Posted on 08/11/2014 2:12:29 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Pope Francis has joined with Christians facing genocide in Iraq and Syria, calling upon the world to make an armed response to the Islamic State. He has asked the world to "stop these crimes" and called for the use of "a professional, well-equipped army."
You know a situation is bad when a pope calls for an armed response. Pope Francis, widely appreciated as a practical and realistic man, is not just calling for a cease-fire or negotiations. Instead, he is inviting an armed response to the terrorism of the Islamic State.
Such a call is virtually unprecedented for a pontiff in modern times, but our age is an extraordinary one and the Islamic State has no interest in a bargaining table. Instead, the Islamic State is bent on genocide and barbarism, ruthlessly exterminating anyone who opposes them.
On Sunday, Pope Francis said he held "dismay and disbelief" over what is happening in Iraq. He called the Islamic State fighters terrorists and said there was a need for "a professional, well-equipped army." "The situation is going from bad to worse," he warned.
Meanwhile, Pope Francis was not the only cleric calling for swift and decisive action to end the genocide in Iraq. The Episcopal Vicar of Iraq, Canon Andrew White, managed to visit the town of Qaraqosh under cover and personally assess the situation in that community following Islamic State capture.
His words are chilling. "Today, Qaraqosh stands 90 per cent empty, desecrated by the gunmen of the fanatical Islamic State terror group now in control. The majority of the town's 50,000 people have fled, fearing that, like other Christians in this region, they will be massacred.
"The militants, in a further act of sacrilege, have established their administrative posts in the abandoned churches."
(Excerpt) Read more at catholic.org ...
Can the Pope give one immunity from prosecution?? If so, count me in and point me to the closest mosque.
They are very highly trained.
It might have been Pius V, who in 1571 organized the Holy League, an alliance of Roman Catholic nations that banded together to oppose a Turkish offensive in the Mediterranean basin.
Lepanto, 1571: The Battle that Saved Europe
The clash of civilizations is as old as history, and equally as old is the blindness of those who wish such clashes away; but they are the hinges, the turning points of history. In the latter half of the 16th century, Muslim war drums sounded and the mufti of the Ottoman sultan proclaimed jihad, but only the pope fully appreciated the threat. As Brandon Rogers notes in the Ignatius Press edition of G. K. Chesterton’s poem “Lepanto”: Pope Pius V “understood the tremendous importance of resisting the aggressive expansion of the Turks better than any of his contemporaries appear to have. He understood that the real battle being fought was spiritual; a clash of creeds was at hand, and the stakes were the very existence of the Christian West.” But then, as now, the unity of Christendom was shattered; and in the aftermath of the Protestant revolt, Islam saw its opportunity.
The Ottoman Empire, the seat of Islamic power, looked to control the Mediterranean. Corsairs raided from North Africa; the Sultan’s massive fleet anchored the eastern Mediterranean; and Islamic armies ranged along the coasts of Africa, the Middle and Near East, and pressed against the Adriatic; Muslim armies threatened the Habsburg Empire through the Balkans.
The Ottoman Turks yearned to bring all Europe within the dar al-Islam, the “House of Submission” — submissive to the sharia law. Europe, as the land of the infidels, was the dar al-Harb, the “House of War.”....
http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=7391
Wow. This is stunning and unexpected - at least by me. In my lifetime I’ve not heard of a pope making a statement even close.
I remember back when Al-Zarqawi of Al Qaeda pushed the violence a bit too far in Iraq by killing scores of civilians.. This backfired bigtime and Al Qaeda suffered heavy defections within its ranks. I think ISIS has really pissed off a lot of sleeping giants.
There are so many great Nigerian priests in the Tucson diocese who have been silent on this issue, although we in the congregation pray for them outloud. Please turn your attention to that wonderful country that has delivered us these devout and holy pastors and urge military help from which they came.
Did he really say that? Really?
I’m stunned. Very supportive, of course, but still stunned. And he is absolutely correct.
We have a mosque in my town. On the message board out front today, it said “Observe Ramadan Faithfully.” OK, fine. What do the message boards say on Christian churches from Libya to Pakistan? What do they say on the churches in Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan?
I was thinking along the same lines.
Hey, maybe the Israelis would like to help!
Thanks a lot folks. I’ll be here all week.
How about the Vatican Army? Or the Swiss Guards?
This
A battalion, brigade, division or corp of Swiss Guards at the ready?
Don’t ask: “The Pope? How many divisions has he got?”
Wait! Isn’t Francis anti-gun? Or am I misremembering?
RE: I remember back when Al-Zarqawi of Al Qaeda pushed the violence a bit too far in Iraq by killing scores of civilians
Of course, Iraq turned out to be Zarqawi’s grave yard.
What was it about the war on terror that those who opposed the war in Iraq did not understand?
I believe those Swiss Guard are Swiss special forces soldiers. Some wear the Medievel uniforms and some do not.
Haha ...
RE: Wait! Isn’t Francis anti-gun? Or am I misremembering?
Not for the military of course. He’s not a second amendment sort of fellow.
Speaking of which ... Has there ever been aPope who fought in the Crusades?
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