U.S. Anglicans Converting en masse to Catholicism
MAIL ONLINE: About 100 traditionalist Anglican parishes across the United States have decided to convert en masse to the Roman Catholic Church, it emerged yesterday.

They have voted to take up the offer made by Pope Benedict XVI in November that permits vicars and their entire congregations to defect to Rome - while keeping many of their Anglican traditions, including married priests.

The Pope had been accused of attempting to poach Anglicans unhappy about decisions taken in their church to ordain women and sexually-active homosexuals as priests and bishops.

But the Vatican insisted that the move to create self-governing 'personal ordinariates' came as a result of requests from at least 30 disaffected Anglican bishops around the world.

The Anglican Church in America will now enter the Catholic Church as a block, bringing in thousands of converts along with their own bishops, buildings and even a cathedral. >>> | Saturday, March 06, 2010

Converting to Christianity, Converting to Islam

The former St Nicholas Cathedral in Famagusta, Cyprus, was converted into a mosque. It is now the Lala Mustafa Pasha Mosque. Photograph: Google Images
Vatican Condemns 'Immoral' Church Conversions
THE TELEGRAPH: The Vatican has expressed alarm over the "immoral" trend for churches to be converted into bars and nightclubs.

The head of the culture department, Archbishop Gianfranco Ravisi, cited a church in Hungary which was deconsecrated and sold off to become a strip club.

"It has now become a nightclub and a stripper performs her finale on the altar each evening," he said.

The archbishop, who is president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, said dwindling numbers of worshippers meant some churches had to be sold or even demolished.

"Faced with falling number of worshippers, a phenomenon which we are also unfortunately witnessing in the centre of Rome, churches without any artistic value and which need significant work can be sold or destroyed," he said.

But he said dioceses should exercise "great caution" in ensuring that the buildings were not used for immoral purposes.

The Roman Catholic Church was offering no specific guidelines and each case should be carefully assessed on its own merits, he said. >>> Nick Squires in Rome | Friday, November 27, 2009

Dutch Jews Slam Christian 'Peace by Conversion' Group
HAARETZ: Dutch Jews are accusing a Christian organization of insulting Jews and Muslims by trying to convert them under the banner of promoting peace and interfaith dialogue.

The Jewish community's umbrella group, the Central Jewish Committee, issued an unusually harsh statement about a conference held by the Christian organization Cornerstone in the town of Soest, near Utrecht, yesterday.

The organizers of the conference, which drew hundreds to Soest's Juliana Church, advertised it under the slogan: "The path: Reconciling Jews with Arabs." Preceding the event was a visit by Cornerstone leaders to a Dutch concentration camp.

"It is an insult and maltreatment of the Jewish and Muslim faiths to suggest that their followers can only coexist in peace if they convert to Christianity," the Committee wrote.

One of the organizers, Cornerstone's Jaap Broker, labeled this criticism "laughable," adding that the conference was not geared toward conversion. He nonetheless added that "the only path to reconciliation is to accept Jesus Christ as one's Savior." >>> By Cnaan Liphshiz | Sunday, February 22, 2009

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Pope Will Pray for Terrorists and Call Them to Christianity at Ground Zero
THE TELEGRAPH: The Pope will pray for the redemption of Islamic terrorists when he visits the site of the September 11 attacks in New York next week.

The pontiff will call for terrorists to convert to Christianity, saying: "Turn to Your way of love those whose hearts and minds are consumed with hatred. 

"God of understanding, overwhelmed by the magnitude of this tragedy, we seek your light and guidance". 



The prayer is likely to further incense the Muslim world, which has already attacked the Pope for publicly converting Magdi Allam, a journalist and one of Italy's most high-profile Muslims, at Easter.

Osama bin Laden accused the Pope of trying to provoke "a new crusade" against Islam.

Aref Ali Nayed, a leading scholar and proponent of peaceful relations between the Roman Catholic Church and Islam, said that there were "genuine questions about the motives, intentions and plans of some of the Pope's advisers on Islam".

He said that religious conversion should not be "made into a triumphalist tool for scoring points".

The Pope's first visit to the United States begins on Tuesday. He will visit Ground Zero on April 20 and the prayer is expected to be the emotional high-point of his tour.

The Pope will also ask for "eternal light and peace to all who died" in the tragedy. His prayer will remember "the heroic first-responders: our firefighters, police officers, emergency service workers… along with all the innocent men and women who were victims of this tragedy".

Around 3,000 people died in the attacks on the World Trade Centre, including the 19 hijackers. The prayer will also mention the victims "on the same day at the Pentagon and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania".

The Pope will conclude: "Bring Your peace to our violent world: peace in the hearts of all men and women and peace among the nations of the earth." He will then sprinkle the crater with holy water and bless the site. Pope Will Pray for Terrorists at Ground Zero >>> By Malcolm Moore in Rome | April 14, 2008

Hat tip: Dhimmi Watch

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
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