Highest Percentage of Muslims in the New World?

Which country in the New World has the most Muslims as a percentage of the population?

Leave your answer in the comment section. I will answer the question after a good number of answers.

The Curious Case of the Married, Roman Catholic Bishop

Wow, we all know about married Roman Catholic priests (formerly Anglicans) but I didn't know about this at all. From VirtueOnline:

Married ex-Anglican bishops functioning as Roman Catholic bishops would not be unprecedented, however. In December 1959, Pope John XXIII received a married ex-Anglican priest, who had been consecrated as a bishop of the schismatic Igreja Católica Apostólica Brasileira, into the Roman Catholic Church.

Married with seven children, Bishop Salomão Barbosa Ferraz was not re-ordained upon his reception in the Catholic Church. Upon being named Titular Bishop of Eleutherna on May 10, 1963, he was not re-consecrated. Active at the Second Vatican Council, Bishop Ferraz appears to have been the only modern day married Roman Catholic bishop. Ferraz was ordained a priest and then a bishop by Bp. Duarte Costa who was validly ordained by Rome. "Rome simply does not accept the validity of Anglican orders so why would they accept Anglican Bishops, should they go over...married or not? Therefore the situation you cited would not be a precedent," Anthony said.

Islam in Mexico

Historians are divided over when Islam came to Mexico and who brought it. Some claim it was introduced by Syrian immigrants, whereas others point to Turkish immigrants. One recent (2002) study estimated that 10 percent of the Syrian-Lebanese immigrant community were Muslim. Today this community is one of the richest and contains more than 250,000 people. The history of Islam in Mexico is largely undocumented, with the exception of a sixteenth-century book called Un Hereje y un Musulman. Written by Pascual Almazan, this recounts the exploits of Yusuf bin Alabaz, who came to Mexico after expulsion during the Reconquista in Spain. Today, Islam is a recognized entity following the establishment of the Muslim Center de Mexico in 1994 in Mexico City. There are also centers in Monterrey, Torreon, Guadalajara, and San Cristobal de las Casas.

--Wikipedia

Seven (New) Wonders of the World

Well, here they are, from AP:

LISBON, Portugal - The Great Wall of China, Rome's Colosseum, India's Taj Mahal and three architectural marvels from Latin America were among the new seven wonders of the world chosen in a global poll released on Saturday.

Jordan's Petra was the seventh winner. Peru's Machu Picchu, Brazil's Statue of Christ Redeemer and Mexico's Chichen Itza pyramid also made the cut.

Note that the Taj Mahal was built by a Muslim ruler. According to legend after the construction was done he cut off one hand of each of the laborers involved in its construction to assure that they could never again build anything comparable.

Also, Petra is in Jordan (a Muslim country), but was built prior to the Islamic conquests by the Nabateans. Itt is mentioned in the book of Obadiah, which I know you all read often :-)

I have been to Petra and vigorously encourage anyone interested to come visit the place. It truly is amazing, and you can easily spend two or three days hiking around the ruins (if you are in good shape), though one day will suffice to go and see the Treasury, the famous structure carved into a cliff which was made famous when it was featured in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

Of course, try to allow time for a visit to Jerusalem if you are in the Middle East, which has so may profoundly impacting sites that I won't even start to list them.

And congrats to South America for getting two wonders! Nice job!

Finally, I bet that if the Hagia Sophia were still functioning as an actual church and welcoming pilgrims from around the world it would have made the list.

The Pope, Brazil, and...Dar al Islam?

The Bishop of Rome (AKA, the Pope) is visiting Brazil right now. In a nutshell the situation there is that the Catholic church is losing folks every day to the various evangelical and charismatic churches through the region.

Here is the article to read for more info.

But why is this important? How is it related to Islamdom (the name of the blog, after all)? Just wait and see...

Worse case scenario: Benedict XVI is a man I regard very highly, as he is one of the few European leaders who has both the knowledge and courage to address Islamdom in Europe. If he retreats into a protective cocoon and declares that odd and semi-heretical teachings and practices abound (which is somewhat true) among these non-Catholic churches, and says they are not true Christians at all, then you can expect a very negative reaction. The traditional charges of worshipping Mary (which Catholics are forbidden from doing) and sacrificing Christ again and again on the altar (not Catholic doctrine) will surface. Both sides will harden their harden their hearts against eachother.

Best case: The Bishop of Rome and the Brazilian bishops will acknowledge that they have much to learn from the other churches. Things like the power of the Holy Spirit today to change lives and liberate people from vice, the goodness of personal and communal Bible study, the importance of every Christian being an evangelist. And on the part of the evangelical/charismatics: a willingness to draw on the great historical depths of Catholic thought and theology, an accceptancce of the challenge to consider that the Holy Spirit can use the Eucharist (Holy Communion) and other traditional rituals to transform and heal and liberate.

My Hope: (And here is where you see why this is important.) It looks like this: The bishop of Sao Paulo will say, we will raise up twenty priests and/or lay families to witness to the Muslims. And the evangelical/charismatic community will say, "Yes, we accept the challenge, we will raise up twenty pastors and/or families to witness to the Muslims." And then the the evangelical pastors in Brazilia say...

You see? Brazil can be a great power for transformation in the Middle East. The first fruits of the Brazilian church are already showing here, believe me. I know these young men and women personally. I had an extended conversation with one recently in fact--me in Spanish and her in Portuguese.

It is our choice. Pray for wisdom for the bishop of Rome and his fellow Brazilian bishops. Pray for wisdom from the pastors and leaders of the charismatic/evangelical community.

It is our choice:

Either, "a house divided against itself will fall." Or, "Iron sharpens iron."

By His grace, let it be the latter.