Pope
Francis visiting the Temple Mount and meeting the Muslim clerics and
Catholic cardinals, Jordan’s Prince Ghazi, chief adviser to the king for
religious and cultural affairs, May 2014. (Roman Yanushevsky /
Shutterstock.com)
Islam and Christianity share the “same idea of conquest”, and for that reason, Islam should not be viewed as a threat, said Pope Francis in a newspaper interview this week.
“It is true that the idea of conquest is inherent in the soul of Islam,” he conceded to the French Catholic newspaper La Croix.
“However, it is also possible to interpret the objective in Matthew’s
Gospel, where Jesus sends his disciples to all nations, in terms of the
same idea of conquest.”
Ostensibly, the Pope was drawing a
parallel between the Islamic “conquest” known as jihad, a holy war or
struggle waged against infidels, and Christian missionizing.
The comparison was part of a larger conversation about the increasingly desperate refugee crisis
currently facing Europe. Pope Francis has been an outspoken voice on
the issue of Arab refugees who seek asylum, encouraging governments to
take in migrants and “integrate” them into western societies despite
widespread concerns that the largely Muslim populations might harbor
extremist or terrorist elements. Francis has repeatedly argued in favor of coexistence, peace, and tolerance
in all areas of life but especially towards Muslims. He set his own
powerful example last month when he brought a dozen refugees from the
Greek island of Lesbos back to Rome with him after a diplomatic visit.
The Pontiff said that the Western
attempt to “export” democracy to Arab countries is partly to blame for
the collapse of central control and rise in Islamic extremism in Middle
Eastern states.
Westerners must also consider the issue of cultural relativism, he added, echoing a common left-wing sentiment.
“In the face of Islamic terrorism, it
would be better to question ourselves about the way in an overly
Western model of democracy has been exported to countries such as Iraq,
where a strong government previously existed,” he noted. “Or in Libya,
where a tribal structure exists. We cannot advance without taking these
cultures into account.”
“Ultimately, coexistence between Christians and Muslims is still possible,” the Pope insisted.
The key is integration, he stated.
“The worst form of welcome is to ‘ghettoize’ [the migrants]. On the
contrary, it’s necessary to integrate them,” he said. He pointed to the
example of the perpetrators of Belgium’s horrific terror attack, saying that though they were naturalized Belgian citizens and children of migrants, they “grew up in a ghetto.”
The leader of the Catholic Church
mentioned London’s newly appointed Muslim mayor, Sadiq Khan, as a model
for positive integration. The mayor took his oath of office in a
cathedral and made his first act as mayor attendance at a Holocaust
memorial ceremony.
However, Khan may not have been the best example, as he also has a past of affiliation with terrorists,
most notably Zacharias Moussaoui, an al-Qaeda member who was one of the
perpetrators of 9/11. Khan, a lawyer, defended Moussaoui after the
massive New York terror attack. Khan also is known to have ties to a
number of Muslim extremists.
Perhaps aware of the contradiction of
idealizing such a man, Pope Francis added that Khan’s election reminded
him of his predecessor Pope Gregory the Great. Gregory, who reigned
from 590-604 C.E, “negotiated with the people known as barbarians”, said
Francis. Those “barbarians” were later integrated into Christendom.
Francis also suggested that integration of Muslim immigrants could help boost Europe’s falling birthrates.
While acknowledging that Europe is
rooted in Christianity, he warned Europeans against taking a
“triumphalist” and “vengeful” nationalistic view of these roots.
“Yes, Europe has Christian roots and
it is Christianity’s responsibility to water those roots. But this must
be done in a spirit of service as in the washing of the feet,” he said,
invoking a Christian principle which he has championed in his years as
Pope. Indeed, in March the Pope himself washed the feet of Muslim migrants, proclaiming them “children of the same God.”
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