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Pope Francis and President Donald Trump met at the Apostolic Palace in Vatican City on Wednesday. Trump's audience with the pontiff comes midway through his 9-day international trip. (May 24) AP
President Trump meets with Pope Francis at Vatican
Eric J. Lyman, Special for USA TODAYPublished 3:03 a.m. ET May 24, 2017
ROME — President Trump met with Pope Francis for the first time at the Vatican on Wednesday, as he continued his tour of homelands of followers of Islam, Judaism and Christianity.
Following the meeting, which was behind closed doors, the pontiff gifted Trump a medal by a Roman artist depicting an olive — a symbol of peace — as well as a signed message of peace and copies of his three main teaching documents.
Trump told the pope that he “won’t forget what you said" following the meeting. “We can use peace," he said, adding that he would read the documents.
Trump gave the pope a first-edition set of writings from Martin Luther King Jr., including five books. He also gifted the pontiff a piece of granite from the Martin Luther King. Jr. Memorial in Washington.
The White House said that Francis spoke about King and his civil rights legacy during his address to Congress in 2015. It said the gift of writings "honors Dr. King’s hope, vision, and inspiration for generations to come," while a bronze sculpture Trump gifted named Rising Above “represents hope for a peaceful tomorrow."
Trump traveled to the Vatican with the first lady Melania Trump, his daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner.
Trump, on his first foreign trip as president, called on Muslims to confront "the crisis of Islamic extremism” in a speech to leaders from 50 Islamic nations in Saudi Arabia on Sunday and visited Jewish and Christian holy sites in Israel.
Both outspoken leaders have taken verbal jabs at each other. Francis, in reference to then-candidate Trump’s plan to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, said: “A person who only thinks about building walls, wherever they may be, and not about building bridges, is not a Christian.” Trump replied that a religious leader capable of voicing such sentiments was “disgraceful.”
“For all their differences, both men say what they feel and speak clearly and freely, without holding back,” said Lucetta Scaraffia, a modern history professor at Rome’s La Sapienza University and the author of several books about the Vatican. “In their own ways, each is very undiplomatic.”
Francis and Trump are unlikely to criticize each other so bluntly when they meet — at least in public, said Andrea Tornielli, a veteran Vatican watcher with Italy’s La Stampa newspaper.
“This is not going to be a boxing match,” Tornielli said. “It’s their first meeting, and I think they will both try hard to find some common ground.”
Later Wednesday, Trump will meet with Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni and President Sergio Mattarella. Trump and Gentiloni met a month ago, during the prime minister’s state visit to Washington. This time, the U.S. and Italian leaders will likely discuss migration issues, international security and possible economic cooperation between the two countries that are longtime allies.
At least a half-dozen protests against Trump were scheduled to take place in Rome on Tuesday or Wednesday.
Contributing: Jane Onyanga-Omara in London, The Associated Press
(Central Israel) -- President Trump made it official yesterday: his first foreign trip will begin with stops in Saudi Arabia, Israel and the Vatican where he will meet with the Pope. From there, he will participate in a NATO Summit in Brussels, followed by the G-7 Summit in Sicily, Italy. He will depart the U.S. on May 19.
Mr. Trump made the announcement of his "historic" trip on an already big day. The House passed a bill to "repeal and replace" Obamacare after months of painstaking negotiations on Capitol Hill. It was also the National Day of Prayer. The President met with Evangelical leaders and signed an Executive Order advancing religious freedom.
The President's decision to visit Israel on his first foreign trip keeps a campaign pledge. It also further underscores the warm and close bonds this White House is intentionally building with the Israeli people and government, a sharp contrast to the last eight years. President Obama skipped Israel on his first visit to the Mideast in June of 2009.
I'm very encouraged that the President is coming here to the epicenter. He will meet with Prime Minister Netanyahu, President Reuven Rivlin, visit key religious and historic sites, and outline his vision for peace. He may also meet with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in Bethlehem, though that has not been confirmed. He just met with Abbas in Washington on Wednesday.
The decision to visit Rome -- and meet with the Pope -- will underscore the President's efforts to strengthen ties to Christian leaders. His emphasis, so far, has been with Evangelical leaders, many of whom helped him win the presidency.
The decision to visit Saudi Arabia first was dramatic for a leader who consistently attacks "radical Islamic terrorism" and called for a "Muslim ban" during his campaign.
But Mr. Trump has been intentionally -- and rightly -- reaching out to Arab Muslim leaders in recent months to forge a working alliance against Iran and ISIS. He recently met with the Saudi Deputy Crown Prince, along with Jordanian, Egyptian, Iraqi and Palestinian leaders.
“Saudi Arabia is the custodian of the two holiest sites in Islam, and it is there that we will begin to construct a new foundation of cooperation and support with our Muslim allies, to combat extremism, terrorism and violence,” Mr. Trump said, “and to embrace a more just and hopeful future for young Muslims in their countries."
"Our task is not to dictate to others how to live, but to build a coalition of friends and partners who share the goal of fighting terrorism and bringing safety, opportunity and stability to the war-ravaged Middle East,” he said.
“Tolerance is the cornerstone of peace,” Mr. Trump said at a ceremony at the White House, in which he said he would go to “Saudi Arabia, then Israel, and then to a place that my cardinals love very much, Rome.”
"The Saudi stop will consist of three meetings for Mr. Trump: one with the current monarch, King Salman; a gathering of the Gulf Cooperation Council, which consists of Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf countries; and a broader meeting with Arab and Muslim countries," reports the New York Times.
Did Pope Francis Really Take Another Step Toward a One World Religion?
Pope Francis talks with Sheikh Ahmed Mohamed el-Tayeb, Egyptian Imam of al-Azhar Mosque, at the Vatican. (REUTERS/Max Rossi)
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Despite Pope Francis' literal embracing of a top Islamic cleric and declaration that their "Meeting is the message," his top aid said Christians must apply Matthew 28 to everyone, including Muslims.
"We have a mission to convert all non-Christian religions' people [except] Judaism," Cardinal Kurt Koch said. "And what is very important for us is that we can make mission only with a credible witness and without any proselytism."
The Jews are God's chosen people, he continued. Christians should view them as a "mother" figure. But Islam and Christianity are vastly different.
"I don't think that we have the same relationship with Islam that we have with Judaism.
"It is very clear that we can speak about three Abrahamic religions but we cannot deny that the view of Abraham in the Jewish tradition and the Christian tradition and the Islamic tradition is not the same. In this sense we have only with Jewish people this unique relationship that we have not with Islam."
"If you have not see this video, it is one of the creepiest things that I have ever seen on YouTube. It has become exceedingly clear that Pope Francis believes that all major religions are completely valid paths to the same God, and there is virtually no uproar over this," Charisma News' Michael Snyder says of the Pope's actions. "This just shows how late in the game we really are. The one world religion that was prophesied nearly 2,000 years ago in the book of Revelation is starting to come to life, and we are witnessing the events of the last days begin to unfold right in front of our eyes."
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Italian police have arrested four suspects who were conspiring to join the Islamic State terror group andplottingto attack the Vatican as well as the Israeli embassy in Rome.
The four suspects—a couple living near Lake Como, a 23-year-old Moroccan man, and a female relative of a fugitive couple—were detained by Italian police, Milan prosecutor Maurizio Romanelli said at a news conference.
Italian police also said they are seeking to arrest the aforementioned fugitive couple, another Moroccan man and his Italian wife. That couple is believed to have left Italy for Iraq and Syria last year, the prosecutor said.
Transcripts of wiretapped phone conversations between three of the four suspects who have already been arrested mentioned the possibility of attacks on the Vatican and the Israeli Embassy in Rome, Reuters reported.
“I swear I will be the first to attack them in this Italy of crusaders, I swear I’ll attack it, in the Vatican God willing,” one of the suspects allegedly said, according to an arrest warrant.
China ‘notes’ Pope’s new year greeting, calls for flexibility
Jan.3, 2016 TRUNEWS
China said on Wednesday it had “noted” an interview in which Pope Francis sent Lunar New Year greetings to President Xi Jinping, and called on the Vatican to be flexible in creating conditions for better relations.
The Vatican, which has had no formal diplomatic ties with Beijing since shortly after the Communist Party took power in 1949, has been trying to improve ties with China and its state-sanctioned Catholic Church.
The main point of contention between Beijing and the Vatican is which side should have the final say in the appointment of bishops. Another stumbling block is the Holy See’s recognition of Taiwan, which Beijing considers a renegade province. Pope Francis holds a skullcap given to him by a faithful as he arrives to lead the weekly audience in Saint Peter’s Square at the Vatican February 3, 2016. REUTERS/Max Rossi
While he was in South Korea in 2014, the Pope urged China to pursue a formal dialogue to benefit both sides. While flying to South Korea, his plane was allowed to cross Chinese air space, a first for a pope.
In the interview in the Asia Times this week, the Pope did not mention difficult subjects like human rights, expressing his admiration for China and sending his best wishes to Xi and China’s people ahead of next week’s Lunar New Year holiday.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said he had “noted the relevant report”.
“China has always been sincere about improving Sino-Vatican ties, and have made many efforts in this regard,” Lu told a daily news briefing.
“We are still willing to have constructive dialogue with the Vatican based on this principle, meeting each other half way, and keep pushing forward the development of the process of improving bilateral relations. We also hope that the Vatican can take a flexible, pragmatic attitude to creating conditions for improving ties.”
“For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of deceit have they opened against me; they have spoken unto me with a lying tongue.” (Psalms 109:2)
Amid Israel’s ongoing concern about the White House-brokered Iran nuclear deal, Pope Francis on Tuesday hosted Iranian President Hassan Rouhani at the Vatican to discuss possible solutions to the Middle East crisis.
After the leaders’ private 40-minute meeting, the Vatican issued a statement regarding the “relevant role Iran is called on to play” in combating terrorism and arms trafficking in the Middle East. The Vatican said that “common spiritual values” between Pope Francis and Rouhani emerged from the meeting.
Rouhani is leading an Iranian delegation on a four-day trip to Italy and France in hopes of reaffirming the Islamic Republic’s economic ties with Western nations. In Rome, top Iranian officials met with more than 100 Italian business executives from infrastructure companies, who agreed to billions of dollars worth of deals with Iran, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Rouhani’s visit, which marks the first meeting between a pope and an Iranian president since 1999, comes shortly after the recent implementation of last summer’s nuclear deal between Iran and world powers. The nuclear deal includes about $150 billion in sanctions relief for Iran, and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry recently admitted that some of that relief will likely fund terrorism. Iran is the world’s leading state sponsor of terror, including its funding of Hamas and Hezbollah, two groups sworn to Israel’s destruction.
Pope Francis (R) embraces Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the end of the ceremony for the canonization of four nuns at Saint Peter's square. (Reuters)
Vatican's Recognition of Palestine Now in Effect
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An agreement signed last year making the Vatican's de facto recognition of Palestine in 2012 official has come into effect, the Holy See said on Saturday.
The Vatican signed its first treaty with the "State of Palestine" last June when it called for moves to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and backed a two-state solution.
"... the Holy See and the State of Palestine have notified each other that the procedural requirements for (the accord's) entry into force have been fulfilled, the Vatican said in a statement on Saturday.
The U.N. General Assembly adopted a resolution in 2012 recognizing Palestine as an observer non-member state. This was welcomed at the time by the Vatican, which has the same observer non-member status at the United Nations.
In October 2014, Sweden acknowledged Palestine, a decision that drew condemnation from Israel and led to tense relations between the two.
Israel has previously called the Vatican accord a hasty move that could damage prospects for advancing a peace agreement and impact its future diplomatic relations with the Vatican.
But the Holy See under Pope Francis is eager to have a greater diplomatic role in the Middle East, from where many Christians have fled because of conflicts in Syria, Iraq and other countries.
"The Agreement ... regards essential aspects of the life and activity of the Church in Palestine, while at the same time reaffirming the support for a negotiated and peaceful solution to the conflict in the region," the Vatican said.
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Pope Francis issues a statement that Jews don't need to put their faith in Jesus Christ to be forgiven. (Wikimedia)
The Vatican Is Wrong: Jews Do Need Jesus
An important new statement from the Vatican on the relationship between the Catholic Church, the Jewish people and Jesus Christ makes many praiseworthy points. At the same time, it misunderstands Jesus' own mission to His Jewish people, thereby undermining fundamental tenets of the New Testament along with the very nature of the apostolic witness.
Issued on the 50th anniversary of the groundbreaking document "Nostra Aetate" ("In Our Time"), the new document, titled "The Gifts and Calling of God Are Irrevocable," rightly reiterates the Catholic Church's repudiation of replacement theology, also known as supersessionism, the teaching that the church has replaced (or superseded) Israel in God's plan of salvation. It also reiterates the Church's repudiation of anti-Semitism, quoting the dictum of Pope Francis that one cannot be both a Christian and an anti-Semite.
In addition, the new statement urges deep respect for Judaism and for the historic connection between the Jewish people and the God of Israel—the God whom Christians worship—also calling on Catholic Christians to learn from Judaism's interpretation of the Scriptures and to join with the Jewish people in standing for justice and caring for the poor.
All this is tremendously positive, as the Church continues to distance itself from the plagues of anti-Semitism and supersessionism, plagues that infected both Catholic and Protestant branches of the faith, in some circles until this day. And so it is right to recall the reality of the Holocaust, as this document does, since the Holocaust could hardly have taken place if not for more than a millennium of European, Church-based anti-Semitism.
Most importantly, the new statement states plainly that the Jewish people do not need to put their faith in Jesus Christ to be forgiven, since their faith culminates in the Torah, in contrast with the Christian faith, which culminates in Jesus. Therefore, we are told, there is no need for the Catholic Church to have a specific mission to convert Jews to Christianity, looking forward to the day when, in the mysteries of God, Jews and Christians will serve God together, shoulder to shoulder.
Not surprisingly, this statement has been hailed by Jewish leaders, in particular for its explicit call for the Church not to engage in an intentional, specific outreach to the Jewish people.
From my perspective as a Jewish believer in Jesus who is deeply indebted to my Christian friends who reached out to me as a rebellious, heroin-shooting, LSD-using, 16-year-old, hippie rock drummer, it would have been tragic had they thought not to share the Good News with me because I was Jewish.
To be sure, the new statement does allow for respectful interaction between the faiths and does not prohibit all Christian witness, but the overall sentiment of the statement, as reflected in numerous headlines, is that "Jews do not need Jesus to be saved," as if they can somehow be included in His salvific act while explicitly rejecting Him as Messiah.
Certainly, I agree that the Church's goal should not be to convert Jews to Christianity. Rather, the goal should be to help them embrace Jesus-Yeshua as their Messiah, discovering Him to be the one who fulfilled what was written in Moses and the Prophets (Matt. 5:17-20) rather than the one who came to start a new, somewhat foreign religion.
Yet the very fact that Jesus did come as the Jewish Messiah fundamentally contradicts the new Catholic statement. The reasons are both fundamental and significant.
1. Jesus was recognized by His followers as the one spoken of by Moses and the prophets, not as the founder of a new religion (John 1:45) but as the one who was born King of the Jews and died King of the Jews (Matt. 2:1-6; 27:35-37).
Jesus showed His disciples that the Hebrew Scriptures—the Jewish Bible—predicted His death and resurrection (Luke 24:25-27; 24:44-48) and He rebuked the Jewish leadership for not recognizing Him as the Messiah, saying that if they truly believed Moses, they would believe Him (John 5:45-47).
2. If Jesus is not the Messiah of Israel, then He cannot be the Savior of the world. Instead, He should be repudiated as a false prophet, false teacher and false messiah.
Many Jewish leaders today have great respect for the Christian faith, saying that while Jesus is not the Jewish Messiah, He is the Christian Savior, but this cannot be true. If He is not Israel's Messiah, He cannot be the Savior of the world.
If Judaism, then, is right in rejecting Yeshua as Messiah, there should be no such thing as Christianity, since the essential witness of the New Testament would be false. If the witness of the New Testament is true, then Jews need Jesus as much as Gentiles do.
3. The Jewish rejection of Jesus in the Gospels and Acts is seen as the culmination of Israel's rejection of Moses and the prophets.
Jesus warned the Jewish crowds that in the future, Gentiles would be sitting at Abraham's table while many of them—"the sons of the kingdom"—would be cast out (Matt. 8:10-12), and Peter, Stephen, and Paul all stated explicitly that their people's refusal to recognize Jesus as Messiah was in keeping with their history as recorded in the Old Testament (Acts 3:13-23; 7:51-52; 13:16-41).
4. Jesus warned His followers—all of them Jews—that they would be put out of the synagogue (John 16:3), and so it was incipient Judaism that first rejected "Jewish Christians" more than the reverse.
This pattern begins to unfold in the book of Acts, as the apostles—again, all of them Jewish—were persecuted and threatened by the Jewish leadership (e.g., Acts 4-7), and in each new city where Paul traveled, it was only after his message was rejected by the synagogue that he began to preach to the Gentiles (e.g., Acts 13:41-48).
5. According to Paul, the gospel is to the Jew first (Rom. 1:16; this echoes Jesus' words in Luke 24:47; Acts 1:8) and judgment is also for the Jew first (Rom. 2:6-11).
It is significant that the new Catholic statement relies primarily on Paul's teaching in Romans 9-11, choosing overtly not to emphasize the teaching of Hebrews (addressed to Jewish followers of Jesus), which stated that the old covenant system, which was even then "becoming obsolete and growing old" was "ready to vanish away" (Heb. 8:13). This, Hebrews tells us, is because the new and better covenant, prophesied by Jeremiah (31:31-34) and inaugurated by Jesus (Luke 22:17-20), was now in effect (8:7-12; 10:14-18).
Yet it is in Romans 9-11 that Paul spoke of his deep agony because His Jewish people were separated from the Messiah (9:1-3; he did this while affirming God's ongoing covenant with Israel in 9:4-5); he explained that both in past times and to this moment, it was only the remnant within Israel that was saved (9:6; 11:1-7); he prayed for the salvation of his people (10:1; why do that if the new Catholic statement is true?); he taught that Israel, on a national level, had been hardened but that in the end that hardness would be removed and his people would recognize their Messiah (11:7-27); thus, he explained, at present, the Jewish people are enemies of the gospel, even while still loved by God, "for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable" (11:28-29).
Significantly, it is this very verse, Romans 11:29, that inspires the title of the new document, yet it fails to understand what Paul meant when he wrote it. Jews are still loved by God and remain heirs of the divine promises, but outside of Jesus, they are alienated from God. That is why, to the end of his life, Paul engaged in an intentional mission to reach his people with the Good News that the Messiah of Israel had come (Acts 28:16-31).
If we truly love the Jewish people, we should follow his example, both with our tears and with our compassionate and sensitive outreach, recognizing that no other people on earth are so near and yet so far.
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