Who would not love Pope Francis?

URL - http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2013/12/who-would-not-love-pope-francis.html

I am fascinated by Pope Francis, he is an ideal religious man and I like him a lot. I will do anything for him to restore harmony in the world. I know him now, he would not ask me to become a Catholic, because he sees the bottom line of being a good Muslim, Jew, Hindu, Catholic, Wicca, Sikh or other would be the same - to create societies where no one has to live in apprehension or fear of the other, that's how God had created the world; in harmony. 

He said it's enough to be a witness of hope and, as St. Peter said, "always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope."

I really like this, with this I am getting closer to his thinking. "Hypocrisy is a grave sin," he said, underlining how important credibility was in helping the church grow, not through proselytism, but by attraction." Indeed those were identical words of Prophet Muhammad; he said be a good example that people wanted to emulate you for the common good of humanity.

A woman asked the pope how she should pray for one of her relatives who was going to become a Franciscan friar. The pope said to pray that the man would have "the perseverance to go forward, but also the courage to turn back if he understands that this is not the right path."

This is the kind of confidence I like to see in religious men and women.  When I challenged a Pastor in Dallas, who called Quran an evil book, I said, I will give you a copy of the right translation of Quran (2 of 25 are bad) and if you find three things that are evil, I will abandon my faith and join yours. To which a few of my Muslim friends said I should not have said that. They did not have the confidence in the book of wisdom and were worried that they will lose me to the Pastor. I have full confidence in Quran, it is a book of guidance to create just societies, just as other holy books.

I have written the following pieces on Pope:

• Mar 14, 2013 - Muslims welcome Pope Francis, Thursday, March 14, 2013 http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2013/03/muslims-welcome-pope-francis.html
• Mar 19, 2013 - Texas Faith: What piece of advice would you give the new pope? Dallas Morning News -  http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2013/03/texas-faith-what-piece-of-advice-would.html

• Mar 28, 2013 - Christian Muslim Conflict mitigation,  http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2013/03/christian-muslim-conflict-mitigation.html

• Mar 31, 2013 - What made me go to the Catholic Church today for Easter?  http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2013/03/what-made-me-go-to-catholic-church.html

• Apr 09, 2013 - Why Jewish, Muslim, and Hindu Leaders Have High Hopes for Pope Francis, http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2013/04/why-jewish-muslim-and-hindu-leaders.html

• Aug 02, 2013 - Pope Francis the merciful http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2013/08/pope-francis-merciful.html

• Aug 02, 2013 - Pope Francis wishes Ramadan Mubarak to Muslims http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2013/08/pope-francis-wishes-ramadan-mubarak.html
  

• Aug 07, 2013 - Texas faith: What relevance does Pope Francis have beyond the Catholic Church?  Dallas Morning News - http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2013/08/texas-faith-what-relevance-does-pope.html

• Aug 22, 2013 - A video Message to pastor Jones with comments on the Pope http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsQq-tbJ89k&feature=youtu.be
  

• Sep 24, 2013 - Texas Faith: Pope Francis criticizes narrow focus on abortion, gay rights and conception. Dallas Morning News - http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2013/09/texas-faith-pope-francis-criticizes.html
• Nov 06, 2013 - Michami Dukadam - Starting life over with a clear slate,  Mere Mention http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2013/11/michami-dukadam-starting-life-over-with.html 

• Nov 14, 2013 - Pope Francis - This is my Pope, and I am a Muslim. http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2013/11/pope-francis-this-is-my-pope-and-i-am.html
  
• Dec 03, 2014 – Who would not love this Pope
  http://theghousediary.blogspot.com/2013/12/who-would-not-love-pope-francis.html

Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, peace, Islam, Israel, India, interfaith, and cohesion at work place. He is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day at www.TheGhousediary.com. He believes in Standing up for others and has done that throughout his life as an activist. Mike has a presence on national and local TV, Radio and Print Media. He is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he contributes weekly to the Texas Faith Column at Dallas Morning News; fortnightly at Huffington post; and several other periodicals across the world. His personal site www.MikeGhouse.net indexes all his work through many links.