 17:18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Top officials from the World Jewish Congress met Monday with Pope Benedict XVI to voice concern about Iran but also to encourage pursuing a dialogue with moderate Muslims, participants said.
WJC President Ronald Lauder and the group's new secretary general, Michael Schneider, met with Benedict in a private audience at the Vatican.
Schneider said the delegation thanked the pope for his work supporting interfaith relations and invited him to meet with senior Jewish leaders during his planned trip to New York next year.
"We mentioned our extreme anxiety over the Iran situation, not just because of the Jewish angle but because it was a threat to world stability," Schneider said by telephone. "We were extremely anxious to find some way to be helpful in pushing the Iranians to some kind of sensibility."
Schneider said the delegation also repeated the WJC's proposal to reach out to the moderate Muslim world "to establish a dialogue among moderates, and to try to reach some common ground." He said Benedict was in favor of such a move, and voiced "frustration" with the situation over Iran.
Tehran's hard-line leadership increasingly has drawn international criticism over its nuclear program and comments about Israel and the Holocaust.
Schneider said the delegation also addressed the rise in neo-Nazi groups and anti-Semitic sentiments, particularly in Europe.
The group also underlined its commitment to maintaining its "long relationship between us and the Roman Catholic Church" in the wake of a management shake up at the Jewish organization.
The congress, one of the most prominent Jewish organizations, had been beset by a series of problems that culminated in May with the unexpected resignation of then-President Edgar M. Bronfman Sr.
Bronfman fired his longtime deputy, Rabbi Israel Singer, after a 2006 report by the New York attorney general concluded that Singer improperly used WJC funds for personal use. No criminal charges were filed.
Lauder, the son of cosmetics magnate Estee Lauder and a former U.S. ambassador to Austria, was named president in June. Schneider was appointed to his post two weeks ago.
Founded in 1936, the World Jewish Congress is known for its campaign to win restitution from Swiss banks holding the assets of Holocaust victims, fighting anti-Semitism and lobbying to allow the Jews of the Soviet Union to emigrate.
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that claimed 1.5 million lives and displaced more than four million people.
Beshir is accompanied by a large delegation that includes figures from Sudan's mainly Catholic, Christian minority.
The pope in June urged Sudanese authorities to "banish all forms of discrimination" and stressed the importance of religious freedom.
Beshir, who came to power in an Islamist-backed coup in 1989, is also set to meet his Italian counterpart Giorgio Napolitano and the ministers of economic development and transport, Luigi Bersani and Alessandro Bianchi, during a three-day visit.
Rev 16:12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river
Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the
east, might be prepared.
Rev 16:13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of
the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false
prophet.
Rev 16:14 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth
unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle
of that great day of God Almighty.
Rev 16:15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth
his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
Rev 16:16 And he gathered them together, into a place called in the Hebrew
tongue Armageddon.
Rev 16:17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came
a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.
Rev 16:18 And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a
great earthquake, such as was not since, men were upon the earth, so mighty an
earthquake, and so great.
Rev 16:19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the
nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her
the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.
Rev 16:20 And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.
Rev 16:21 And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about
the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the
hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.
