A common thread running through Catholicism and Islam is the devotion to the
Virgin Mary.
ìAmong the persons of Sacred History mentioned in the
Koran, the Virgin Mary occupies an important position on
the historical and dogmatic plane.î 29ìAs we make our way through life towards our heavenly
destiny, Christians feel the company of Mary, the Mother of
Jesus; and Islam too pays tribute to Mary and hails her as
ëchosen above the women of the world.î (Quran, III:42).î 30It is also worth noting that the daughter of Mohammed was named Fatima, and
that according to Islam, Allah chose her name.
John Paul II and Judaism
Pope John Paul II has also made great strides in building a bridge with those
that practice Judaism. Since its inception, the Catholic Church has seen the
Jews as rebels against God Almighty and Christ killers, even though it was
Rome itself that put the Lord Jesus to death. During the Holocaust in the early
part of the 20th Century, Hitlerís Third Reich exterminated 6 million Jews. While
this slaughter was occurring, the Catholic Church was deftly silent!
When Adolf Hitler died on May 3rd 1945, the newspapers in Spain under the
dictator Franco published the following:
ìíAdolf Hitler, son of the Catholic Church, died while
defending Christianity.í It goes on to say, ëOver his mortal
remains stands his victorious moral figure. With the palm of
the martyr, God gives Hitler the laurels of victory.íî 31The spirit of motherhood and the Queen of heaven as expressed in
Catholicism were great influences on Hitler. One of the medals awarded to
women that showed loyalty to the ideals of the Third Reich was the ìMothers
Crossî
This medal was an Iron
Cross with a Swastika in the
center, surrounded by the sun
sign typical of a Catholic
monstrance.