Posted on 10/21/2006 9:50:56 AM PDT by Mrs. Don-o
ROME - An Italian journalist and self-described atheist who died last month has left most of her books and notes to a pontifical university in Rome because of her admiration for Pope Benedict XVI, a school official said Saturday.
Oriana Fallaci had described the pontiff as an ally in her campaign to rally Christians in Europe against what she saw as a Muslim crusade against the West. As she battled breast cancer last year, she had a private audience with Benedict, who was elected only a few months earlier, at the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo.
In one of her final interviews, Fallaci told The Wall Street Journal: "I am an atheist, and if an atheist and a pope think the same things, there must be something true."
Benedict was surprised by the gift of the books, which dated back as far as the 17th century and included volumes about the formation of modern-day Italy, American history, philosophy and theology, said Monsignor Rino Fisichella, rector of the Pontifical Lateranense University in Rome.
"The veneration that she had for you, Holy Father, persuaded her to make this donation, which will be known as the Oriana Fallaci Archives," Fisichella said during a ceremony at the university Saturday to announce the gift of the books, the Italian news agency ANSA reported.
Benedict greeted Fallaci's nephew and his family during the ceremony, then spoke briefly about the search for truth in science and academia. "God is the ultimate truth to which all reason naturally gravitates," he told an audience of students and faculty.
A few weeks before her death, Fallaci had some 20 boxes of books sent to the university, Fisichella later told The Associated Press. Books are still awaiting shipment from her homes in New York and Tuscany, he said, as well as her notes as a journalist.
Fisichella said "the pope has said we must live in the world as if God existed and she (Fallaci) took up the challenge."
After decades of conducting major interviews and covering wars as a correspondent for two of Italy's largest dailies, Fallaci concentrated her famous passion and energy in her last years on vehement attacks against a Muslim world she judged to be the enemy of Western civilization.
Absent from the publishing scene for nearly a decade, Fallaci burst back into the spotlight after the Sept. 11 attacks in the U.S. with a series of blistering essays in which she argued that Muslims were carrying out a crusade against the Christian West.
At the time of her death, she was on trial in northern Italy, accused of defaming Islam in her 2004 book, "The Strength of Reason." In it she argued that Europe had sold its soul to what she called an Islamic invasion.
Fallaci had also taken the Catholic Church to task for being what she considered too weak before the Muslim world, despite her praise of Benedict.
She died three days after the pope delivered a speech at a German university in which he quoted a Byzantine emperor who characterized some of the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad as "evil and inhuman," particularly "his command to spread by the sword the faith."
The speech sparked anger in the Muslim world, prompting Benedict to express regrets and say the words did not reflect his personal opinion.
Benedict, who has been calling for more dialogue between Muslims and Christians, will make his first pilgrimage as pontiff to a predominantly Muslim country when he visits Turkey in November.
that's not what the Bible says.
After all, He said, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." I'll trust Him on that.
Refrain
The fight is on, O Christian soldier,
And face to face in stern array,
With armor gleaming, and colors streaming,
The right and wrong engage today!
The fight is on, but be not weary;
Be strong, and in His might hold fast;
If God be for us, His banner oer us,
Well sing the victors song at last!
The fight is on, arouse, ye soldiers brave and true!
Jehovah leads, and victory will assure;
Go buckle on the armor God has given you,
And in His strength unto the end endure.
Refrain
The Lord is leading on to certain victory;
The bow of promise spans the eastern sky;
His glorious Name in every land shall honored be;
The morn will break, the dawn of peace is nigh.
Refrain
Leila Morris, 1905
Eventually secular Europe is going to have to choose between Western, a.k.a. Judeo-Christian, civilization, or obesiance to the head-choppers.
There is no third choice. That's what drives them crazy. That's why the writer of this story is so shocked by what Fallaci did, when in reality it makes perfect sense.
If Oriana Fallaci hadn't died, and actually had been convicted & sentenced to prison, there would have been rioting in the streets!
The reverse is also true.
If Oriana Fallaci hadn't died, and actually had been aquitted of a hate crime, there would have been rioting in the streets!
Very cool!
Fallaci was a better Catholic than most Catholics are nowadays. RIP.
I must remember to keep praying for her, this brave and intelligent lady. I hope that in the end she was reconciled with Jesus Chriest through the Catholic Church. Inasmuch as she was devoted to the Truth, she will have nothing to fear.
AP - Sat Oct 21, 9:10 PM ET Italian veteran journalist and writer Oriana Fallaci is shown in this 2002 file photo. Fallaci, a self-described atheist who died last month has left most of her books and notes to a pontifical university in Rome because of her admiration for Pope Benedict XVI, a school official said Saturday, Oct. 21, 2006. (AP Photo/Gianangelo Pistoia, file)
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Her act is most admirable, but I doubt will not gain her any points with the Big Guy on her Big Day.
As a Priest once told me, "If you live your life as if there is no God, you better hope you're right."
In one of her final interviews, Fallaci told The Wall Street Journal: "I am an atheist, and if an atheist and a pope think the same things, there must be something true."
Oriana Fallaci Story. Couldn't let you miss it !
Oriana Fallaci is a truly great warrior for the Western Civilization against Islamic threat. I don't want to speak of her in the past tense because her bravery inspires those who fight Islamization of Europe and the Western world. Authors and activists like Robert Spencer, Andrew Bostom, Bat Yeor, Salman Rushdie, Ayan Hirsi Ali and others who spoke courageously on the true nature of Islam are Fallaci's representatives and they all deserve our support and admiration.
Thanks, Sergey. Wow, what a story.
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Amen. So must we all.
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Admirable? Perhaps. I would hope that it was more than that. It was a leap of faith-a belief that transcended all of the doubt that she had previously felt. I hope that God, who is far more forgiving than I, can forgive this woman who, at the very end of her life, displayed more faith than many.
God bless you Oriana. You may not have believed in God, but He never stopped believing in you.
Being Catholic is like winning the lottery every day.
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