Francis in Indonesia. Christianity and Islam... a common way towards “light”

Christ speaks of Himself as the light of the world. The Pope in Indonesia teaches that the light is Christians and Muslims. They aim together for the eventual intent in the way of brotherhood; and differences in rites and doctrine are only a surface, for what is truly essential is hidden beneath.

Pope Francis traveled to Southeast Asia: Indonesia, Papua fresh Guinea, East Timor and Singapore. In a short note published on PCh24.pl I suggested late that this journey may become an chance to communicate many statements that will border on errors of spiritual indifference. Unfortunately, this prediction proved besides optimistic: during meetings with Muslims in Indonesia, Francis consistently treated them as if they didn't request any conversion, and Islam was a full entitled way that led them towards God. In the plane of both words and symbols, the journey became a means of identifying the Triune God with Allah. Christ is simply a large absentee papal speaking, and the eventual intent of the Church and man has become the way of the brotherhood "to light"--not in Christ the Lord.

I will focus here solely on the actions and words of Francis, which were addressed to Muslims. The followers of Islam are the lion's part of Indonesia's population, and it would be natural if the successor of St Peter, gathering with them, even in the most delicate way possible to encourage them to be curious in the Savior. It is not a call to join the Catholic Church, but to effort to illuminate Jesus so as to bring among the muslim listeners a desire to get to know God's boy more closely. Unfortunately, based on authoritative material published by the Holy See, it can be concluded that no of this happened. Pope Francis acted consistently throughout the journey as if Islam were an absolutely equal religion. In short, the Holy Father acted in full accord with the letter of the Abu Dhabi Declaration, which he signed in 2019 with the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar in Cairo, Ahmad al-Tayyeb, according to which God wishes to have different religions.

On 4 August, the Pope gave a speech to the Indonesian authorities at the presidential palace in Jakarta. It contained many affirmative elements, specified as condemning abortion and calling for multi-children, which is commendable. Unfortunately, erstwhile it came to spiritual testimony, it was highly non-Catholic. In all the talk, the name of the Lord Jesus never erstwhile fell. The Pope spoke of the Catholic Church, but his mission was presented only in temporal terms. He said:

"The Catholic Church serves the common good and wants to strengthen cooperation with public institutions and another civilian society actors, but never proselytes and always respects the religion of all man. The Church wants to encourage the creation of a more sustainable social fabric and guarantee a more effective and equitable distribution of social assistance."

In another words, the Church in the papal evidence addressed to false religion was brought to the function of a charity with purely materialistic purposes.

On 5 August, the Pope gave a speech in Indonesia's largest mosque, Istiqlal in Jakarta, attending an interreligious gathering where mostly Muslims were present by nature (though not only them). He began by referring to the mosque as the “great home of mankind”, to which “everyone can enter, making area for longing for the infinity which each of us carries in our hearts.”

Then the Pope began to talk figuratively about the unity of Islam and Christianity. He referred to a very circumstantial architectural solution associated with the Istiqlal Mosque. The mosque is located other the Catholic Cathedral of the presumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Both temples are connected by a tunnel that is called the “Friendly Tunnel”.

Francis utilized this image to represent Christianity and Islam as 2 cultural-ordinary orders, which are based on the same profound rule as the pursuit of the quest for infinity. delight read carefully the pope's words:

“On the surface, both in the mosque and cathedral are spaces that are defined and visited by their faithful, but underground in the tunnel, the same people can meet each another and with the spiritual position of the other. This image reminds us of the crucial fact that visible aspects of religion – engravings, practices and so on – are an inheritance to be guarded and respected. However, we can say that what lies “underside” that runs in the underground, like the “Friendly Tunnel”, is 1 common root for all spiritual sensibilities: it is the search for encounter with divinity, the desire for infinity that the Almighty has placed in our hearts, the search for greater joy and life stronger than any kind of death that revives the journey of an English life and urges us to cross our borders to meet God. Let us remember here that, looking deeper, taking into account what flows in the depths of our lives, that is, the desire for fullness surviving at the bottom of our hearts, we discover that we are all brothers and sisters, we are all pilgrims on our way to God, and besides what makes us different from each other."

As you can see, Pope Francis brings here very clearly spiritual differences to what is superficial, indicating that what is truly crucial is hidden underneath. We are dealing with a classical example of modernist heresy, which all religions derive from the interior and inherent sense of divinity to all man. At the same time, the thing is typical of the environments of deistic freemasonry. Significantly, independent Indonesia was created with a large share of the masonry, implemented in the country by the Dutch; the Dutch lodges are related to Anglo-Saxon masonry, which, unlike the masonry dominant present in France, is not atheistic but fundamentally "deistic". The Papal explanation of the relationship Tunnel is part of the ideas promoted by these groups: it is not only a purely applicable friendship, but a union of Islam and Christianity manifested on the deepest level.

Perhaps this was even clearer in the short speech Francis gave in the “Friendly Tunnel”. He said, among another things,

“When we think of the tunnel, we easy get a image of the dark passage. It can be scary, especially erstwhile we're alone. But here it is different due to the fact that everything is enlightened. I would like to tell you that you are the light that this enlightens; you do so through your friendship, through the harmony that you promote, the support that you give yourselves, through the joint travel that yet leads you to the fullness of light. We, who belong to various spiritual traditions, have a function to play in bringing all aid in crossing the tunnels of life with eyes stuck in the light. Then, at the end of the journey, we will be able to admit those who walked alongside us, a brother and a sister with whom we can share our lives and aid each other."

In the teaching of the Church, Jesus Christ is the Light that comes from the East. In the above papal statement, however, the symbolism of light was utilized rather differently. Not only do Christians, but Muslims, in another ways, aim at the same goal. Even more: while our Lord Jesus Christ says of Himself: “I am the light of the world4. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life" (Jn 8, 12), Pope Francis makes a travesty of these words, calling the “light” of Christians and Muslims. We are dealing not only with the extension of the dimension of light from Christianity besides into Islam, but besides with the transfer of this dimension from God-Man to people as such, which, again, is in line with the Gnostic-Masonian concept of self-enlightenment, which assumes that, by breaking through various rituals and spiritual practices, man discovers that he is the same with the deity, thus achieving the fullness of his existence—in himself.

In the following part, Francis besides said:

"By accepting others and respecting their identity, fraternity calls them on a common path, which we walk in friendship, leading them towards light."

While Christ the Lord teaches that following him leads to light, Pope Francis teaches that the light leads Christians and Muslims to something else, namely, the way of brotherhood.

In another words, salvation does not appear to lie in Christ, but in brotherhood, which—whether we like it or not— again refers to the Masonic ideals expressed lapidally in the bloody slogan of the French Revolution.

All papal quotes come from the authoritative Vatican website, anyone can check them out.

Paweł Chmielewski