Perilous
Times and the One World Church/Religion
Saudi Government's Interfaith Center in Italy to Unify the
World's Religions?
By Nicola Menzie | Christian Post Reporter
King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia seeks to help foster peace among the
world's major religions and believes a new international
organization to be housed in Vienna, Italy will help make that
dream a reality. As the institution was officially founded
Thursday, some Christians are likely to start pointing to
interpretations of biblical prophecy about the emergence of a
one-world religion many believe precedes the return of Jesus
Christ.
Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal (L),
Austria's Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger (C) and Spain's
Foreign Minister Trinidad Jimenez attend a ceremony in Vienna,
October 13, 2011. The ministers signed an agreement for the
Establishment of the King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz International
Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue.
According to media reports, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud
al-Faisal, Austrian Foreign Minister and Vice Chancellor Michael
Spindelegger and Spanish Foreign Minister Trinidad Jimenez
Garcia-Herrera oversaw the signing of a contract between the three
nations Thursday, in which they will cooperate in the building and
organization of an interfaith religious center in Vienna. Other
high level officials from the three nations were also reportedly
in attendance at the treaty signing.
The building, to be called the "King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz
International Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural
Dialogue," was conceived of by its namesake and mostly financed by
the Saudi government. According to media reports the center will
be composed of a governing body of 12 representatives, among that
number will be representatives from Islam (one each Sunni and
Shiite), Christians (one each Catholic, Anglican and Orthodox), a
Buddhist, a Hindu and a Jewish representative.
There will also be a consulting body with 100 representatives from
various faiths, as well as "academics and members of civil
society," Deutsche Welle news agency reports.
"The thesis is valid that world peace cannot exist without peace
between the world's major religions," Saudi Arabian Foreign
Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said during the signing ceremony in
Vienna, according to Deutsche Welle.
The news agency also reports that Spindelegger said the
organization's structure has been designed to make sure no single
faith has the upper hand and that politics would have no part in
the center's government. Garcia-Herrera also noted that membership
would be made available to other nations.
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The religious center will be located at Schottenring in Vienna,
according to the Austrian Independent. Dutch news paper Die Presse
reports that the project will cost millions of dollars.
“(Our) paying for the operation is to create a fund that makes the
centre independent from any sort of political interference,” the
Saudi prime minister said during the news conference.
The Deutsche Well report reveals that King Abdullah conceived the
idea after meeting with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican in 2007.
It was after emerging from that meeting that King Abdullah called
on Christians and Muslims to find common ground for world peace.
The Saudi king held three interfaith meetings between 2008 and
2009, in which he held discussions with religious leaders in
Mecca, Madrid and Hofburg in Veinna, which is reportedly where the
final plans for the center's governing body was decided upon.
The ratification of the agreement on the interreligious center has
upset politicians, local media and moderate Muslims, who wonder if
the Saudi government does not have some ulterior motive, the
Austrian Independent reports.
Some critics also found the Saudi initiative ironic, as Saudi
Arabia is ruled by Shariah law. The CIA World Factbook describes
the country's population as "100 percent" Muslim. The U.S. State
Department's 2010 International Religious Freedom Report found
that "freedom of religion is neither recognized nor protected
under the law and is severely restricted in practice." The 2010
Religious Freedom Report also noted that there were no public
non-Muslim houses of worship, and that Christians gathered in
secret to worship. Those who leave Islam risk being executed for
apostasy.
When asked by reporters during Thursday's press conference about
his country's lack of religious freedom, Prime Minister Saud
al-Faisal reportedly insinuated that the religious center might
influence Saudi Arabia to become more tolerant of other faiths
within its own borders.
As for the interreligious governing body's ability to operate
autonomously, Saud al-Faisal warned against "extremist minorities
within every religious and cultural community ... seeking ... to
propagate notions of intolerance, exclusion, racism and hatred,"
the Associated Press (AP) report.
He added, "These tiny minorities," he said, "are trying to hijack
and disrupt the legitimate identities and aspirations of people of
all cultures and faiths."
According to the AP, the religious center's "founding document
cites principles enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human
rights, 'in particular, the right to freedom of thought,
conscience and religion.' It emphasizes 'human rights and
fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex,
language or religion.' "
The Sun Daily reports that Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, head of the
Vatican's department for interfaith dialogue, while critical of
Saudi Arabia's lack of religious freedom, supports King Abdullah's
interreligious plan. He reportedly noted that the Holy See might
seek observer status.
During one of his 2008 meetings, Abduallah said the purpose of the
interreligious center was "to come up with ways to safeguard
humanity."
As some observers have noted, this is not the first time an
attempt has been made to somehow unify or find commonality among
the world's leading religions. Also, as with previous cases, the
official founding of King Abdullah's interreligious center will
likely be perceived by some Christians as another "sign of the
times" in light of purported biblical prophecies about a one-world
religion preceding Christ's return to Earth.
Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins, authors of the popular Christian
end times Left Behind book series, claim that a world government,
a single global currency and a one-world religion were "three
signs of the end," pointing to Revelation 13, 17 and 18 for
support.
A 2003 United-Nations sponsored summit of the world's religions
was cast in a Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) report as a
step toward biblical prophecy.
The report by CBN News' Wendy Griffith featured comments from
Robert Maginnis, a former director of the Family Research Council.
Maginnis described the 2003 U.N. meeting as having a hidden agenda
to unite the world's citizens under one "religious umbrella."
"You're taking the Muslim community, the Christian community, the
Hindus, the Confucians and all the many hundreds of religious
groups, trying to identify key leaders, and you are basically
trying to co-opt them into cooperating with you," he said at the
time.
Now that the "King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz International Centre for
Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue" has officially been
founded, it is likely the world will be watching to see which
representatives of which faith will emerge to take a place in the
12-member governing body. Christians, no doubt, will also be
taking special note of who in the evangelical community will be
willing to participate.