Immoral behavior

[Shammu]

It's time that Canada, makes it very clear that the law in Canada is a secular one. That while Canadians accept the  beliefs of other cultures, they should not tolerate the enforcement of any law other than Canadian.  Canada has made it clear in the past that they will not support sharia law in Canada.

I get tired of hearing from muslims they are a peaceful religion, when they are nothing but THUGS and TERRORIST!!

[Soldier4Christ]

Abortionist tells med students he has 'license to lie'
Doc responsible for several women's deaths admits barely washing hands between clients

A video of an abortion practitioner is making its way across the Internet featuring a November appearance by Alberto Hodari at Wayne State University in Michigan. The campus pro-abortion organization invited him to speak and Hodari tells them his status as an abortion practitioner gives him license to lie to women.

Hodari gave the local Medical Students for Choice group a talk entitled, "Why I Am An Abortion Provider" to motivate the pro-abrotion medical students.

The national pro-life student group Students for Life of America obtained a copy of the speech, in which Hodari says, "I have great satisfaction of what I do, and I never feel bad or worried about doing abortions."

Hodari also spoke about how little he washed between abortions because it chafed his hands, even though his doing so puts women's health at risk.

Most upsetting to SFLA director Kristan Hawkins is Hodari's claim that being an abortion practitioner gives him "license to lie" to women who seek him out for abortions.

"To hear Hodari speak, one wonders if Michigan is the third world," Hawkins says in a statement she provided LifeNews.com. "Planned Parenthood complains about 'back-alley' abortions, even though Hodari is running a business where he's barely washing his hands between abortions."

Ashley Tyndall, the president of the pro-life student group, noted that Hodari is responsible for multiple women's deaths from his legal abortions.

"Several women have died while getting abortions with Hodari, and yet the Michigan board of health has never investigated him," she said. "How many women have to die before the bureaucrats start telling Hodari to wash his hands and tell patients the truth."

Hodari was responsible for the abortion death of 15 year-old African-American teenager Tamia Russell.

Taisha Glenn, the sister of Russell's 24-year-old boyfriend, Stacy Glenn, had taken Russell to the abortion facility on January 7, 2004 without permission or notifying Russell's mother or guardian.

Glenn and Russell went to five other abortion facilities before coming to WomanCare, Hodari's abortion center.

Tamiia used an identification card with another woman's picture to state she was 19, as abortions cannot be performed on minors in Michigan without parental consent.

The woman in the picture ID looked nothing like Russell -- but the abortion was done anyway.

The facility gotcha11lly inserted laminaria, a seaweed used to begin dilation. Russell was sent home, where she confessed to her family that she was pregnant and had begun the abortion procedure.

When her mother and aunt called WomanCare, they said the abortion could not be stopped once the laminaria is inserted.

Russell's mother drove her daughter to the abortion facility the next day to finish the abortion, which was performed by Alberto Hodari. Upon her return home, she experienced severe bleeding -- "so much so she soaked an entire mattress," her family told LifeNews.com.

WomanCare told her family that such bleeding was "normal" following an abortion, and not to take her to the hospital.

Concerned for Russell, the family called paramedics who rushed her to Sinai-Grace Hospital. Russell died on the way to the Hospital.

Hodari has also come under fire for misusing the drug Digoxin in abortions.

[Shammu]

Preacher Says Islam Isn't Against Christmas

Father Cantalamessa Delivers Advent Meditation

VATICAN CITY - Secularism, not Islam, is behind the war on Christmas, according to the preacher of the Pontifical Household in an Advent sermon.

Capuchin Father Raniero Cantalamessa said this today in his second Advent meditation in the presence of Benedict XVI and his aides in the Roman Curia in the Redemptoris Mater Chapel of the Apostolic Palace.

The priest said the "cultural derision, or at least marginalization, of religious beliefs with the campaign in different European countries and cities against the religious symbols of Christmas."

The preacher said: "The reason often given for this is the desire to not offend persons of other religions among us, especially the Muslims.

"But it is a pretext, an excuse. In reality it is not the Muslims who do not want these symbols but a certain non-believing group in society. Muslims have nothing against the Christian celebration of Christmas, indeed, they honor it."

"We have arrived at a rather absurd juncture: On the one hand, many Muslims celebrate the birth of Jesus and want a crèche in their home and say that 'those who do not believe in the miraculous birth of Jesus are not Muslim,'" Father Cantalamessa said.

"And on the other hand, there are many who call themselves Christians who want to make Christmas a 'winter festival' populated only by reindeer and teddy bears," he continued.

To make his point, Father Cantalamessa commented that the Koran even speaks of the Annunciation.

He also mentioned an article published Dec. 18 in Italy entitled "We Muslims Say Yes to the Crèche," written by Muslim journalist Magdi Allan, deputy director of Il Corriere della Sera.

The article states: "Christmas unites Christians and Muslims. For Islam the figures of Jesus and of Mary are very important and mentioned on several occasions in the Koran itself.

"Therefore, I don't see why Muslim children cannot sing the carols."

Preacher Says Islam Isn't Against Christmas

[Shammu]

Pope's Response to 138 Muslim Scolars


(29 Nov 07 - RV) Pope Benedict XVI has replied to the letter written by 138 Muslim scholars to Christian Leaders, inviting a group of them to meet with him here in the Vatican.

The letter is addressed to Jordanian Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad bin Talal, and signed by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone. In it the Pope expresses his deep appreciation for the positive spirit which inspired the text from Muslim scholars and its call for a common commitment to promoting peace in the world.
 While it is important not to ignore or down play the difference between Christians and Muslims, the Pope says “we can and therefore should look to what unites us, namely, belief in the one God, the provident Creator and universal Judge”.

Reiterating his words to representatives of Some Muslim Communities in Cologne, at the beginning of his pontificate, the pope stressed “we must not yield to the negative pressures in our midst, but must affirm the values of mutual respect, solidarity and peace. Adding there is plenty of scope for acting together in the service of fundamental moral values”.

“The common ground between the two faiths”, he says “allows us to base dialogue on respect for the dignity of every human person on the objective knowledge of the other’s religion, on the sharing of religious experience and, finally, on common commitment to promoting mutual respect and acceptance among the younger generation”.
 The letter concludes with an invitation to the Jordanian Prince and to a select group of the Muslim signatories for a papal audience to encourage such initiatives.

The Pope also proposes setting up meetings between the Muslim scholars and Vatican organisations such as the Pontifical council for Inter Religious Dialogue, the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies and the Pontifical Gregorian University.

Pope's Response to 138 Muslim Scolars

[Shammu]

Vatican nativity does away with the manger

By Malcolm Moore in Rome
Last Updated: 3:35pm GMT 14/12/2007

For 25 years, the Christmas Nativity scene in front of St Peter's Basilica has shown the infant Jesus in a manger in Bethlehem.

This year, however, the Vatican has decided to radically change the scene, shifting it to Nazareth, and placing Jesus in his father's carpentry shop.
    
When Pope Benedict XVI inaugurates the life-size Nativity scene on Christmas eve, the sheep and hay will be gone.

In their place will be a model of three rooms.

Jesus will lie in Joseph's shop, complete with "the typical work tools of a carpenter".

On one side, the shop will be flanked with a "covered patio", while on the other there will be the "inside of a pub, with its hearth".

The news came in an official statement from the State Department of the Vatican, which organises and builds the giant presepe, or Nativity scene.

The new setting was inspired by two verses in St Matthew's gospel, Chapter 1:24 and 1:25, the Vatican said, which state: "When Joseph woke up, he did as the Angel of God ordered and took Mary into his house. Without them knowing each other, a child was born and he called his name Jesus".

The gospel goes on to mention Jesus' birthplace as Bethlehem, but a spokesman for the Vatican said a decision had been made to place the scene in Nazareth regardless.
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"It was time for a change," said the spokesman "and a return to St Matthew's gospel".

The traditional depiction of Jesus in a manger comes from St Luke's gospel, which said there was "no room at the inn".

But it is Matthew's gospel which forms the basis for the Angelus prayer, and the view of Jesus in a carpenter's workshop matches the Franciscan tradition.

None of the three Vatican departments which organises the Nativity scene could comment on who had taken the decision to shift the location, or for what reason.

However, sources close to the Vatican said there was a desire to crack down on the various "fanciful Nativity scenes" that have sprung up in recent years.

In Naples, a number of Nativity scenes include notorious figures from today, such as Elvis Presley or Silvio Berlusconi, standing amongst the crowd adoring the infant Jesus.

The Nativity scene at St Peter's was started by Pope John Paul II in 1982.

In addition, a giant, fully-adorned Christmas tree has been erected in St Peter's Square.

Meanwhile, the Catholic Church has said that it was its "right and duty" to spread the word of Christ to non-believers.

A new document from the Vatican's doctrinal department rejected accusations that the Church aggressively converts its members.

The Russian Orthodox Church has accused Rome of trying to poach souls in the former Soviet Union. However, the Vatican said evangelisation was its "inalienable right and duty".

"The incorporation of new members into the Church is not the expansion of a power group, but rather entrance into the network of friendship with Christ which connects heaven and earth, different continents and age.

"It is entrance into the gift of communion with Christ," the document said.

Vatican nativity does away with the manger

[Shammu]

Vatican defends its 'right to spread its message'
Associated Press
THE JERUSALEM POST
Dec. 14, 2007

The Vatican, which has been accused of aggressively seeking souls in Russia and some other countries, said Friday it has every right to spread its message and accept converts but that non-Catholics must never be forced to embrace the faith.

The Vatican's doctrinal office issued guidelines on the missionary policy of the Roman Catholic Church, saying there is "growing confusion which leads many to leave the missionary command of the Lord unheard and ineffective."

"Often is it maintained that any attempt to convince others on religious matters is a limitation of their freedom," said the document issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

With the fall of Communism and subsequent end to bars on religious practice across Eastern Europe, the Russian Orthodox Church has accused Catholics of improperly seeking converts in traditionally Orthodox areas - a claim the Vatican has always rejected.

Roman Catholics have also faced tensions in several states in India, accused by Hindu nationalists of aggressive attempts to convert Hindus.

The Vatican restated its position that the church "severely prohibits forcing people to embrace the faith or leading or enticing them by improper technique; by the same token, she also strongly defends the right that no one be deterred from the faith by deplorable ill treatment."

The document did not cite particular countries, but it did indirectly refer to Orthodox areas and said "true respect for the tradition and spiritual riches" of such countries is required.

It also said that should a non-Catholic Christian seek to become a Catholic "this is to be respected as the work of the Holy Spirit and as an expression of freedom of conscience and religion."

Vatican defends its 'right to spread its message'

[Shammu]

Grant European Jews Refugee Status
By:  Elliot Resnick


Reflecting Jewish concern over European anti-Semitism, New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind last week called on the federal government to grant refugee status to Jews from such countries as Belgium, Germany, France and England.

"Incidents of anti-Semitism in all of these countries has gone through the roof," Hikind told 300 assembled guests at the New York Association for New Americans (NYANA) dinner at Manhattan’s Pierre Hotel.

"They have not had numbers like this since 1938," he said.

Hikind cited recent Anti-Defamation League polls showing that 44 percent of Europeans believe that Jews talk too much about the Holocaust, 35 percent believe that Jews have too much power in the business world, and 20 percent blame Jews for Jesus’s death.

Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.), an honoree at the dinner, said he would help Hikind in his campaign.

"We have to do whatever we can to protect people," he told The Jewish Press. "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere and I think that we cannot sit silent in the United States of America and know that these things are going on and not try and do something about it."

New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson said in his brief remarks that Hikind is someone "who always speaks from the heart and speaks about convictions and principles."

NYANA was founded in 1949 as a resettlement agency for Jewish Holocaust refugees. In its 58 years, NYANA has helped Greek, Egyptian, Rumanian, Cuban, Czechoslovakian, Polish, former Soviet Union, Ethiopian, Iranian, and Syrian Jewish refugees as well as refugees from Uganda, Vietnam, and Tibet – over 500,000 refugees from 147 countries.

The son of refugees himself, Hikind traveled to Europe in June 2007 to gauge the anti-Semitic atmosphere firsthand.

"It was shocking," he said. "I can give you the quotes from leaders of Jewish communities in Berlin, Antwerp and Paris who told us, ‘There is no future for Jews in these countries.’ I was mobbed by people outside of the synagogue [in Paris] pleading with me, ‘Can you do anything to make it easier for us to come to America?’ And these people have good jobs."

Nevertheless, Hikind told The Jewish Press, he’s "realistic" that U.S. recognition of European Jews as refugees would be very difficult to accomplish.

"But I want to create the debate," he said. "I want to create the discussion."

Grant European Jews Refugee Status

[Shammu]

 Free people should condemn use of psychiatric hospitals to punish dissent in Russia

Governments, psychiatric and journalism organizations around the globe should be protesting Russia's return to throwing political dissenters into psychiatric hospitals.
This is an old Soviet-era tactic to intimidate and punish anyone who tries to raise a voice against the ruling establishment. It was common back in the days when current Russian President Vladimir Putin worked as an officer in the KGB, the Soviet secret police.

Although the Soviet era is over, Russia's move toward democracy in the 1990s under former president Boris Yeltsin has been halted and pushed backward under the authoritarian rule of Putin, whose appeal is to Russian nationalism, rather than old-time communism.

A number of Russian journalists whose work exposed problems in Russia have been assassinated during Putin's presidency, and some suspect Putin is behind the deaths.

A story reported yesterday by the Associated Press told how 20-year-old Artem Basyrov, an activist with the opposition National Bolshevik Party in the Other Russia coalition, was picked up by authorities on Nov. 23 in advance of planned demonstrations and thrown into a psychiatric hospital, where he remains.

Nine months in a psychiatric hospital was the price paid by Andrei Novikov, a reporter for a news service connected with the Chechen separatists. Other Russia coalition activist Larisa Arap was held for six weeks in a psychiatric hospital for her journalism work critical of the government, the AP story noted.

However correct, or even misguided, critics of Putin's government may be, it is unconscionable to force them into psychiatric hospitals.

Years of keeping a spotlight on such human rights violations by the former Soviet Union helped keep hope alive for dissidents and helped bring about the collapse of Soviet tyranny. That spotlight is needed today.

Freedom is every person's right, and no government should be able to deny that right because people speak freely in dissent. Putin's heavy-handed regime is violating the human rights of those who are being killed or being imprisoned in psychiatric hospitals. It is a terrible, tragic and dangerous step backward in history for Russians.

Free people should condemn use of psychiatric hospitals to punish dissent in Russia
~~~~~~~~~~

More on this story at.....

http://www.wane.com/global/story.asp?s=7497887

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=502382&in_page_id=1811

http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article3253089.ece

[Shammu]

Antisemitic Nativity scene sells like hotcakes in UK

By Stan Goodenough
December 12, 2007

A rabidly antisemitic "Christian" charity organization in England is selling specially modified nativity scenes in the run-up to Christmas this year.

Amos Trust is also spewing a whole lot of slander in a special "Bethlehem Christmas Pack" available from its website.

According to a report by CNS News, the nativity model being sold by the Amos Trust is of Bethlehem at the time of Jesus' birth, with a wall running through the town.

Made by Arabs in Bethlehem, it is meant to depict the security fence Israel has been erecting in order to safeguard its citizens from Palestinian terrorists infiltrating from what the world calls the "West Bank."

Amos Trust says that the wall in its nativity scene will ensure that "the wise men won't get to the stable."

Demand for this model is high, it crows. The first batch is already sold out.

The anti-Israel inference is clear, and echoes similar sentiments echoed at Christmas time in past years.

Israel's enemies in the west - among whom the British rank near the top - often accuse Israel of destroying the "spirit of Christmas."

"If Mary and Joseph tried to enter Bethlehem today Israel's soldiers would turn them away," goes one line of slander.

Vistors to the Amos Trust website can read about how Israel has "taken the land" from the Palestinian Arabs - a bald-faced lie. They can learn that the "Israeli occupation" is a modern-day version of the Roman occupation of Judea in the time of Christ.

Also available to download, free of charge, is a song called "They've cancelled Christmas in Bethlehem."

As the lyrics tell us, "they" are the Israelis who have "locked the little town behind a ghetto wall" and are preventing its people from hearing the singing angels in the "land that is no longer holy."

"And if our Christmas songs and prayers are not to be in vain, we must pull down that wall that is strangling Bethlehem. ... They've stopped the wise men at the checkpoint. ... If peace on earth is to come, the wall must fall."

Two small but proactive British branches of Jerusalem-based Christian organizations have protested the actions of the Amos Trust.

A spokesman for the UK branch of Christian Friends of Israel decried "attempts to make one-sided political capital out of the Bethlehem story."

Geoffrey Smith stressed that "[n]obody wants a security barrier but so long as terrorists continue to threaten the lives of Jews and of Arabs in Israel, the people there have to defend themselves in ways that will stop the bombers."

The London office of the Bridges for Peace organization echoed this statement.

Antisemitic Nativity scene sells like hotcakes in UK

[Shammu]

I think Christ would be very saddened to see what is supposed to be a depiction of His arrival on Earth to save mankind (those who accept that gift, anyway) turned into a cheap political statement.

Maybe they should add little prisons to it to show the poor poor terrorists trapped too.

[Soldier4Christ]

It's just more islam propaganda that is trying to create more dissension. islam does not recognize Christmas just as they do not recognize Jesus Christ for who he truly is and if they had their way it would not be celebrated anywhere in the world. So of course they are going to denigrate it in the manner that this nativity scene does.

[Shammu]

Millions ready to greet Virgin of Guadalupe in Mexico

By DUDLEY ALTHAUS
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle

MEXICO CITY — As they have for nearly five centuries, millions of Mexicans were preparing to greet the dawn by worshipping the Virgin of Guadalupe, the dark-skinned manifestation of Jesus Christ's mother who won this nation for the Roman Catholic faith.

"She is our protector," said Concepcion Dominguez, 53, who was doing a brisk business Tuesday selling statues of the Virgin, rosaries and other religious items outside a 16th-century Catholic church in southern Mexico City. "As long as she is with us, we are going to be well, both spiritually and physically."

Not all Mexicans agree with her, as many continue to abandon Catholicism here.

But if recent history holds true, the yawning shrine to the Virgin near downtown Mexico City will be packed at sunrise with 1 million people, offering thanks for mercies granted or those yet to come.

Many of the believers will have walked for hours from outlying towns or from adjoining states as a sign of their devotion. Some will have crawled the last hundreds of yards on their knees to the same purpose. All will have shivered in the nighttime cold to be sure to greet the Virgin at sunrise.

Across Mexico, neighborhoods, towns and families were holding their own rites through the night. Fireworks pierced the darkened sky in the Virgin's honor, shattering the stillness.

"She is the mother of all Mexicans," said Raul Trejo, an auto parts salesman whose family erects a home shrine to the Virgin and celebrates every year. "We all adore her."

Well, not quite all, not really anymore.

Conversions syphon faithful

Worship of the Virgin survived nearly 150 years of successive Mexican governments' official hostility to the Roman Catholic Church. But in recent decades, as millions here have converted to various evangelical faiths, her following has come to be viewed by many as idolatry.

"We respect the faith people have in the Virgin, but we really don't believe in those kinds of things," said Ricardo Sevilla, a spokesman for the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, a Brazil-based Protestant denomination that has two large churches in poor Mexico City neighborhoods and 110 others nationwide.

"The Catholic Church used her to win over the people," Sevilla said. "We see these things more as a matter of sociology than of faith."

The faithful believe the Virgin appeared 476 years ago to the Indian peasant Juan Diego on a hilltop called Tepeyac, near what had been the capital of the Aztec Empire. Tepeyac had been a shrine to Tonantzin, the Aztec fertility goddess.

The Virgin referred to herself as the "snake crusher," using an Aztec name that sounded much like Guadalupe, a village in Spain. Perhaps not coincidentally, Quetzalcoatl, or the "Plumed Serpent," was a principal god of the Aztecs and other indigenous nations.

The Virgin assured Juan Diego that God's love was for the vanquished as well as for the conqueror.

"Am I not your Mother?" the Virgin is quoted as asking. "Are you not sheltered underneath my mantle, under the embrace of my arms?"

The ensuing cult of the Dark Virgin enabled the Catholic Church to quickly convert millions of indigenous, who had until then resisted the conquering Spaniards and their creed.

Through the nearly half a millennium since, devotion to the Virgin became an anchor of national identity, an article of faith in a population that at least nominally loyal to the Vatican.

Still a strong icon

The "Guadalupe event," as some Catholic leaders call it, ensured that "Christ's message, through his Mother, took up the central elements of indigenous culture, purified them, and gave them a definitive sense of salvation," recalled Pope John Paul II here in 2002 while marking Juan Diego's canonization.

Juan Diego, the pope said then, "facilitated the fruitful meeting of two worlds and became the catalyst for a new Mexican identity."

Both here and in ethnic Mexican neighborhoods north of the border, the Virgin's image hangs in churches and homes, is tattooed onto countless bodies.

Shrines to her adorn street corners and rural roads, taxi stands and factory floors. Despite the growing ranks of doubters, the Dark Virgin likely will remain a Mexican touchstone for years to come.

The Virgin is "the consolation of the poor, the shield of the weak, the help of the oppressed," the late poet Octavio Paz wrote in the Labyrinth of Solitude nearly five decades ago. "She is the Mother of orphans."

Millions ready to greet Virgin of Guadalupe in Mexico

[Shammu]

Catholic leader rejects 'Jewish state'
Associated Press
THE JERUSALEM POST
Dec. 19, 2007

Israel's identity as a Jewish state discriminates against non-Jews, the Holy Land's top Roman Catholic clergyman said in a pre-Christmas address on Wednesday.

"If there's a state of one religion, other religions are naturally discriminated against," Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah told reporters at the annual press conference he holds in Jerusalem before the Christian holiday.

In his address, which he read in Arabic and English, Sabbah said Israel should abandon its Jewish character in favor of a "political, normal state for Christians, Muslims and Jews."

"This land cannot be exclusive for anyone," he said.

With his statements Wednesday, Sabbah, a longtime advocate of the Palestinian cause, waded into a debate that has marred the fledgling peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians.

Israel has defined itself as the homeland of the Jewish people since it was established in 1948. The Palestinians, however, refuse to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, saying that would mean Palestinian refugees who lost their homes after Israel's creation would not have the right to return.

Israel opposes any return of refugees, for fear they would eventually outnumber the Jewish majority. Israeli leaders recently demanded that Palestinians recognize Israel's Jewish character as part of peace talks that got under way last week, but the Palestinians have rejected the call.

Aryeh Mekel, a spokesman for Israel's foreign ministry, had no immediate comment.

Sabbah, who has been the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem since 1987, is the first Palestinian to hold the post and is frequently critical of Israel.

He also lashed out at Israel for visa restrictions he said were unfair to Christian clergy. "A state in this land must...be open to welcoming to all believers of other religions," he said.

According to the Jerusalem Center for Jewish-Christian Relations, there are an estimated 170,000 Christians in Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Catholic leader rejects 'Jewish state'

[Shammu]

Coach Turned Holiday Display Into Porn

Tuesday , December 18, 2007

FC1
ADVERTISEMENT

MARIETTA, Ga. —
A coach in Georgia is facing charges after police said he drove middle school students on a Christmas vandalism spree that left some plastic reindeer in X-rated sexual positions, CBS46.com reports.

John Scott Hayes, 46, of Marietta, Ga., has been charged with criminal trespass for unlawful purposes, contributing to the delinquency of minors and reckless conduct.

Cobb County police said Hayes drove students around in the back of his pickup truck on Dec. 8, while they vandalized Christmas decorations.

Click here to read the CBS46.com report.

The vandalism occurred before midnight in an east Cobb neighborhood. Authorities said inflatables were deflated and displays were damaged.

Hayes offered to replace an inflatable display that was damaged, one homeowner said.

The woman said she was glad Hayes accepted responsibility to tell her what happened but said it's "just awful that a grown man is driving kids around to trespass to commit property damages."

Coach Turned Holiday Display Into Porn

[Shammu]

Pope's talks with Muslims scares al Qaeda: Vatican
Tue Dec 18, 2007 12:05pm EST

By Phil Stewart

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Vatican on Tuesday rejected condemnation by al Qaeda of a historic meeting between Pope Benedict and Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah, saying the militants were afraid of inter-religious dialogue.

Al Qaeda's second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahri, referred to Benedict as a Pontiff who had "insulted Islam and Muslims" and criticized King Abdullah's meeting with him last month.

Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said Zawahri's video-taped comments, posted on the Internet on Sunday, showed al Qaeda's was worried about the implications of the meeting - the first between a Pope and a Saudi monarch.

The Pope was also pursuing dialogue with a group of prominent Muslim scholars, including Jordanian Prince Ghazi bin Mohammad bin Talal, Lombardi noted.

"These people want dialogue and are working toward peace," Lombardi said. "This worries those who don't want dialogue."

Zawahri has previously denounced the Pope for a speech he made last year at a university in his native Germany, when the Pontiff used a quote that associated Islam with violence.

Muslims around the world complained about the speech, but the Pope said he was misunderstood and has several times expressed his esteem for Muslims.

In the latest message, Zawahri noted that Saudi Arabia's Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdel-Aziz Al al-Sheikh was quick to condemn jihad in Iraq but not the Saudi king's visit with Benedict.

"Wouldn't have it been more appropriate for this mufti who rules according to the school of Bush to reproach his so-called guardian (King Abdullah) for his visit with the Pope," Zawahri asked, quoted by U.S. terrorism monitoring organization IntelCenter.

"Is this how the moderate creed and confrontation of polytheism is supposed to be?", he added.

Lombardi said the entire episode showed that dialogue and pursuit of peace were "gaining more weight and this is undoubtedly a positive factor".

Pope's talks with Muslims scares al Qaeda: Vatican