From one pope to another: Middle East synod comes awfully late | National Catholic Reporter: "

Pope Shenouda III (Wikipedia)

"His Holiness Pope Shenouda III entrusted me with the mission to attend the Synod as his representative, and to express his warm gratitude to His Holiness for extending an invitation to partake in the Synodal works. He entrusted me with delivering a tribute of fraternal love to Your Holiness and to all the members of the Synod, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying and hoping that God will let the Synod bear its desired fruits for the good and consideration of the Christians of the Middle East.

Allow me to say that this Synod comes at a very late stage, as the conflicts and persecutions that our region suffers from have multiplied and turned into lamentation and suffering, resulting in the migration of a large number of the finest young Christians, leaving their homelands behind. I also mean leaving their hearts behind, with their history, authentic culture and tradition, in order to live and take refuge in another country, whose traditions and way of life are strange to them, not in line with their nature, but, compared to what they went through, still more secure and safer, providing them and their children with the hope of a better future.

The title of this Synod on communion and witness takes on a new meaning and significance with regard to the suffering and challenges faced by the Christians of the Middle East, due to precarious and complex political conflicts, particularly the Arab-Israeli conflict, as well as the wars this region has witnessed and still is enduring; wars that have caused an upsurge in Middle Eastern problems, where, as a reaction, anti-Jewish and anti-Christian Salafist movements alike were launched, while the spirit of hatred, rejection of the other and isolationism were felt on the other side in response to the psychological pressure and persecution. That, to the point of martyrdom, marginalization and the feeling of being “non-native” citizens enduring discrimination at work and in political institutions and parliamentary and local councils.

They are carrying slogans like "Shariah for the Vatican", "Jesus is not God" and "God curse the Pope". But there was more:

Muslim demonstrators sang “Pope Benedict, you will pay, Islam is on its way”, “Sharia is on its way”, “Justice is on its way” (a lot is coming our way, it seems) and threatened that Sharia would be “declared” against all who insult Muhammad. They shouted to the Pope, “Watch your back,” swore that he will “burn in hell” and claimed that he “deserves the death penalty.”

As always, we see respect for other religions, good wishes for everyone and no intentions of dominating other people.

Just kidding...

The Conservative Monster has more on this.

Related:
Muslim against Crusades - new Islamist group springs up.

Image via WikipediaNewsTime:

British police are reporting that they have freed the men who were arrested on suspicion of plotting a ‘terrorist’ attack on Pope Benedict XVI.
The men, between the ages of 26 and 50 were released without charge on Saturday night and Sunday morning.

BBC focuses more on the Pope's agenda for today but has this line:

six men who were being held in connection with an alleged threat to the Pope's visit were released without charge.

Background: Five held over plot to kill the Pope.

Image via WikipediaThey are five Algerians who worked as street cleaners. Sky News:

Armed counter-terror officers swooped on the central London agency to which they were registered in the early hours of the morning.
The suspects, who are aged 26, 27, 36, 40 and 50, are being held and questioned under the Terrorism Act 2000.
The firm where the arrests were made is now being searched, as well as homes in north and east London.
Sky News crime correspondent Martin Brunt said the men were street cleaners employed by the agency to work for Westminster City Council.
He said they were due to clean streets in Lambeth near where the Pope is due to travel, prompting the police to launch the operation to arrest them.
Brunt said: "I was at a briefing last week around the whole issue of the Pope's security and the point was made then that there was no known threat or intelligence to suggest a plot against the Pope.
"What the police are dealing with today is something that has cropped up in the last 24 hours."
A spokesman for Scotland Yard said: "Initial searches have not uncovered any hazardous items.
"Today's arrests were made after police received information. Following initial inquiries by detectives, a decision was made to arrest the five men.
"Following today's arrests the policing arrangements for the Papal visit were reviewed and we are satisfied that our current policing plan remains appropriate.