Terroristmedia.com

Posted: **Thu Mar 20, 2008 10:44 am**

The Guardian: Vatican in Saudi talks on building churches

Vatican in Saudi talks on building churches

Pope's spokesman hopeful of 'historic' agreement

Secret negotiations follow King Abdullah's Rome visit

John Hooper in Rome
The Guardian,
Tuesday March 18 2008

The Vatican has been holding secret talks with the Saudi Arabian authorities on building churches in Muhammad's homeland, according to one of Pope Benedict's most senior Middle East representatives. Archbishop Paul-Mounged El-Hashem said: "Discussions are under way to allow the construction of churches in the kingdom. We cannot forecast the outcome."

But, speaking to the news agency Agence France-Presse, the Lebanese prelate, the Pope's envoy in the Gulf, added: "There are around three or four million Christians in Saudi Arabia, and we hope they will have churches."

At the Vatican, the Pope's spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi, said: "If we manage to obtain authorisation for the construction of the first church, it will be an outcome of historic dimensions."

The opening last Friday of the first church in Qatar left Saudi Arabia as the only country in the region that still bans the building of churches and all forms of open Christian worship. However the construction of even one church on Saudi territory would outrage Islamist militants. Saudi Arabia - home to Islam's holiest sites, at Mecca and Medina - is regarded by Muslims as sacred soil.

The Saudi authorities, inspired by the rigorous doctrine of Wahhabism, ban all non-Muslim religious rituals and materials. Bibles and crucifixes are confiscated at points of entry to the kingdom.

Diplomats in Rome said talks on the building of churches would be consistent with recent developments. Saudi Arabia is among the few countries that do not have diplomatic links with the Vatican, but sources in Rome say the Saudis are keen to establish formal relations. Last November, King Abdullah became the first Saudi monarch to visit the Vatican.

The Vatican demands religious freedom as a condition for the opening of diplomatic relations. Pope Benedict has made it one of the chief aims of his papacy to press for "reciprocity" of treatment by Muslims of Christians.

Vatican officials note privately that while Muslims are free to worship openly in Europe, Roman Catholics are subject to official and unofficial restrictions in many Muslim countries.

Christians - mainly foreign workers - account for almost 4% of the Saudi population. Estimates of the number of Roman Catholics range up to 900,000.

In Qatar last Saturday, some 15,000 people attended an inaugural mass at the country's first church. Our Lady of the Rosary in Doha, which has no or crosses on its exterior, is one of five Christian places of worship planned in the state, which borders Saudi Arabia.

Addressing the reciprocity issue, Qatar's deputy prime minister, Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah, said: "We are enjoying the construction of mosques and Islamic centres in the west, so we must be fair [to Christians]."

Hashem revealed the existence of the talks with Saudi Arabia while speaking on the sidelines of a Doha event. He also said he expected an announcement soon on the establishment of diplomatic ties with the neighbouring Arabian state of Oman.

The Pope is expected later this year to meet representatives of 138 Muslim scholars who wrote a letter to Christian leaders last October calling for peace between the two religions.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/ma ... audiarabia

I think for most muslims this story would be unbelievable if true. Allowing such a thing would almost be writing his own death sentence.

Altough allowing kuffar to enter in the first place, was unbelievable. In that case they used ibn baaz as a puppet sheikh to issue a fatwa allowing this. And if the churches would be built there, he would also take the sins of that grave sin.

I wonder which fake sheikh they will use to issue a fatwa allowing churches to be built in a muslim country, since this is absolutely forbidden.
Altough off course the cursed mufti Abdul-Aziz al-Sheik, seems most likely.

Posted: **Sun Mar 30, 2008 3:24 am**

@carbomb

I think what you are talking about has more to do with a symptom rather than a problem. Diplomatic ties with the crusading Vatican and the building of churches in the Arabian peninsula would never be an issue if the rulers of the homeland of Muhammad (pbuh) were not agents of the imperial west and thus, agents of zionism (either directly or indirectly). Their shariah law is a selective sharia law, showing that they don't truly believe in Islam in whole (if at all). The ally with and assist non-Muslim nations in fighting, killing, and oppressing fellow Muslims. Their authority comes not from adhering to Islam, but from the British colonial forces who bribed them and supplied them with arms and power in order to topple the Turkish Khalifah. Finally, they sell their oil at a paltry price to the United States, and then invest most of the rest of the money back into the United States or they build lavish palaces for themselves (when not partying like a rock star overseas). The Saudis don't really work to build a military capability that can successfully defend the Muslim Ummah from the likes of Iranian expansion, Israeli threats, or western colonization. Rather, they only build enough of a capability to keep themselves in power and bully and imprison fellow Muslims who challenge their authority so that all sovereignty and authority can return to God alone (without partners or rivals).

In Islam, there is no compulsion in religion. Thus, no one can forcibly convert a Christian or anyone else to Islam. However, Islam also dictates that no two religions can co-exist on the Arabian Peninsula. If the Christians who are said to live in Saudi Arabia (but given how secretive the country is I doubt we really know the exact number) are Unitarian, they are our brothers and fellow people of the book. Nonetheless, they cannot establish places of worship or spread their faith for that would mean that at least two religions are coexistent on the land of Muhammad (pbuh). Non-unitarian Christians, which account for most Christians in the world, should be expelled from the peninsula (and there are plenty of lands and nations that will take them in). Yet, we are talking about establishing churches for polytheist Christians! Indeed, the crownless king is a servant of non-Muslims, and his moves are slow and subtle so as to deceive the host population. Muslims everywhere are waiting for their brothers and sisters in Najd and Hejaz to re-establish Islam and guide the rest of humanity. Saudi Arabia or Pakistan – one of these nations will sooner or later, has to the site of an Islamic revolution in order for the Muslims to free themselves of their oppressors and eliminate any sort of occupation or collaboration in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere.