125 loans interest only mortgage loan
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1. US-Presidential Election 2008
With only three remaining contests to go, Puerto Rico, Montana and South Dacota, and after an easy victory in Oregon, Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama has 1956 delegates, including 307 superdelegates, and just needs about 80 delegates more to the 2026 required (pledged delegates and superdelegates) to claim the party’s nomination. Meanwhile Clinton has 1776 delegates (including 279 superdelegates) after winning with an impressive margin first in West Virginia and now in Kentucky, insisting to battle on, some believe to strengthen her bargaining position as a possible running mate of Obama, or to help clearing her $20 Million campaign debt. Party chiefs are ready to push the last uncommitted party leaders, the so-called superdelegates, to endorse a candidate, after the primaries end on June 7, with the intention to prevent the potential of a floor fight at the Democratic National Convention in Denver August 25-28. Democrats did not campaign in Michigan and Florida because of a dispute of the primary calendar. Obama, who reputiated angrily his former pastor Rev. Wright, overshadowing the Illinois senator’s campaign and grabbing a lot of attention, is resetting and freshening his message to attract the white, working-class voters, an important part of the traditional Democratic coalation, and, with less than six months until Election Day,  he is already focusing mostly in his remaining campaign on the presumtive Republican nominee John McCain, who will try to exploit Obama’s youth and unexperience, as Clinton did without success. John McCain, 73, who secured his nomination, which will not become official until the Republican National Convention in September, is said to be a problem-solver who could bring spending under control, avoiding the steady collapse of the government’s financial house. Federal budget has increased to $3,1 Trillion from $1,8 Trillion; the national debt is now $9 Trillion, more than the combined GDP of China, Japan and Canada, and adding Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security commitments, as a nation there is a $50 Trillion hole, an invisible mortgage of $450.000 for every American family. The federal spending, the war on terror, federal judgeships and energy independence are all significant issues. General public concern, discontent and widespread dissatisfaction will conduce voters to choose the candidate they trust more to secure America’s place in the world, a candidate with strong leadership qualities and capable to introduce and fight for a change. President Bush mentioned in a speach to the Israeli Parliament those who defended greater engagement with ‘terrorists and radicals’, interpreted as a clear reference to the presumtive Democratic nominee Obama, whom Republicans try to portray as weak in the fight against terrorism. Obama’s campaign accused President Bush of launching an unprecedented attack, endorsed by John McCain, in order to continue failed policies and an intention to influence the presidential election and Obama is ready and willing to fight Republicans over foreign policy and national security issues. If Obama can convince American voters he can protect them, then he cannot loose! The easiest way for McCain to lose Presidential election in November is to allow Democrats to tie him to Bush, considered an electoral liability for the Republican Party.
Why will this be Barack Obama, a thinking person, with good judgement, good common sense and able to inspire people to come together, obtaining a significant and increasing support by superdelegates, while Clinton, turns more conciliatory as to not damaging any more the Presidential election prospects of the Democratic Party?
Are the US ready for an Afro-American President Obama, a change we can believe in?
http://usaelectionpolls.com/rss/current-democrat-polls.js
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2. Economic Outlook - Excesses & Consequences
Figures released show that US economic growth fell sharply in the last three months of 2007, as the credit crunch took effect, slowdown triggered by a slump in building activity by 16,9%, the biggest fall in 25 years, as housing prices collapsed. It seems that the two year bipartisan $168 Billion US economic stimulus plan signed by President Bush, with tax rebates for consumers and tax relief for business is only part of the required solution to calm financial markets and help desesperate homeowners. The Federal Reserve put into force liquidity measures with repeated interest rate cuts and lowered now interest rates for banks for overnight loans from 2,25% to 2% and the discount rate from 2,50% to 2,25%, taking into account the poor economic growth of only 0,6% on an annualized basis in the first quarter, declines in consumer spending, housing prices and business investment, along with spreading unemployment reaching 5% in April. The IMF estimates overall losses caused by the subprime mortgage crisis at $1 Trillion, including loans and securities related to commercial real estate, the consumer credit market and corporations potential losses; total losses of the US residential mortgage market could reach $565 Billion, compared to about $230 Billion in writedowns and credit losses currently booked by financial firms. With the US economy in a serious slowdown, dropping consumer confidence to the lowest in 28 years, as anxious shoppers grapple with surging food and fuel costs, there is an increasing awareness that the US economy will suffer at least two straight quarters of economic contraction and might grow only about 0,5% this year, while world growth could reach 3,7%, but also fall below 3%, a level some consider would represent a global recession. The US one year inflation decreased to 3,94% in April (including food and enegry) and it will be a task of the Federal Reserve to monitor inflation carefully, as economic weakness and high inflation increase stagflation fears. The economic growth forecast 2008 for the 27-nation European Union is 2% and for the 15-nation Eurozone 1,7%, while inflation rate outlook this year for EU is 3,6% and for the Eurozone 3,2%, but reaching already 3,8% respectively 3,6% in March; it is not expected that the European Central Bank/ECB, alarmed about inflation trends, especially with oil prices soaring to unpredictable highs, will lower its main interest rate of 4%. According to the IMF emerging economies will not be immune from a general slowdown of economic growth among wealthier countries. Brazil and Russia will have lower growth rates, while the somewhat frenetic growth in China and India will continue with close to 10% and 8% in 2008 respectively. As result of a weaker short term Dollar, the Dollar quoted commodities are getting more attractive, obtaining major attention from investors, not only from Asia and the Gulf nations, which sell Dollar as it comes down, while the volatility and sensibility of stocks and bonds goes on. Especially oil (energy) and gold (metals) and other commodities, such as agricultural commodities, are used as hedge against inflation and the weakening Dollar, as rising commodity prices will offset dollar declines. However higher energy and agricultural commodity prices originate further inflation pressure in both rich and poor countries. To ease effects of global credit crunch, the Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and the central banks of Canada, UK and Switzerland agreed to inject in a coordinated action cash and securities into the money markets, helping financial institutions, with growing losses due to record defaults on US home loans, to solve liquidity shortages and to extend out more credit, in an effort to increase demand and stop general economic decline. And the Federal Reserve acted again to further reduce persistent liquidity pressures, increasing size of its cash auctions and allowing credit card debt, student loans and car loans as collateral for Fed loans, also jointly with the European Central Bank and the Swiss National Bank increased currency swaps in nearly 50% to provide more Dollars to their banks, which are also holders of Dollar loans in the mortgage sector needing Dollars to meet their obligations. Since the subprime mortgage crisis Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWF), flush with cash thanks to high oil prices and surging Asian exports, already injected almost $69 Billion on recapitalizing the rich world’s biggest investment banks (Citigroup, Merrill Lynch, UBS, Morgan Stanley, Barclays, Standard Chartered, HSBC), ‘the rescue of capitalism’ finest’. In an emergency deal, authorized by the Treasury Department and the FED, JPMorgan Chase agreed to buy the troubled fifth largest US investment bank Bear Stearns for a mere $2 per share in a stock swap transaction worth just around $236 Million, increasing price per share to 10,13 and worth of revised deal to about $1,2 Billion, to win over stockholders threatening to derail deal. JP Morgan Chase first-quarter earnings dropped 50%, Merrill Lynch reported worse than expected earnings for the first-quarter and Citibank lost $5,1 Billion in the same period, Well Fargo’s profit fell 11% and Bank of America’s earnings 77% to $1,21 Billion, Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers confirmed both smaller than expected first-quarter profit declines of 53% and 57%. Most of these banks announced significant job cuts to reduce costs. Due to likelihood of further profit declines Standard & Poor’s (S&P) might have to downgrade some credit ratings and it seems that the crisis of confidence and the turmoil of financial markets caused when Trillions of Dollars of securities were underwritten in the false assumption house prices could never go down on a national basis, is not yet over. Banks continue to feel credit stress! Eventually the home market will reach bottom line and it helps that home sales climbed in January for the first time in seven months, taking buyers advantage of the sharp fall in housing prices, although, disappointing investors, sales fell back again in February and March, and number of foreclosed homes returning to the market for sale are boosting uncomfortably inventories. The Senate passed a bipartisan package of tax breaks for homeowners and businesses hurt by the faltering economy - a step in the right direction - called the Foreclosure Prevention Act, which offers little aid to nearly 8000 families suffering foreclosure each day. The Federal Mortgage Plan to refinance homeowners who had fallen behind their mortgage payments, with stable, government-insured loans, has failed to really ease foreclosure crisis. A new broader housing bill began moving through Congress, including an overhaul of the Federal Housing Administration, stronger regulations of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and a $7.500 tax credit for first home owners that aims to slow the fall of plunging home prices. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with a combined capital structure of about $83 Billion and exposures of more than $5 Trillion face themselves increasing risks and may not resist to keep housing market afloat, especially if house prices go through another steep decline! The Institute of International Finance/IIF, representing more than 375 of the world’s largest finance companies, promised a code of conduct for better self-regulation, declaring it would be completely wrong for the authorities to impose much greater regulation on the industry. However increased risks require global Government action and taxpayer’s money to solve damages already caused and to reduce future problems. Financial institutions worldwide are urged to fully disclose their risk exposure in order to bring about a necessary return to financial market confidence. G7 countries/the Group of Seven Industrialized Nations endorsed plans to overhaul the credit rating process for structured products, to strengthen risk management practices and to force banks to hold more capital to guard against risks, reducing investments into complex credit products, holding such assets in their trading portfolios and creating off-balance sheet investment vehicles, all activities at the heart of the recent turmoil; also expressed concern about sharp fluctuations in major currencies and their possible implications for economic and financial stability. Henry Paulson, US Treasury Secretary resumed: ‘Financial markets have been reassessing risk, repricing assets and deleveraging. It took time to build up recent excesses and it will take time to work through the consequences’. The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, which sets global standards for regulation, has underlined determination for closer risk controls on banks. However the regulatory framework Basel II is still a poorly addressed solution due to contradictions and inconsistences in its application around the world. The Federal Reserve and other US banking regulators, worried about financial markets, are also working on stricter rules for credit card issuers, prohibiting unfair practices, such as arbitrarily raising interest rates on outstanding balances. Other priority issues to deal with are the high energy prices and shortages and high prices for food, posting an additional threat to economic and political stability, especially for the poorer countries. The World Bank calls for action on global food crisis.
Can the stagnant US economy recover and calm fears about a longer, wider and deeper worldwide economic slowdown?
Are markets self-correcting, should authorities impose stricter regulation or does a code of self-regulation of the financial institutions help to resolve finance market problems and return confidence?
Finance services and banking should set the very highest standards for ethical behaviour - Sir Evelyn de Rothschild. Do you also believe that this is something that has deteriorated in the past few years?
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Gold $923,52 - 05/21/08 ->tendency $1.000 per ounce —–>
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2.a) Gold
Global gold production in 2007 reached about 2.444 t (tonnes). The world’s largest producing nation with 276 t was, for the first time, China, replacing South Africa which mined ‘only’ 272 t, in a notable steady ongoing decline in gold output, followed by the United States/255 t, Australia/251 t, Indonesia/171 t, Peru/167 t, Russia/150 t, Brazil/125 t and Canada/93 t. The largest proven and probable ore reserves are in South Africa, the United States (Nevada, Alaska, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah), Russia, Canada, Brazil, Ghana and Simbabwe; total reserves are estimated at 60.000 t. Of the 161.000 t ever mined, about 15% is thought to have been lost, and of the remaining 137.000 t central banks and supranational institutions hold around 32.000 t, while 105.000 t are in private hands in coin and bullion - around 22.000 t and in jewellery - around 83.000 t. Here are some official gold holdings - the United States/8.136,2 t, Germany/3.433,2 t, France/2.977,8 t, China 650 t, with record total reserves of up to $1,65 Trillion, is supposed to increase gold reserves to some 2.500 t, IMF/3.217 t, worth actually some $92 Billion, having the Group of Seven rich nations (G7) approved the sale of gold by the IMF, as part of a broad reform of its budget, raising resources by selling gold. The IMF confirmed that it will sell 403,3 t of Gold worth some $11 Billion, which is unlikely to happen until after the Presidential elections this year, in a way that would avoid to disrupting the market. The largest share of final demand at around 70%/$44 Billion, comes from jewellery, accounting India, the world’s largest gold jewellery market by volume for around 555 t, followed in terms of consumption demand by the United States, the global second largest gold jewellery market with 306 t, China with 302 t, the Middle East (Saudi Arabia, Dubai), Turkey and Italy. Gold trade is a chief driver of economic diversification in the Gulf region, having Dubai imported 559 t in 2007 and re-exported 287 t into the vigorous Arab and Indian markets. The industrial and dental uses account for around 12% of gold demand, while investment demand is estimated at 18%, around $11,3 Billion. The sharp fall in South African gold output and the forthcoming sale of IMF gold may - at this time - trigger more buying interest, especially from anxious investors, private householders to defend their wealth, and the big sovereign buyers - the big central banks outside the G7 -, who want to build up their gold reserves. Gold has reinstated its age old position as the best hedge against inflationary times and increasing wealth in Brazil, India and China is contributing to leave demand outstripping mine supply. It looks as if the general fundamental outlooks for gold continue to be quite positive!
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Crude oil $129,07 per barrel - 05/21/08 (1 year forecast $140,82)
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2.b) Oil
The actual lofty crude oil price reflects tight inventories, shortage of refinery capacity, nervousness about political and military tensions in oil producing nations, a decrease in the Dollar’s value and above all, a flood of investment coming out of stocks and bonds, flowing into commodities, viewed as an attractive alternative investment to Dollars. OPEC reiterated that there is no need to increase output; oil supply is enough and high oil prices are not due to a shortage of crude.
(Million Barrels per Day)
Of the 14 countries that produced more than 2 Million barrels a day in 2007, seven were OPEC members - Saudi Arabia/8,71, Iran/3,70, United Arab Emirates/2,50, Kuwait/2,47, Venezuela/2,39, Qatar/2,12, Iraq/2,08 -. The remaining 7 NON OPEC members, including United States/8,48, were Russia/9,88, China/3,91, Mexico/3,50, Canada/3,36, Norway/2,58 and Brazil/2,29. Russia, Norway, Mexico and Kazakhstan are the world’s largest NON OPEC net oil exporters. The United States/-12,24 is the world’s largest net oil importer; China/-3,77 is also net oil importer, while Canada/+1,01 is a smaller net oil exporter. NON OPEC oil production is expected to rise; the greatest increases were expected from Russia and Brazil, however Russia, the world’s second biggest oil producer, shows actually a declining oil production, and some believe that the period of intense oil production in the oil reach western Siberia is over, fuelling concern that oil producers cannot keep up with strong Asian oil demand lead by China’s continuing economic boom and India’s rapid economic expansion, as also oil production in Mexico is slowing down, facing the state owned oil company PEMEX a cronical lack of cash and of technical capacity for deepwater exploration and production. There are increased hopes in Nigeria’s offshore oil to replace disminishing worldwide reserves, while Saudi Arabia, the only OPEC member with the potential to expand oil production, put on hold any further capacity expansion plans. The world is not running out of oil! The biggest threat to the future of supplies is the lack of spare production capacity worldwide, warned Saudi Arabia’s oil minister, and Libya’s National Oil Corporation admitted that there was little more oil the OPEC could pump in case of a shortfall, confirming that there is not enough spare capacity to help. OPEC will spend up to $160 Billion over the next four years to increase oil production capacity. Shortfalls are caused by oil rich countries such as Nigeria, Kuwait, Venezuela, Iran and Iraq, where politics has stymied production growth. Oil rich Nigeria, where rebels again have attacked oil wells and pipelines, is the lingering hotspot the markets are actually focusing on, worried also about Iraqui’s oil exports through the north of the country hit by renewed crossborder raids by Turkish forces against Kurdish insurgents. The OPEC oil price expectation moves to a $90 - $130 a barrel range, but saying that oil price could also hit $200! During the visit of President Bush to Saudi Arabia, their leaders made again clear that they see no reason to increase oil production as they put sufficient oil on the market to meet demand of their customers, having increased already earlier this month supplies to clients mostly in the US by 300.000 barrels a day to compensate declines from Mexico and Venezuela, also suggesting that the US could go more aggressively for domestic exploration and expanding refining capacity! Other OPEC members criticised the move of Saudi Arabia, most of them apparently unable to increase production because they already are pumping at full capacity!
visit my blog on energy (in spanish): http://petroleo1.blogspot.com/
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2.c) Sovereign Wealth Funds/SWF
SWF, government-backed investment vehicles, have proliferated in recent years thanks to high oil prices and surging Asian Exports, to a total worth of about $3 Trillion, but growing fast while amassing enormeous currency reserves. There is concern about investments compromising financial stability and sensitive sectors, such as energy or defense. However host countries and SWF see that their interest lies in building confidence and the behavior of Sovereign Wealth Funds has been so far without fail! Reserves in China reached $1,65 Trillion corresponding to 1/2 of China’s GDP and in Russia $500 Billion or 1/3 of Russia’s GDP and there is pressure that China and also Russia, both keen to protect their exporters, should appreciate their exchange rates faster to reduce inflation, which would slow down accumulation of reserves. China and Russia have established important SWF, while Japan, with the world’s second largest foreign exchange reserves, which reached $1,01 Trillion, has not yet a SWF. The IMF will exercise its own judgement as to whether a country is in breach of the requirement not to undertake currency manipulation for trade advantage, creating also a code of ‘best practices’ to guide SWF, - expecting SWF from the countries that are getting the funds money to accept the same rules and avoiding over-regulations! The US launched an ‘Invest in America’ programme and wants that the Group of Eight rich countries leads by example, saying to review a transaction on other grounds than national security is unhelpful and unproductive! US GDB is about $12 Trillion, the total value of traded securities (debt and equity) denominated in Dollar is estimated to be more than $53 Trillion, and the global value of traded securities is about $165 Trillion. Total assets under management by private hedge funds, a broad category of private investments funds that seek high returns, and as consequence often take on considerable risks, posing also a certain risk to the global financial system, are estimated to be around $2 Trillion. Combined the top 50 hedge fund managers in 2007 earned $29 Billion, John Paulson of Paulson & Company earned $3,7 Billion, followed by the hedge fund managers James H.Simons and George Soros each earning almost $3 Billion. In that context $3 Trillion and more worth of SWF is quite significant but not so huge. Important sovereign wealth generator are China, Russia and Kuwait, and over the past 5 years the fastest growers have been Nigeria, Oman, Kazakhstan, Angola, Russia and Brazil. Abu Dhabi, the oil-rich Emirate of the Gulf region, has actually the largest Sovereign Wealth Fund, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority/ADIA with around $900 Billion and Abu Dhabi is today the world’s richest city! A number of Middle East investors is not interested to invest outside the region, as local real estate investments and infrastructure investments are giving higher returns than foreign investments and Middle Eastern investors have been repatriating their assets, reinvesting especially into the Gulf region’s spectacular mega projects. Due to high oil prices the fundamentals of Gulf economies are strong and they are set for a period of sustained economic growth in the short and medium term; there is a rise in foreign investments into regional markets, leaving volatile western markets, to benefit from local outperforming price/earning ratios. Singapore’s GIC, one of the largest SWF, warns that we could be facing a recession which is longer, deeper and wider than any recession that we have encountered in the last 30 years and considers its investments in UBS and Citibank as long-term investments with good returns when markets stabilise again.
Sovereign Wealth Funds/SWF - Listing & Updates & Deals & Related Investors: http://swfmoney.blogspot.com/
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3. Globalisation
Can globalisation help to reduce effects of recession? Sure, however there are social and economic costs to globalisation. Trade liberalisation rewards competitive industries and penalizes uncompetitive ones, and foments greater movement of people, goods, capital and ideas due to increased economic integration, which in turn is propelled by increased trade and investment. Global income is more than $31 trillion/year, but 1,2 billion people of the world’s population earn less than $1,- a day and 80% of the global population earn only 20% of this global income, existing in many countries a large gap between rich and poor. The 3 billion people living in 24 developing countries that increased their integration into the world economy enjoyed an average 5% growth rate in income per capita, longer live expectancy and better schooling. The digital and information revolution has changed the world’s learns, communicates, doing business and treats illnesses. Globalisation has helped reduce poverty in a large number of developing countries, but too many nations and people have been left out. Important reasons for this exclusion are weak governance and policies in the non-integrating countries, tariffs and other barriers that poor countries and poor people face in accessing rich country markets and declining development assistance! But that does not justify a retreat to nationalism and protectionism, which leads to deaper poverty and is fundamentally hostile to the well-being of people in the developing nations! The challenge is to make globalisation work for all, including the poor people of the world!
Can globalisation, an increasingly connected world, the international marketplace, and a greater transparency produce more global stability, reducing vulnerability to crisis?
Is the strong growth in Asian countries enough to counter slumping global stock markets?
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4. Global Warming
As interdependence increases worldwide economically and politically taking effect globalisation, humankind is called to deal with priority issues, such as the greenhouse effect. The greenhouse gases that have already been put into atmosphere threaten the survival of many ecosystems and wildlife species. The dramatic change in West Antarctic Ice could produce a significant rise in global sea levels; Antarctic ice sheet is melting rapidly, as much as 36 cubic miles of ice a year. The continued greenhouse effect is an effect caused by greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide and methane, that cause infrared radiation to be hindered when escaping the earth’s atmosphere. Sea level rise, warming temperatures, uncertain effect on forest and agricultural systems, and increased variability and volatility in weather patterns are expected to have a significant and disproportional impact in the developing world, where the world’s poor remain susceptible to potential damages and uncertainties inherent to a changing climate. Going oil and gas prices up, reliance on coal is rising especially in China, India and the United Sates, meaning that global emissions of carbon dioxide will increase and there is little hope of averting the worst effects on climate change! The Bush Administration, which will not ratify the Kyoto protocol, is looking for binding commitment from mayor developing countries and big polluters such as Brazil, China and India, and is prepared to enter into legally binding international obligations to reduce greenhouse gases as part of a global agreement. John McCain, presumtive Republican nominee, calls for a mandatory limit on greenhouse gas emissions in the United States and the two Democratic candidates, Obama and Clinton, are also strongly supporting plans for a clean energy future, increasing investments in renewable fuels, and consider climate change as one of the greatest moral challenges of our generation! The Kyoto protocol, ratified by over 166 countries, entered into force in February 2005 and is due to end in 2012, and both the US and China become fully engaged in signing up to a post-2012 agreement, centred on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change/UNFCCC. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown listed climate change to the greatest threats to Britain’s peace, as are war, terrorism, disease and poverty. Lights were switched off across Australia last night at 8pm for Earth Hour, drawing mixed results and reviews. Earth Hour aims to raise environmental awareness - of global warming - by encouraging homes and businesses to turn off their lights for one hour. San Francisco and Phoenix and Canada’s Vancouver will switch off at 2pm today, while other cities in 35 nations are following. The poorer countries are calling on industrialized nations to guarantee financial help to adapt to the impact of climate change. Only up to $300 Million annually will be available through a U.N. adaption fund with a maximum of $1,5 Billion a year, which is much less than the $86 Billion the U.N. Development Program estimates is needed annually by 2015. The US, Japan and Britain said they will contribute to a clean technology fund, administered by the World Bank, that will dole out $5 to 10 Billion over three to five years, starting operations in July 2008. Pope Benedict XVI said the world needed to care for the environment, but not to the point where the welfare of animals and plants was given a greater priority than that of mankind, attacking climate change prophets of doom, warning that any solution to global warming must be based on firm evidence and on an agreement of sustainable development capable of ensuring the well-being of all while respecting environmental balances.
Is it too late to stop climate change?
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5. His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI Joseph Ratzinger
Faith is Hope. Holy Mary, mother of God, our Mother, teach us to belief, to hope, to love with you. I invoke God’s blessing of joy and peace. One can only be a Christian in the Church, not beside the Church! I invite you to observe how the Holy Spirit is the highest gift of God to humankind, and therefore is the supreme testimony of his love for us. I invite you to give time to prayer and to your spiritual formation. Lead others to love Jesus more and more and that you may follow him faithfully. Everything collapses if truth is missing. These are just some prayers, blessings and statements by Pope Benedict, who has developed an intense scientific activity. Many publications constitute a point of reference for many people, specially for those interested in entering deeper into the study of theology. In his usual clarity he made notable contributions to Church and to the Christian Society. He is the teacher, the thinker and the ponderer of deepest meanings. People came to see Pope Paul II and they come to hear Pope Benedict XVI. The Vatican announced that Pope Benedict will meet with Muslim religious leaders and scholars at a Catholic-Muslim forum in Rome later this year, explaining that the Church is eager to improve relations with moderate Islam. Many Muslims remain wary, saying the Pope has created the impression that he is insensitive to their faith. Followers of Islam increased in such an extraordinary way that today 19,2% of the world population is Muslim, while 17,4% is catholic, representing until now the most important religion. King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia said we have lost sincerity, morals, fidelity and attachment to our religions and to humanity, deploring the desintegration of the family and the rise of atheism in the world, a frightening phenomenon that all religions must confront and vanquish, and calls for dialogue among monotheistic religions, project which the King discussed with Pope Benedict XVI during his landmark visit to the Vatican late last year. Pope Benedict XVI visits US, as he views the United States as essential ‘battleground’ in what he considers the ‘war’ of today’s era - proving that modernity doesn’t have to stamp out religious faith! Faith and work of the Church in our society is important to us all! US President George W. Bush sees the Pope as a powerful moral figure and received him as head of state and friend. Pope Benedict XVI spoke of his affection for America, a land of hope and opportunity for millions across the world, and offered his support to strengthen the United Nations, where he has promoted human rights as basis for ending war and poverty!
Is the Catholic Church getting more involved in world affairs helping to achieve a much better understanding with other religions to ease political tensions?
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Visit my Blogs and find something you need!
TRAVEL: http://travelexpress1.blogspot.com
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http://primetours.blogspot.com
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BEAUTY: http://toplabels.blogspot.com
PC-HOSTING: http://keytools.blogspot.com
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SERVICES: http://servicenews.blogspot.com
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