Muslim Delegation Visits Shroud of Turin

Imam says linen cloth believed to be the burial shroud of Jesus invites us to be "brothers"

L'Osservatore Romano via Aleteia

TURIN — “We decided to come as a sign, to say that we are citizens of this country and city. The Shroud draws Christians and Muslims, and in a world marked by division, it invites us to be brothers.”

This message of peace and dialogue came Wednesday from a group of Muslims who visited the Holy Shroud of Turin now on display at northern Italian city’s Cathedral. The delegation included the President of the League of Imams and Preachers of Mosques in Italy, Mohamed Bahreddine, and the spokesman for the Intercultural Center Mecca, Amir Younes.

“We need to be strong and say ‘no’ to every form of violence and terrorism, and ‘yes’ to coexistence: today we truly need this,” the delegation explained, recalling that “representatives of the Church always attend our celebrations at the end of Ramadan.”

Bahreddine described the moments passed before the Shroud as “a journey in time and history, in which we saw the figure of Jesus in the vision of our Christian brothers,” ANSA reported.

“There is something here that touches one’s soul,” added Younes, “and when this happens it is because one is in the realm of religion. We have looked on it as a moment that brings people together towards peace, a moment which we need very much today; and this is what we hope will also happen in our own regions, where war is waged for nothing.”

“I am pleased about participation,” commented Don Augusto Negri, director and chairman of the Diocesan Centre for Christian-Islamic dialogue. It signals “a desire for integration and acceptance of religious and cultural differences.”

Translation from the Italian by Diane Montagna of Aleteia’s English edition.

sources: L'Osservatore Romano 

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'Dossiers on enemies' found in Italian Scientology raid

'Suppressive persons'

By John Leyden

Italian police reportedly unearthed hidden dossiers on 'enemies' during a raid on Church of Scientology offices in Turin.

The files, apparently discovered behind locked doors in a basement office, allegedly contained personal information on judges, police officers and journalists identified as hostile to the Church.

Details on former Church members who have turned against Scientology were also reportedly recovered from handwritten files and computer records seized following a nine-hour search of the premises. No arrests took place, UPI adds.

The bust was reportedly authorised by local magistrates over concerns the local chapter of Scientology was holding sensitive personal data (including information on health and sexual orientation) in violation of Italy's privacy laws, the Daily Telegraph reports.

Elsewhere the Church has denied claims in Australia that senior members covered up the alleged sexual abuse of an 11-year-old girl.

Former Scientologist Carmen Rainer told ABC's Lateline programme that church officials persuaded her and her mum to lie to the authorities about alleged sexual abuse by her stepfather, Robert Kerr. Church of Scientology officials deny this and say it was only through their involvement in the case that Kerr eventually turned himself in and admitted his crimes.

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