Jimmy Akin, my favorite Catholic apologist, has a detailed post examining whether Fatima al-Mutayri should be considered in full communion with the Catholic Church and whether she could be a candidate for canonization:
Vatican II’s statement regarding Islam could definitely have been better phrased, and canonizing Fatima would indeed be a powerful statement. And if the circumstances were different, it could even be a possibility. It would not, however, be done as a statement on Islam. Instead, it would be a statement about the heroic virtues of this young woman who accepted martyrdom for her love of Jesus.Pope Benedict certainly has the wherewithal to do such a canonization. He personally—as pope, at Easter Vigil—baptized the notorious Muslim apostate Maghdi Allam . Allam is a firebrand and a controversialist who repeatedly got into disputes with Muslims in Italy long before his conversion to Catholicism, and now there are pictures of the pope baptizing him and everything.
Pope Benedict did this not as a statement about Islam but as an illustration of the Church’s willingness to accept everyone, regardless of their background, and of the right of everyone to embrace the gospel.
Read more . . .
While I have you, can I ask you something? I’ll be quick.
Twenty-five thousand people subscribe to First Things. Why can’t that be fifty thousand? Three million people read First Things online like you are right now. Why can’t that be four million?
Let’s stop saying “can’t.” Because it can. And your year-end gift of just $50, $100, or even $250 or more will make it possible.
How much would you give to introduce just one new person to First Things? What about ten people, or even a hundred? That’s the power of your charitable support.
Make your year-end gift now using this secure link or the button below.
