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 ...
The Vatican preserved the portions of Rome under its control through every dark time between the Roman Empire and the present time. I doubt it was always by prayer.
Interesting times to live in.
Should make for a very interesting visit to the pews this coming Sunday
Bump.
I have been wearing religious pins of warrior saints, and though I don’t know who they are, to me they represent the saints who defied the scourge of Islam.
Pope Benedict XV canonized 800 who were killed by the Ottoman Turks rather than submit to Islam. Pope Francis had the ceremony.
Traditional arms[edit]
Sword
Command baton
Partisan
Halberd
Flamberge
Cuirass with spaulders
Modern arms[edit]
Vetterli rifle (Retired from service)
Mauser 98k (Retired from service)
Dreyse M1907 (Retired from service)
Suomi KP/-31 (Retired from service)
SIG MKMS (Retired from service)
Karabiner K31 (Maintained in inventory)
SIG P220 (P75)
Glock 19
Steyr TMP
Heckler & Koch MP5A3
Heckler & Koch MP7A1
SIG SG 550
SIG SG 552
Less-than-lethal weapons[edit]
Pepper spray
Tear gas
Switzerland doesn’t have 600 Special Operations troops sitting at the Vatican.
“Recruits to the guards must be Catholic, single males with Swiss citizenship who have completed basic training with the Swiss military and can obtain certificates of good conduct.”
bookmark
The Pope more willing to fight than The Emperor? Whoda thought!
Just one more tossed-off in a stunning sequence of Things I Never Thought I’d Hear A Pope Say.
So he gets it.
“The only person to stop a bad person with a gun, is a good person with a gun.”
YUP. An’ there ain’t any of those in this current Administration.
10th?
Thank God. Humanity can’t stand by and watch genocide.
Yeah, the numbering gets a little weird. LOL, I just thought of “Crusades X”.
Yes, 185,000 Assyrian soldiers dead in a single night.
By one angel.
“Let the CRUSADE begin!”
Only problem with that is that the CRUSADE stopped way to soon, we did not get them all!!!
Thank you for answering my question.
Pope Pius V in 1571 — 443 years ago.
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