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Christians
killed in Madrid bombings too
Madrid, March 26th, 2004,
(ACPress.net).
Although no victim is
more, nor less, important than any other, evangelicals have
been legitimately concerned to know if any of their number were
caught up in the tragic terrorist attacks in the Spanish capital
earlier this month. Various figures have been mentioned in different
places, and of course there remain a number of unidentified
bodies. As these are mostly, if not exclusively, foreign immigrants,
there is quite a high chance that some of them may have been
professing Christians.
As things stand, however, there are two Christians known to
have died in the bombings, one from Brazil and the other from
the Philippines. The son of Manuel Corral, a pastor in León,
was hurt, but no Spanish Christians are known to have died.
Some reports say that four more victims may be evangelicals,
as terrorism hits - as the sun shines upon - both the just and
the unjust.
Sergio dos Santos Silva, 28, caught a plane for the very first
time just 6 months ago. He had never been outside Brazil before,
but took the decision to come to Spain to try and earn enough
money to be able to purchase a home for him and his family -
wife Sara, 21 and son, Miqueia, 4 - back in the small village
of Sao Tomé in southern Brazil. He needed to save at least 7,000
euros and his salary in Brazil made that an impossible dream.
On March 17th, another plane flew from Madrid to Sao Paulo,
carrying Sergio's body.
Sergio did not find stable work until last month and had only
been able to send 1,000 reales to pay off some debts. After
returning home from church on Sundays, he would ring his family.
He thought his prayers had been answered as he landed a job
paying 800 euros a month. His mother-in-law, who lives with
Sergio's wife in Brazil, said: "The Sunday before the bombs,
Sergio rang us twice, as if it were to say goodbye. He told
Miqueia that he would come back and bring him a toy lorry."
Rex Ferrer was just 20, from the Philippines, and working as
a waiter. He lived with his family in Torrejón de Ardoz and
caught the train each morning to work. Sometimes he caught an
earlier train as he would go first to the Evangelical Church
of Christ, near Atocha station, to pray. He usually did this
on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. But on Thursday, March
11th, he caught that early train as well, as he wanted to pray
before going to work.
Sources: El País, El Mundo.
Editing: ACPress.net
Salvation Army quickly on
attack scene to help victims
Madrid, March 27th, 2004,
(ACPress.net).
An emergency team from
the Salvation Army went immediately to the area affected by
the bombings to help in whatever way they could.
Salvation Army volunteers were present in hospitals, in the
southern Chapel of Rest in Madrid, and in the makeshift morgue,
consoling the relatives of victims. It was one of the first
organisations to lend a hand in Gregorio Marañón Hospital, which
took by far the largest number of injured, and they attended
to people arriving there asking for information about those
who had disappeared.
Source & Editing: ACPress.net
Spanish Muslims condemn
Madrid terrorist attack
Madrid, March 27th, 2004,
(ACPress.net).
The Islamic Commission
of Spain, and the Spanish Federation of Islamic Organisations,
both condemned the Madrid terrorist attack in which more than
200 people died and over a thousand were injured.
In a statement, they said: "We wish to re-affirm as Muslims
and as Spanish citizens, our rejection of any form of terrorism,
and we send our deepest condolences to the relatives and close
friends of the victims, and to all those whose lives have been
wrecked by this cowardly and criminal act." They added
that an act of this nature was repugnant to all and "an
attack on humanity in general and against all ethical and religious
standards."
They echoed their support of the government at this difficult
time and called on Spanish Muslims to support the demonstrations
against terrorism. The motto of these marches was: 'Pro-victims,
pro-Constitution, anti-terrorism.' The Islamic statement ended
by saying: "We ask God that these criminal acts would cease
and that the scourge of terrorism would disappear for ever."
Source: WebIslam. Editing:
ACPress.net New
book on art and spirituality
Madrid, March 26th, 2004,
(ACPress.net).
The latest literary project
sponsored by Madrid Evangelical Council saw fruition on March
26th with the presentation of a book by José de Segovia, entitled
'Entrelíneas' (Between the lines).
The book is a compilation of more than 70 articles which have
appeared on the A.C.Press website in Segovia's regular column
and elsewhere, and deal with films, music, theatre and literature,
and the relationship between these subjects and spirituality.
Topics as varied as the Simpsons, the Lord of the Rings, Goytisolo
and Bob Dylan are covered. Particular attention is paid to musicians
who have mentioned God in their songs.
Segovia analyses the social and psychological factors at work
in the artist as he deals with the transcendent. Then the author
ends his article with a biblical thought related to the subject
in question. It is a book which will help analyse and understand
art from a Christian perspective. The Prologue was written by
another A.C.Press contributor, writer César Vidal, who says:
"Segovia's articles prove that being a Christian does not
mean switching off the brain but stimulating and developing
it."
Source & Editing: ACPress.net
Muslims
want to pray in Cordoba's mosque
Rome, March 27th, 2004, (ACPress.net).
Muslims may be allowed
to pray in the huge, medieval mosque in Córdoba which was turned
into a Catholic cathedral after the reconquest of Spain in the
fifteenth century.
An Islamic delegation presented the request to the Vatican which
proposes that both Muslims and Catholics use the building for
their religious purposes. It would thus become a kind of ecumenical
service centre and a long-term dream of Spanish Muslims would
be fulfilled. Indeed, a visitor to the building today could
be forgiven for wondering quite what it is; all the dimensions
and design of a mosque suddenly give way to Catholic paraphrenalia
quite literally plonked in the middle with no regard to the
proportions of the building as a whole. One wanders through
Islamic arches until one is confronted by a high altar. Even
the Spanish king of the day is reported to have commented that
an architectural crime had been committed.
The Islamic proposal, put forward by psychiatrist Mansur Escudero,
Chairman of the Islamic Board and General Secretary of the Islamic
Commission of Spain, is entitled 'An ecumenical proposal for
the cathedral-mosque of Córdoba.' Escudero attended a meeting
of the Interconfessional Forum at Rome for Islamic-Catholic
relations, saying "Our attempt in favour of dialogue and
good will between believers in the one God is sincere."
Muslims have tried for years to gain access to the mosque to
pray, but successive Catholic bishops have refused the request.
However, the arrival of Juan José Asenjo to the post has increased
the chances of dialogue on the issue. Escudero hopes that by
turning the building into a joint centre of worship, it would
send a message of peace between religions to a world used to
conflict between them.
Source: El País. Editing:
ACPress.net
Violence
is found in man himself
Madrid, March 27th, 2004,
(ACPress.net).
Manuel Espejo, pastor
and founder of the denomination 'Christian Assembly' in Spain,
says that violence is found in man himself, in an analysis of
the recent terrorist attack.
Espejo says that while Freud treated it as an instinct, "in
the Bible violence is called sin and Cain is known as the first
violent person in the history of humanity. The Bible does not
teach that violence is produced by an animal instinct but by
man's will exercised freely. It is a spiritual issue, not an
animal one." He adds that more and more people want to
live independently of any law, and sees this as the fulfilment
of Jesus' prophecy in Matthew 24:12: "Because of the increase
of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold."
In a world where people reject both the laws of God and those
of men, violence is endemic. Even governments, at both ends
of the political spectrum, employ violence in the sense of being
unjust to the poor, weak and ignorant in their societies. Espejo
says he does not believe the problem of terrorism comes from
sacred texts, as neither the Bible nor the Koran can be used
to justify killing innocent people.
As far as consoling those who have lost loved ones, Espejo says
people should avoid blame nor look for an explanation. Forgiveness
rather than seeking revenge is also important, leaving issues
of justice and punishment in the hands of God and the authorities.
Above all, he says "they should trust God for real comfort
through His Spirit and Word, and look around and see that there
are others who need them."
Source & Editing: ACPress.net,
M. Espejo
Catholics dominate state
memorial service for Madrid victims
Madrid, March 27th, 2004,
(ACPress.net).
No inter-religious memorial
service for the victims of the Madrid bombings here. This is
Spain, after all. So, after all the pomp and highly visible
attendance of the great and mighty of the land at the Catholic
service, evangelicals did their own thing more quietly. There
was also an Orthodox service as 11 Rumanian bodies were flown
back to their country for burial.
Some Protestants have raised their voices in protest at the
failure of the authorities to make the memorial service an inter-confessional
one, while others may have preferred the intimacy and Christ-centred
nature of the evangelical event. Protestant journalist Manuel
López and Swiss missionary Natalia Reverdin have both argued
that there should be an official complaint by Protestants at
the lack of representation in official memorial services, such
as the one presided over by the King on March 24th.
The Editorial of 'Protesante Digital', A.C.Press's web magazine,
commented that whilst there were evangelical, Orthodox and Muslim
victims of the attack, the Catholic Church in Spain practices
"that strange ecumenism so typical (of it) which baptises
and makes its own the pain of others."
An evangelical memorial service was held in Madrid on March
20th. The Federation of Evangelical Organisations stressed that
it was in honour of all the victims, whatever their creed, although
among their number there were some evangelicals. Several pastors
took part in the service and several hundred people attended
the service.
An Orthodox ceremony was performed as the coffins of 11 Rumanian
victims were loaded onto two military planes at Torrejón Air
Base outside Madrid. About 20 relatives accompanying the bodies
were present. The Rumanian Ambassador to Spain, Stelian Oancea,
said that 11 Rumanians died in the attack, 85 were injured -
26 of whom remain in hospital - and a further five are missing.
Source: Agencias. Editing:
ACPress.net
Spanish Muslims say attack
is nothing to do with them
Madrid, March 27th, 2004,
(ACPress.net).
"We Muslims have
nothing to do with all this. Those people hide behind Islam
but they are terrorists. We only coincide with them sometimes
in our nationality, but nothing else." This sums up the
feelings of many thousands of Muslims living in Spain who are
now fearful of reprisals.
Several Moroccans are among those arrested in connection with
the Madrid bombings, some of whom are connected to previous
attacks in America and Casablanca. So far, though, apart from
some isolated incidents, there have not been attacks on the
Islamic community. The largest Muslim nationality group resident
in Spain are the Moroccans, 333,000 in total. Many of them have
been quick to distance themselves from the bombings, and a large
banner has been placed outside the mosque in Madrid condemning
the attack.
Source: EL MUNDO. Editing:
ACPress.net
Expert says Wahabbis to
blame for Madrid bombings
Madrid, March 31st, 2004,
(ACPress.net).
Islamic expert Stephen
Schwartz says that the Wahabbi sect of Islam is responsible
for the Madrid bombings as they were in the 2001 attacks in
the USA. He says, "Not all Muslims are terrorists, but
all Muslim terrorists are Wahabbis."
The Wahabbis have a strict interpretation of Islam which comes
from Mohammed Ibn Abdul Wahhab, a cleric who lived in the 18th
century. Among its members are Bin Laden and most of Al Qaeda.
They want to restore what they see as 'true Islam' and believes
this sometimes justifies war. Their aim is to impose Islamic
customs and government and Sharia law wherever they can. Only
Saudi Arabia has embraced the Wahabbi form of Islam fully, and
is the most rigorous expression of Sunni Islam.
It follows the Koran and the six 'hadits', complementary traditions
which speak about the life of Mohammed. It rejects all non-Islamic
jurisprudence. Religious and political power have gone hand
in hand in Saudi Arabia since 1774, and the Al Saud royal family
hold the honour as protectors of the faith. Their petro-dollars
have enabled them to finance the spread of Islam around the
world, often accompanied by aggression against non-Muslims.
Catholic priest, Father Bordallo, was not surprised by the terrorist
attacks in Madrid. He says there is a section of Islam which
is trying to open itself up to others, but a majority who prefer
to satanise the West and blame it for all its troubles, rather
than engaging in healthy self-criticism and asking itself why
so many Islamic nations are so behind in all areas after 13
centuries of Islam and prefer violence to patient dialogue.
Source: La Razón. Editing:
ACPress.net
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