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Saturday, October 4, 2008

Vatican Message to Muslims for Ramadan

Vatican Message to Muslims for Ramadan
"Christians and Muslims Must Work to Safeguard the Dignity of the Family"

VATICAN CITY, SEPT. 19, 2008 - Here is a text published today by the
Vatican of a message sent to Muslims by the president of the
Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. The message was sent
on the occasion of the end of Ramadan.

* * *

Christians and Muslims:

Together for the dignity of the family

Dear Muslim friends,

1. As the end of the month of Ramadan approaches, and following a now
well-established tradition, I am pleased to send you the best wishes
of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. During this
month Christians close to you have shared your reflections and your
family celebrations; dialogue and friendship have been strengthened.
Praise be to God!

2. As in the past, this friendly rendez-vous also gives us an
opportunity to reflect together on a mutually topical subject which
will enrich our exchange and help us to get to know each other better,
in our shared values as well as in our differences. This year we would
like to propose the subject of the family.

3. One of the documents of the Second Council Vatican, Gaudium et
Spes, which deals with the Church in the modern world, states: 'The
well-being of the individual person and of human and Christian society
is intimately linked with the healthy condition of that community
produced by marriage and family. Hence Christians and all men who hold
this community in high esteem sincerely rejoice in the various ways by
which men today find help in fostering this community of love and
perfecting its life, and by which parents are assisted in their lofty
calling. Those who rejoice in such aids look for additional benefits
from them and labour to bring them about.' (n. 47)

4. These words give us an opportune reminder that the development of
both the human person and of society depends largely on the
healthiness of the family! How many people carry, sometimes for the
whole of their life, the weight of the wounds of a difficult or
dramatic family background? How many men and women now in the abyss of
drugs or violence are vainly seeking to make up for a traumatic
childhood? Christians and Muslims can and must work together to
safeguard the dignity of the family, today and in the future.

5. Given the high esteem in which both Muslims and Christians hold the
family, we have already had many occasions, from the local to the
international level, to work together in this field. The family, that
place where love and life, respect for the other and hospitality are
encountered and transmitted, is truly the 'fundamental cell of
society.'

6. Muslims and Christians must never hesitate, not only to come to the
aid of families in difficulty, but also to collaborate with all those
who support the stability of the family as an institution and the
exercise of parental responsibility, in particular in the field of
education. I need only remind you that the family is the first school
in which one learns respect for others, mindful of the identity and
the difference of each one. Interreligious dialogue and the exercise
of citizenship cannot but benefit from this.

7. Dear friends, now that your fast comes to an end, I hope that you,
with your families and those close to you, purified and renewed by
those practices dear to your religion, may know serenity and
prosperity in your life! May Almighty God fill you with His Mercy and
Peace!

Jean-Louis Cardinal Tauran President

Archbishop Pier Luigi Celata Secretary

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Muslims Around the World Prepare for Eid-ul-Fitr

Beautiful Pictures from the Guardian in the UK.

Mecca, Saudi Arabia

1 / 19

Mecca, Saudi Arabia: Muslims pray at the al-Haram grand mosque before breaking their fast at dusk

Photograph: Omar Salem/AFP

Jerusalem, Israel

2 / 19

Jerusalem, Israel: Palestinian Muslims walk next to the Dome of the Rock mosque to attend Eid al-Fitr prayers in the al-Aqsa mosque compound

Photograph: Muhammed Muheisen/AP

Fallujah, Iraq

3 / 19

Falluja, Iraq: People visit a cemetery

Photograph: Hadi Mizban/AP

Sarajevo, Bosnia

4 / 19

Sarajevo, Bosnia: Muslim women pray as they gather at Gazi Husrev Bay's mosque to mark the 27th night of Ramadan called Laylat al-Qadr, or the Night of Decree

Photograph: Fehim Demir/EPA

Ahmedabad. India

5 / 19

Ahmedabad, India: Muslims offer prayers on the last Friday of Ramadan

Photograph: Amit Dave/Reuters

Lagos, Nigeria

6 / 19

Lagos, Nigeria: Muslims attend prayers celebrating the end of Ramadan

Photograph: Akintunde Akinleye/Reuters

Taguig, Philippines

7 / 19

Taguig, Philippines: Muslims gather for early morning prayers at the Blue mosque

Photograph: Jes Aznar/AFP

Islabamad, Pakistan

8 / 19

Islamabad, Pakistan: A view of Islamabad's grand Faisal mosque which is decorated with lights

Photograph: Anjum Naveed/AP

Algiers, Algeria

9 / 19

Algiers, Algeria: Boys wearing traditional outfits play as they wait to be circumcised on the last week of Ramadan at a hospital. Ramadan is considered as an auspicious time for the procedure and celebrated with sweets and gifts for the boys

Photograph: Mohamed Messara/EPA

Rafah, Gaza Strip

10 / 19

Rafah, Gaza Strip: A Palestinian boy buys sweets at a market to prepare for the end of Ramadan and the Eid al-Fitr holiday. Preparations include buying new clothes, food and special sweets

Photograph: Said Khatib/AFP

Kabul, Afghanistan

11 / 19

Kabul, Afghanistan: A toy gun on display for sale as children play in a park in Kabul

Photograph: Rafiq Maqbool/AP

Dhaka, Bangladesh

12 / 19

Dhaka, Bangladesh: A homeless Bangladeshi woman looks at accessories ahead of the Eid-al Fitr holiday

Photograph: Pavel Rahman/AP

Multan, Pakistan

13 / 19

Multan, Pakistan: Muslim girls show their henna-decorated hands as part of Eid-al-Fitr festival preparations

Photograph: Asim Tanveer/Reuters

Tanta, Egypt

14 / 19

Tanta, Egypt: Egyptian women prepare traditional sweets filled with honey and nuts

Photograph: Khaled El-Fiqi/EPA

Srinagar, India

15 / 19

Srinagar, India: A Kashmiri Muslim carries a goose ahead of the Eid-al-Fitr festival

Photograph: Fayaz Kabli /Reuters

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

16 / 19

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: A worker prepares a popular traditional dish, Lemang, made of glutinous rice stuffed in a bamboo stick and cooked over a charcoal fire for the Eid al-Fitr celebration

Photograph: Kamarul Akhir/AFP

Hyderabad, India

17 / 19

Hyderabad, India: A worker prepares vermicelli, or noodles

Photograph: Mahesh Kumar A/AP

Jembrana, Indonesia

18 / 19

Jembrana, Indonesia: Indonesians ride motorbikes as they queue to board a passenger ship at Gilimanuk Port. Every year millions of people in the world's largest Muslim-populated nation head home on overcrowded buses, trains, ships and planes to celebrate the Eid al-Fitr holiday

Photograph: Made Nagi/EPA

Dhaka, Bangladesh

19 / 19

Dhaka, Bangladesh: An overcrowded passenger train bound for the south of the country. Millions of residents in Dhaka have started the exodus home from the capital city

Photograph: Andrew Biraj/Reuters

Monday, September 29, 2008

Morocco May Give Gays Some Rights 'Within Fifty Years'

From PinkNews in UK

Morocco may give gays some rights 'within fifty years'

By Staff Writer, PinkNews.co.uk • September 29, 2008 - 13:49

Moroccan gays are hopeful of gaining rights

An international congress on gay rights in Muslim countries has been told that the north African nation of Morocco may grant rights to homosexuals "within fifty years."

A representative of a gay group in the country, Kif-Kif, said that although homosexual acts are still illegal, they have unofficial contacts with the Moroccan Socialist Party, reports DPA.

The group has 3,000 members in Spain, France, Canada and Morocco.

Article 489 of the country's criminal code provides prison terms for people who commit "lewd or unnatural acts with an individual of the same sex."

In January a leading human rights organisation called on the authorities in Morocco to release six men jailed under that law.

They were arrested by police between November 23rd and 25th 2007, after a video circulated online, including on YouTube, purporting to show a private party, allegedly including the men, taking place in Ksar el-Kbir on November 18th.

Press reports claimed the party was a "gay marriage."

At an appeal the men's sentences were reduced but their convictions upheld.

The six men range in age from 20 to 61 years old.

A leading human rights organisation has called on the authorities in Morocco to release six men jailed for "lewd and unnatural acts."

They were arrested by police between November 23rd and 25th 2007, after a video circulated online, including on YouTube, purporting to show a private party, allegedly including the men, taking place in Ksar el-Kbir on November 18th.

Press reports claimed the party was a "gay marriage."

At an appeal yesterday the men's sentences were reduced but their convictions upheld.

The six men range in age from 20 to 61 years old.

Amnesty International issued a fresh call for their release.

According to lawyers for the defendants, the prosecution failed to present any evidence that the men actually had engaged in the prohibited conduct in the first place.

At the trial, all six men maintained their innocence of the charges.

All denied that they had engaged in same-sex sexual relations during the party.

The Youtube video was broadcast at the trial but did not present any evidence of "lewd or unnatural acts with an individual of the same sex."

Despite the lack of evidence, the men were found guilty and sentenced to prison terms and fines.

Valentine's Day Across the Muslim World (2012)