Posted on 05/12/2013 6:07:40 AM PDT by markomalley
In a move that may annoy some in the Muslim world, Pope Francis plans to canonize 800 Italian laymen who were massacred by Ottoman Turkish soldiers during the historic siege in the southern Italian city of Otranto in 1480.
The canonization service, the very first by the new pope, will be held on May 12 in St Peter’s Square, reported Britain’s Catholic Herald newspaper.
The Daily Telegraph reported that this ceremony will set a new record for the highest number of saints canonized at any one time by the Church.
During the week-long siege of Otranto more than five centuries ago, Ottoman soldiers were instructed to murder all men above the age of 15 for refusing their demands to convert to Islam. According to historical accounts, one of the martyrs, Antonio Primaldo, a tailor, declared: “We believe in Jesus Christ, Son of God, and for Jesus Christ we are ready to die.”
Primaldo was soon beheaded for his troubles. The names of the other martyrs are lost to history.
The Cathedral in Otranto is today adorned with the skulls and other relics of the martyrs.
Pope John Paul II visited Otranto in 1980 to observe the 500th anniversary of the massacre. At that time the Pope praised the city’s medieval residents who resisted the Turks’ threats.
However, the martyrdom of Primaldo and his fellow natives of Otranto were not recognized until 2007 by Pope Benedict XVI who said they were “killed out of hatred for the faith.”
Benedict also identified a miracle related to the Otranto saga: a nun whose cancer was miraculously healed after she paid a pilgrimage to the martyr’s relics in Otranto in 1980.
The siege of Otranto, launched by Sultan Mohammed II of Turkey, was eventually stopped by the forces of the King of Naples. Mohammed’s forces, who had already captured Constantinople (present day Istanbul), failed to reach their next intended target, Rome.
Now, in the early 21st century, highlighting the Otranto massacre must be viewed within the context of still fragile ties between the West and Islam.
A conservative Italian senator named Alfredo Mantovano, who wrote about the Otranto siege in 2007, compared it with the present state of relations between Europe and Islam.
“All of this [the Otranto massacre] took place because of the indifference of the political leaders of Europe to the Ottoman menace,” he wrote, the Telegraph cited.
“In Otranto, no one displayed rainbow pacifist flags, nor invoked international resolutions … Today Europe is under attack, not by an institutionally organized Muslim phalanx but by a patchwork of non-governmental organizations of fundamentalist Muslims.”
Damian Thompson, a columnist for the Telegraph in Britain, pointed out that Pope Francis has had warm relations with Muslims and has sought to reach out to global Islamic communities. He wonders how the mass canonization of Christians who died at the hands of Muslims from more than 500 years ago will affect his campaign to heal the rift between the faiths.
Indeed, upon his election as Holy Father, Francis was widely embraced and congratulated by Muslims on hopes of deeper dialogue between Christendom and Islam.
As a cardinal from Argentina, Francis had even condemned some negative remarks that his predecessor, Benedict, had made about Islam.
In March, during an audience before the Diplomatic Corps in Rome -- which included some Muslim leaders -- Francis said: “In this work, the role of religion is fundamental. It is not possible to build bridges between people while forgetting God.
“But the converse is also true: It is not possible to establish true links with God, while ignoring other people. Hence it is important to intensify dialogue among the various religions, and I am thinking particularly of dialogue with Islam.”
The story about this picture is that a tailor in the town of Otranto, Antonio Primaldo, was the first one to be beheaded...while standing up. Despite the muzzies best efforts to knock him over, he remained standing until the last of the 800 to be martyred that day were murdered.
He will be criticized for it. The leftist/media complex has been silent about him. Now they think they have found something and will dump on him for not respecting the bearded savages.
Francis akbar
That's like saying "Highlighting the sore on someone's face must be viewed within the context of still fragile ties between that person and melanoma".
Well, that's not really very hard to do...
I hope the muzzies take this for what it is....a slap in their bearded face....
>murder all men above the age of 15 for refusing their demands to convert to Islam
A better plan may have been to humor the islamosickos and then hook up with an army to wipe out these muslim scum. The effort to eliminate islam terror should have been sustained until it completed the mission.
Pope is sending message to the Muslims that “Islamofasim” is FUTLE.
You need to look up the word "Dhimmi"
Not really accurate. The Ottomans actually captured Otranto, and the King of Naples and allies eventually recaptured it, though with the Turks surrendering on terms they were allowed to sail away.
The Otranto attack was a very small affair compared to the full weight of Ottoman resources. There is little or no evidence that the attack on Otranto was the intended start of a full-scale formal invasion of Italy.
Though conquest of Italy was obviously a long-term objective of the Turks.
What about 1.2 million Armenians killed by The Turk? They were killed the old fashioned way, starvation and the sabre. The Turk didn’t even use guns because guns were expensive and unnecessary, as the Armenians had already been subjected to rigorous gun control measures.
Call it any name that fits, but the goal is to stay alive long enough to defeat those that would enslave you. Subterfuge and convince your enemy you are one of them until you can bury the blade into their heart.
History tells us that's a very poor strategy...rarely works...
Especially with Islam...
Pope is sending message to the Muslims...
Too bad they don’t know how to read.
This was 5 centuries ago. There were only about 500 of the men in Otranto and they withstood a seige for about 2 weeks, giving the King of Naples time to assemble a force.
“There is little or no evidence that the attack on Otranto was the intended start of a full-scale formal invasion of Italy.”
Who are you reading? Might want to ask the Knight of Malta about that one...
On a practical note, the Vatican should organize, and provide lesser diplomatic credentials to an advisory organization that would travel to oppressed Christian groups around the world, teaching them how to protect themselves from their oppressors.
They would give them common sense advice and counsel, help to redesign their towns and buildings to make attacks much harder, teach unarmed self defense and techniques to avoid conflict. They could also provide secretly some emergency communications equipment, so that they can call for international help, including evacuation, if the situation really gets out of control.
Much of this would be semi-covert, with a cover story of some economic development and medical care, both of which would be included as secondary support.
Even in the short term, this could save thousands of lives, as well as precious religious artifacts, and be a huge boost to the morale of the oppressed peoples.
The Otranto attack was a large-scale raid. If fully successful, it might very well have been followed up with an invasion.
But no attempt was made to reinforce the Ottoman garrison, probably because the Sultan died and as usual there was squabbling over the succession.
No further attempt was made to invade the Italian mainland, other than coastal raids to plunder and capture slaves.
I doubt that all this will have any effect on the bearded savages.
Just another event for them to high-5 each other for a job well done like they did openly on American university campusses on 9/11/2001.
So the invasion wasn’t successful because the Sultan was killed? Doesn’t sound like a raid to me.
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