An Iraqi archbishop's warning to the West
By Phil Lawler ( bio - articles - email ) | Aug 19, 2014
From his temporary lodging in Erbil, Iraq, the Chaldean Catholic Archbishop Amel Nona of Mosul sent a grim warning to the West, in an interview with the Italian daily Corriere della Sera. His words speak for themselves.
Our sufferings today are the prelude of those you, Europeans and Western Christians, will also suffer in the near future. I lost my diocese. The physical setting of my apostolate has been occupied by Islamic radicals who want us converted or dead. But my community is still alive.
Please, try to understand us. Your liberal and democratic principles are worth nothing here. You must consider again our reality in the Middle East, because you are welcoming in your countries an ever growing number of Muslims. Also you are in danger. You must take strong and courageous decisions, even at the cost of contradicting your principles. You think all men are equal, but that is not true: Islam does not say that all men are equal. Your values are not their values. If you do not understand this soon enough, you will become the victims of the enemy you have welcomed in your home.
Phil Lawler has been a Catholic journalist for more than 30 years. He has edited several Catholic magazines and written eight books. Founder of Catholic World News, he is the news director and lead analyst at CatholicCulture.org. See full bio.
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Posted by: koinonia -
Aug. 21, 2014 2:39 PM ET USA
In the entire history of the world, there is nothing like the 7th century marital history of Islam. From the Hejira in 622 to Covadonga one hundred years later and thousands of miles away, the "red whirlwind" was relentless. The history as early as the raids on caravans conducted during the time in Medina involves violence. The bishop ought to be heard with open hearts; his has been pierced by a similar violence.
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Posted by: R. Spanier (Catholic Canadian) -
Aug. 21, 2014 1:37 AM ET USA
Is it possible for a striving Catholic to sincerely believe Archbishop Nona about this and, at the same time, not feel disobedient to the direction of the Holy Father, who wrote that "...authentic Islam and the proper reading of the Koran are opposed to every form of violence."? (Evangelii Gaudium, #253, November 2013)
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Posted by: the.dymeks9646 -
Aug. 20, 2014 10:25 PM ET USA
Truer words can not be spoken.
