True: Many forget that the Middle East was indeed, particularly Egypt and Syria, the "cradle of Christianity" and played a major role in the articulation of Christian theology and the concept of monasticism. So what happened? Basically, what has been happening since day one when Islam burst onto the stage is still happening today: Christians are being persecuted to the point that they either emigrate, convert, or live in oppression. Hence why the Middle East "risks ending up without Christians."
"Vatican: Officials express 'concern' for Christians in Gaza," from Adnkronos, March 26:
Vatican City, 25 March (AKI) - The Vatican on Wednesday expressed "profound concern" about the position of Christians in the Middle East after the recent conflict in the Gaza Strip. In a statement, the Vatican said two of its senior officials, Cardinal Leonardo Sandri and Archbishop Antonio Maria Veglio sent a letter to bishops around the world, asking them to contribute to a collection for the Holy Land, which includes Israel and the Palestinian territories.In the letter, the two officials expressed the church's "profound concern" for the position of Christians, particularly following the conflict in Gaza.
They also stressed how Pope Benedict XVI "constantly comforts Christians, and all the inhabitants of the Holy Land, with special words and gestures, coupled with his desire to make a pilgrimage in the historical footsteps of Jesus".
"The wounds opened by violence make the problem of emigration more acute, inexorably depriving the Christian minority of its best resources for the future," the letter said.
"The land that was the cradle of Christianity risks ending up without Christians"...
9 comments:
OK - can someone give me some reasonable explanation of the utter, freaking cluelessness of the Vatican??? Anyone? Anyone?
And, no, sorry, it is not because he is old. The Vatican is not the Pope.
Talk about too little too late. For pete's sake, I (an ex-Catholic) seem to know more about the current persecution and expulsion of RCs (all over the Muslim world, for years and years and years, by the way) than anyone in the Vatican (anyone willing to say anything anyway).
What a bunch of dhimmis. And that business in the Catechism about Muslims worshiping the same "god" that Catholics do needs to go, too.
What a nightmare. Or is this just another way to blame Israel - since the Gazan Christians seem to be the only ones they care about now?
Ro
I assume that one consideration is the dhimmification of the Christian community, Ro. I'd like to hope that the Vatican is examining the following sources:
Watch the video "Holy Land: Christians in Peril" by Pierre Rehov.
The DVD's synopsis on the back cover states:
"Why has there been a great- and little reported - Christian exodus from the middle East, with some two million fleeing in the past 20 years alone?
One of the most important aspects of the Israeli-Palestinian conflicts that has been overloked is the plight of Christians in the Holy Land. Christians in the Palestinian territories have dropped from 15 percent of the Arab population in 1950 to just two percent today. This Christian exodus is a result of many factors, including the fighting between Israelis and Palestinians, the related decline of the ecoomy, but perhaps most significantly, the relgious persecution these Christians encounter from their Muslim neighbors.
French journalist Pierre Rehov addresses this alrming trend in his new film, The Holy Land: Christians in peril. This film is a documentary containing interviews with Christians as well as exclusive footage showing how dangerous their situation is under Islamic rule."
*****
In her book "The Decline of Eastern Christianity under Islam - From Jihad to Dhimmitude", author Bat Ye'Or gives an analysis of the dogma and strategies of jihad, offering a vast panorama of the history of both Jews and Christians under the rule of Islam.
On page 168 of this book is an image of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, in Jerusalem, (Pierotti (1864), vol. 2, Pl. 31) which points out the absence of a cross.
***
From JihadWatch.org's Islam 101
Quote: "Islamic law codifies various other restrictions on the dhimmi, all of which derive from the Quran and the Sunnah. Several hundred years of Islamic thought on the right treatment of dhimmi peoples is summed up by Al-Damanhuri, a seventeenth century head of Al-Azhar University in Cairo, the most prestigious center for learning in the Muslim world:
… just as the dhimmis are prohibited from building churches, other things also are prohibited to them. They must not assist an unbeliever against a Muslim … raise the cross in an Islamic assemblage … display banners on their own holidays; bear arms … or keep them in their homes. Should they do anything of the sort, they must be punished, and the arms seized. … The Companions [of the Prophet] agreed upon these points in order to demonstrate the abasement of the infidel and to protect the weak believer's faith. For if he sees them humbled, he will not be inclined toward their belief, which is not true if he sees them in power, pride, or luxury garb, as all this urges him to esteem them and incline toward them, in view of his own distress and poverty. Yet esteem for the unbeliever is unbelief. (Al-Damanhuri, quoted in Bat Ye'or, The Decline of Eastern Christianity under Islam, 382.)"
Should the dhimmi violate the conditions of the dhimma -- perhaps through practicing his own religion indiscreetly or failing to show adequate deference to a Muslim -- then the jihad resumes.
HRW
Pastorius, funny I was going to email you this yesterday, as well as a post I had about Pope Benedict XVI and Cameroon Muslims...
http://carlosechevarria.blogspot.com/2009/03/pope-challenges-muslims-on-violence.html
Ro, if you are an ex-Catholic then you are truly clueless as to the Church's history vis a vis Islam.
500 years before Martin Luther even arrived on the scene the Pope was sending armies to liberate the Holy Land.
A couple of years back Benedict XVI was quite forthright with Muslims and this unleashed the savage death of priests and sisters in Africa, Turkey, the Middle East, etc.
Last Easter he baptized a prominent Egytian immigrant turned Italian in the Vatican himself.
He just returned from Cameroon and was pretty frank with the Muslims there too.
Are there dhimmis and those which hold pro-Arab or Palestianian views within the Vatican, no doubt....ArchBishop Martino comes to mind, till the Muslims practically invaded the Milan cathedral square!
However, JP2 was the most pro-Israel Pope in the history of the Papacy and Cardinal Ratzinger was his right hand man....
Lastly, you should know that since roughly 1054 AD there have been distinctions and divisions with the Eastern segment of the Roman Catholic Church, many of which still exist to this day.
You want pure dhimmitude, how about the Patriarch of the Greek Orthodox Church or Rowan Williams from the UK???????????
The Holy Father's upcoming trip to Israel is being incredibly well received and there is even an internal review to alter some of the language up at Vad Yeshem regarding Pius XII and WW2, as the more and more evidence delineates his efforts to save Jews....
HURRAY TO THOSE CARDINALS!!! :D
Damien said...
Yeah and I wonder how many liberal feminists praised them for doing so.
Yeah and many, many women praised them for doing so.
Hurray!
Have you seen this film?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Not_Without_My_Daughter
Anonymous,
I've heard of the movie, "Not Without My Daughter," and the book by the same name. But I never got around to reading the book or seeing the movie.
Damien said...
I've heard of the movie, "Not Without My Daughter," and the book by the same name. But I never got around to reading the book or seeing the movie.
It gives a clue of women in islam.
It doesn´t show everything but it´s a good start.
It gives a clue of women in islam.
It doesn´t show everything but it´s a good start.
P.S. I mean the film, I never read the book.
My family is friends with a Muslim family. The man and his wife and their daughter are very nice.
However, a little while back, the couple got divorced.
Here's what I was told.
The mother had "the talk" with her daughter.
When I asked what was meant by "the talk", I was told, "You know, she had to explain to her daughter that if Daddy ever tries to drive her to the airport, she should jump out of the car, because he might be trying to take her back to Syria."
Oh, that "talk".
It's so common, apparently, it's just referred to as "the talk."
In America, "the talk" is when we explain the birds and the bees to our children.
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