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The man known as the pope and the vicar of Christ – but who in light of what follows is probably best referred to by his real name, Jorge Mario Bergoglio – recently gave an interview demonstrating why “so many people think he is the anti-Christ.”
The more salient features follow:
Christ as Warmonger
In classic relativistic fashion, Jorge claims:
It is true that the idea of conquest is inherent in the soul of Islam. 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.
Only someone who is ignorant of or hostile to Christianity can make such a claim. To state the obvious: yes, both Christianity and Islam seek to win converts. However, Jesus’s call to his disciples to “go forth and make disciples of all nations” in Matthew’s Gospel was understood and practiced peacefully. Disciples preached; people converted. No violence, no coercion. In fact, it was Christians – chief among them disciples and evangelists – who were persecuted and killed simply for preaching Christ, first by the pagan Roman empire and later (and still) by Islam.
Conversely, Muhammad said, “I have been sent with the sword between my hands to ensure that no one but Allah is worshipped – Allah who put my livelihood under the shadow of my spear and who inflicts humiliation and scorn on those who disobey my commandments (The Al Qaeda Reader, p.12).” The Koran is replete with commands to do violence on those who refuse to submit to Islam – and yes, in ways that far transcend comparison with Old Testament violence.
Unlike the spread of Christianity, Islam spread through the sword. This is a simple, historic fact, acknowledged by more sober European leaders: the overwhelming majority of territory that today constitutes the “Muslim world” was seized from non-Muslims by great violence and bloodshed. Two thirds of Christendom – the Mideast and North Africa – was to be swallowed up by Islam a century after its founding. Even Rome was sacked and the Vatican defiled by Arab raiders in the name of Islam in the year 846.
The making of martyrs is the only similarity that Christianity and Islam share when it comes to how they spread: while Christians were martyred for their faith, Muslims martyred whoever refused their faith.
Dislike for “Christian Roots” of Europe (or Dislike for Truth)
According to Jorge:
[W]hen I hear talk of the Christian roots of Europe, I sometimes dread the tone, which can seem triumphalist or even vengeful. It then takes on colonialist overtones.
One expects such ahistorical multicultural drivel from a clueless atheist – not the pope. A quick education for Jorge: the “Christian roots of Europe” are a fact. For centuries, after the aforementioned Islamic conquests of the Middle East, the original heartland of Christianity, Europe became the heart and standard-bearer of the Christian faith. That’s why it was called “Christendom.” How can the supposed vicar, or representative, of Christ “dread” this fact, denouncing it as “triumphalist or even vengeful”?
Christianity as a Welcome Doormat
Apparently for Jorge, Europeans may express their Christian roots and faith – but only by being “welcome” doormats:
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. Christianity’s duty to Europe is one of service. … Christianity’s contribution to a culture is that of Christ in the washing of the feet.
So according to the head of the Catholic Church, the entire purpose and message of Christianity is the “washing of feet” – or, in this context, taking in millions of Muslim migrants, many of whom are openly hostile to Christianity.
Yes, Christ served and washed his disciples’ feet and preached mercy and compassion – but that was hardly the sole or even primary purpose of his mission. He offered an entire worldview founded on profound theological assertions. When people erred by profaning the temple, he didn’t “turn the other cheek” (let alone wash their feet). He whipped them. He didn’t preach naivety – “open your doors to those who have a long history of subjugating and still seek to subjugate you” – but rather taught his followers to be “wise as serpents.” He spoke of everlasting hell and torments – indeed, more so than anyone else in the entire Bible. That’s why all Christian denominations have traditionally held that being Christian far transcends “the washing of feet.”
But for Jorge, the only aspects of Christianity to be expressed are those that benefit Muslim migrants, some of whom hate and persecute Christians in Europe.
The Muslim World’s Problems: Our Fault and Responsibility
When asked if Europe has the capacity to continue accepting so many migrants, Jorge said “the deeper question is why there are so many migrants now.” Like a true apologist for Islam, he went on to cite anything and everything – arms manufacturers, hunger, and, parroting the Obama administration, unemployment – as causes for upheavals in the Middle East, while ignoring the elephant in the room: Islamic culture, which engenders dysfunctional, intolerant, violent, authoritarian, and tribal societies.
Simply look to the birthplace of Islam, where Islamic law is strictly upheld: Saudi Arabia is wealthier than most Western nations and has none of the problems cited by Jorge, yet it too is barbaric, corrupt, backwards, and hostile to all who do not profess Islam. Why?
—–
In the same Gospel of Matthew that Jorge disingenuously cited to conflate the mission of Jesus’s disciples with the mission of Muhammad’s jihadis, Christ declares, “Beware of false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them.”
If ever there was a person whom this admonition seems to pertain to – a man who holds the authoritative office of “representative of Christ,” but who empowers the historic (and ongoing) enemy of Christianity, while urging Europeans to suppress their Christian heritage and express their faith exclusively by the “washing of feet,” that is, by meekly lying down before Muslims – surely Jorge Mario Bergoglio fits the bill.
We need another Innocent III or someone like that – call a Crusade, in the name of the West in general.
Urban II launched the First Crusade in 1095.
The roman catholic crusaders stirred up into as much demonic blood lust as muslims, also murdered allmost all the Jewish believers in Jesus Christ, in northern israel.
According to the prophecy of the popes, Pope Francis was supposed to be the last Pope.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prophecy_of_the_Popes
Of course, prophecies are bullshit, though this one is kind of famous in catholic countries because it has been unexpectedly fulfilled until now.
It would be an interesting twist (and fulfillment) if Pope Francis ends up being not literally the last Pope, but the last one of an Era and the beginning of the end of christian religion in Europe.
Look at Sweden,..it’s coming,..
It might be time for the Archbishop of Rome to admit that all he is is an Archbishop and nothing else. He is the first among equals, as the church recognised him before the schism and not the first in the church. the time has come for the churches to unify and become one and the pope in rome to admit that is only human and makes mistakes like one and should not expect any kind of special status…francis is the perfect example why these popes need to be put in their boxes.
Well said, Raymond, well said.
A disturbing accurate analysis about current events, the relationship between the pope and Obama in connection with bible prophesies:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9vK9d0isTQ
Raymond, this article came at the perfect time, so thank you for writing it. Last week, I was at a gathering when the topic of the Pope came up. A devout Liberal made the comment that this Pope was “awesome”. I couldn’t let that comment pass without chiming in. My debate was on point with what you just wrote. For many, who view this socialist ex-pat Argentinian as some kind of rock star, the reality of his Islam pandering is not understood. When I launched my debate, the response was a blank stare. I was labeled as a bigot, a hater, an Islamophobe, AND,….a TRUMP supporter ( which, btw, I am).
I’d like Jorge, and his “awesome” supporters to consider a few MORE things:
1) [When] The Prophet Muhammad was asked: ‘What city will be conquered first, Constantinople or Romiyya?’ He answered: ‘The city of Heracles will be conquered first’ – that is, Constantinople… Romiyya is the city called today ‘Rome,’ the capital of Italy. The city of Heracles [later to become Constantinople] was conquered by the young 23-year-old Ottoman Muhammad bin Morad, known in history as Muhammad the Conqueror, in 1453. The other city, Romiyya, remains, and we hope and believe [that it too will be conquered]. This means that Islam will return to Europe as a conqueror and victor, after being expelled from it twice – once from the South, from Andalusia (Spain), and a second time from the East, when it knocked several times on the door of Athens. ( source: Richard Rubenstein ( “The Clash of Civilizations”).
2) Urban II, who launched the First Crusade in 1095, did so as a defensive stance, against the Holy Land being shut off to Christian pilgrims. Yes, it is true that subsequent Crusades were less successful. But, Urban II, a TRUE Vicar of Christ, launched the First Crusade for all of the right reasons.
3) Going further back in time, I wonder how Charles “The Hammer” Martel would feel about the betrayal by this “Vicar of Christ”. A quick history lesson: Charles Martel was the grandfather of Charlemagne, aka the first Holy Roman Emperor, AFTER the fall of Rome. But, it was Charlemagne’s grandfather, Martel, who prevented the Muslims from overtaking Europe. That was in 732 ( The Battle of Tours).
4) Jorge, ever hear of Mustafa Kemal? I’m sure that he would have been able to bend your ear about Islam.
5) Jorge, are there mosques in Rome? Indeed, they stand. But, are there churches in Wahhabi Saudi Arabia? Absolutely not. Churches are banned in Saudi Arabia. Further, in the Western World, church and state are separated. But, in the Islamic World, Islam IS state and vice versa. Sharia Law , in its purest form, does not respect nor does it adhere to anything having to do with a “Constitutional Republic”.
6) Last but not least, ( and I have to add this because it goes to the “purity” of Jorge’s heart). This “Pope” actually had the audacity to refer to Donald Trump as “not Christian”? WHAT? From where I’m sitting, Trump is displaying far more “Christian” behavior than Jorge could ever dream of doing. What a shameful comment for a sitting Pope to make.
Urban II, a TRUE Vicar of Christ…? oh come on what pope has ever been christian?
Urban II. He launched the first Crusade for all of the right reasons, which was my point. Period.
Hang on, just going through my list of popes, tell me if I miss him…..
Pope Honorius reigned from 625 to 638 A.D. He was condemned as a heretic by the Sixth Ecumenical Council (680-681). He was also condemned as a heretic by Pope Leo II, as well as by every other pope until the eleventh century. [Note 1]
In 769, Pope Stephen IV came to power with the help of an army which conquered the previous Pope. Stephen gave orders for his papal rival to be flogged, have his eyes cut out, have his kneecaps broken, and be imprisoned until he died. Then Pope Stephen sentenced a second man to die a slow, agonizing death. He had pieces of his body cut off every day until he finally died. [Note 2]
Pope Leo V only reigned for one month (July 903). Cardinal Christopher put Leo in prison and became Pope. Then Christopher was put in prison by Cardinal Sergius. Sergius killed Leo and Christopher while they were in prison. He also killed every cardinal who had opposed him. [Note 3]
Pope John XII reigned from 955 to 963. He was a violent man. He was so lustful that people of his day said that he turned the Lateran Palace into a brothel. He drank toasts to the devil. When gambling he invoked pagan gods and goddesses. He was killed by a jealous husband while in the act of committing adultery with the man’s wife. [Note 4]
In the tenth century, a wealthy Italian noblewoman named Marozia put nine popes into office in eight years. In order to do that, she also had to get rid of reigning popes. Two of them were strangled, one was suffocated, and four disappeared under mysterious circumstances. One of the popes was Marozia’s son; he was fathered by a Pope. [Note 5]
In 1003, Pope Silvester II was murdered by his successor, Pope John XVII. Seven months later, John was poisoned. [Note 6]
Pope Benedict VIII reigned from 1012 to 1024. He kept a private force of “pope’s men” who were known for torture, maimings, and murder. The Pope personally ordered many assassinations. He enjoyed cutting the tongues out of living men and he had a reputation for blood lust. [Note 7]
When Benedict VIII died, his brother seized power and became Pope John XIX. He had himself ordained a priest, consecrated as a bishop, and crowned as pope, all in the same day. John died under suspicious circumstances. [Note 8]
Pope Benedict IX reigned from 1032 to 1044, in 1045, and from 1047 to 1048. He became Pope through bribery. He had sex with men, women and animals. He gave orders for people to be murdered. He also practiced witchcraft and Satanism. The citizens of Rome hated Benedict so much that on two occasions he had to flee from Rome. Benedict sold the papacy to Pope Gregory VI. As part of the deal, he continued to live in the Lateran Palace, with a generous income. Benedict filled the Lateran Palace with prostitutes. [Note 9]
In 1298, Pope Boniface ordered that every man, woman, child and animal in the Italian town of Palestrina be slaughtered. He was known for torture, massacre, and ferocity. [Note 10]
Pope Clement VI reigned from 1342 to 1352. He ordered the slaughter of an entire Italian town. He lived a life of luxury and extravagance. He openly admitted that he sold church offices and he used threats and bribery to gain power. Clement purchased a French palace which became known as a papal brothel. [Note 11]
Pope Alexander VI reigned from 1492 to 1503. He was known for murder, bribery and selling positions of authority in the Church. He was grossly licentious. On one occasion he required 50 prostitutes to dance naked before him and to engage in sexual acts for his entertainment. He had cardinals killed so that he could confiscate their property and sell their positions to ambitious men. He died of poison after having dinner with a cardinal. It was rumored that the cardinal suspected that the Pope would try to poison him and he therefore switched wine goblets with the Pope. [Note 12]
Pope Julius II reigned from 1503 to 1513. He became Pope through bribery. He was extremely ruthless and violent. He had a reputation for lust, drunkenness, rages, deception, and nepotism. [Note 13]
Pope Leo X reigned from 1513 to 1521. He put a statue of himself in Rome’s Capitol to be saluted by the public. He had statues of Greek gods and goddesses put in Rome. [Note 14]
Pope Gregory VII reigned from 1073 to 1085. He required kings and emperors to kiss his foot. Gregory and his successors used forged documents in order to expand the power of the papacy. Some Roman Catholics tried to expose these forgeries but they were excommunicated for it. However, the Orthodox Church kept records and wrote detailed information about the forgeries. [Note 15] (For more information about this, see my article “Forged Documents and Papal Power”.)
Simony was rampant among clerics. It was commonplace for priests to pay money in order to become bishops and abbots. Pope Gregory VII said that he knew of more than 40 men who became Pope by means of bribery. [Note 16]
Pope Innocent III reigned from 1198 to 1216. He said that the Pope is the ruler of the world and the father of princes and kings. He claimed that every priest and bishop must obey the Pope even if the Pope commands something evil. Pope Innocent wanted to get rid of the Albigensian heretics who lived in France. He forced the King of France to kill hundreds of thousands of French citizens. The Albigensians lived mingled among the French Catholics. Pope Innocent commanded that every person in the region, including the Catholics, be killed. This was called the Albigensian Crusade, or the Albigensian Massacre. The Pope gave the Albigensian Crusaders a special indulgence which was supposed to guarantee that if they died in battle then their sins would be remitted and they would go to Heaven. [Note 17] Nope seems he is not on that particular list.
Did urban ever decree that romes teachings , dogmas and doctrins that get roman catholics to reject Jesus but think they are christian, heretical and to be dumped?
Hey “Mark”, I dumped the Catholics YEARS ago, for a myriad of reasons. I don’t buy into politicized religion. But, for many faithful Catholics,”Vicar of Christ” is synonymous with “Pope” It seems that either you missed the point of Raymond’s article or you are purposefully trying to sway the points made by Raymond, myself, and others. Not to worry, because I get the intended point as do other posters. But, now I’m curious because you seem to be quite the papal expert. Has there ever been another Pope to pander to Islamic dogma as much as this one does? Urban II didn’t sit back, whilst making excuses for inexcusable behavior, did he? Hmmm, makes me wonder why,……
on the topic of why there are no churches in Saudi Arabia, I once came across this article in which a Saudi official stated that Christianity would first have to recognize the prophet, before churches would be allowed.
Saudi Arabia: No churches unless prophet Mohammed recognised, says expert
http://www1.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Religion/?id=1.0.1993520344
If I had to guess, I’d classify what I just read as “taqiyya”. There are 3 choices in Islam: Covert, pay the “jizya”, or die. Further, as per the “Conditions of Omar” churches cannot be built in Muslim lands. So, what you read was more propaganda. The article blamed the church for not recognizing Mohammed, thereby assessing blame to the Christians, not the Muslims. Maybe Raymond can give us more insight?
True.
I have come to the conclusion that one cannot be Christian and believe as a modern liberal does. It is an either/ or situation.
One can’t be for abortion, and be a Christian.
Excellent comment. Thank you.
Muslims are Monsters. They are pure Evil.
Christ’s substitute? Hardly.
Satans 2 most successfull deceptions, roman catholicism and islam.
This Pope is a joke; a bad joke at that, and a nightmare for the non-Muslim world. He is betraying his flock, and ignoring the genocide being waged in the Islamic world against Christians. Two million Christians are now refugees from ISIS alone and hundreds of thousands have died, yet he is welcoming Muslims from the same region to Europe where they are destroying European civilization inch by inch and rape by rape.
As part of the Church of Rome’s own war on the Jewish people, and also to pacify his new found Islamic allies, this fallen Pope is permitting the open support for Replacement Theology among his own Cardinals, Bishops, and Priests. This vile view of Christianity denies the Jewish people the land of Israel based on the claim that Jesus and Christianity replaced Judaism’s rights in Israel for killing Christ. This is the same lie that has been used to excuse 1800 of genocide waged against the Jews.
Francis, the depraved Pope, even called Abbas an “Angel of Peace.” He is an enemy of the Jewish people and Israel who is trying to crawl like a serpent into the position to strike and gain complete control over Jerusalem for the Church of Rome.
While I have zero respect for the Vatican as it is, I hope the Cardinals unite against this madman, and remove him as Pope, which is with their power, and replace him with someone who will return to the true teachings of the Jewish Rabbi now called Jesus.
If a Pope wanted to destroy the faith of Christians, he could set about it by making attractive comments without the intention of binding the faithful, thereby avoiding the special protective intervention of the Holy Spirit.
My dear father always said jesuits were formed for the purpose of destroying the RCC and the whole of Christendom,
Actually the jesuits were the popes hit men.
Means nothing. The closer to the Pope, the better. ? This is the first Jesuit Pope, they never became Popes. The dark forces were and are everywhere and no pin-pointing the deceptions. Vatican 2 changed the RCC and then ‘Liberation theology ‘ which was a Jesuit Invention. It twisted scriptures and Christianity to almost beyond recognition from when I was a child born mid- fifties.
I have very devout Catholic friends, and they fully agree with you Mr. Ibrahim. Thank you and keep up the good work for our persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ. Blessings.
So there’s no difference between sending out apostles to spread The Word and using military conquest to force your religion on people?
Well remember when roman catholicism was in power it slaughtered christians.
Thank you. Great insight Mr. Ibrahim. Your understanding of Christianity, Islam, the pope and government is refreshing and sadly, not in the norm. Government is supposed to protect the innocent (Romans 13). Paul admonished Timothy to teach Christians in Imperial Rome to “pray for government officials so we may lead a quiet and peaceful life in all godliness.” Paul wrote in 2 Thessalonians:
“For after all it is only just [c]for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7 and to give relief to you who are afflicted [d]and to us as well [e]when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with [f]His mighty angels in flaming fire, 8 dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, 10 when He comes to be glorified [g]in His [h]saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed—for our testimony to you was believed.”
As you wrote a while back, regarding our Founding Fathers and the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, you said, “we should adore them.” Yes, I do hold our Constitution in the highest regard and our Founding Fathers. We need to save ourselves from those who are extremely hostile to the Constitution: Muslims.
I’m Catholic and, as much as hate to say it, I agree with you completely on this Raymond.
In my view, there is no way that that the Gospel of Matthew can be compared to, say, Sura 9 of the Koran.
The Gospel of Matthew advocated spreading the Word through peaceful persuasion and personal example. Sura 9 of the Koran tells Muslims to offer Jews and Christians three basic choices: conversion to Islam; payment of jizya and acceptance of dhimmi status with “willing submission”; or death at the hands of Muslims, a fate ISIS has demonstrated repeatedly and graphically.
Sura 9 offers other non Muslims a starker choice: convert to Islam or be killed.
How Pope Francis can possibly equate the Gospel of Matthew and Sura 9 is beyond my comprehension.
Unfortunately, this is just the latest in a long line of statements by Pope Francis that have given me cause for concern. But this comparison of the Gospel of Matthew with Muslim exhortations to jihad and conquest, like Sura 9, is a potential game changer for me.
I’m catholic too, and my feeling is similar to what you expressed, there is a long line of statements of P. Francis that I find confusing, strange or downright misleading. He may be a pope in name, but in content I have rising doubts about his nature. Don’t ask me what to make of it yet, for me this is unprecedented.
You and I are not alone in thinking these things.
Thank you. Great insight Mr. Ibrahim. Your understanding of Christianity, Islam, the pope and government is refreshing and sadly, not in the norm. Government is supposed to protect the innocent (Romans 13). Paul admonished Timothy to teach Christians in Imperial Rome to “pray for government officials so we may lead a quiet and peaceful life in all godliness.” Paul wrote in 2 Thessalonians:
“For after all it is only just [c]for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7 and to give relief to you who are afflicted [d]and to us as well [e]when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with [f]His mighty angels in flaming fire, 8 dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, 10 when He comes to be glorified [g]in His [h]saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed—for our testimony to you was believed.”
As you wrote a while back, regarding our Founding Fathers and the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, you said, “we should adore them.” Yes, I do hold our Constitution in the highest regard and our Founding Fathers. We need to save ourselves from those who are extremely hostile to the Constitution: Muslims.
I totally agree Raymond. And like how you rightly refer to him as Jorge !
I will just add that Jesus only washed the feet of his twelve converted disciples showing them how to serve one another so no competition in the ranks. He did not kiss their feet, He kissed nobody’s feet. HIS feet were kissed,!
The sight of Jorge washing and then kissing the feet of unconverted Muslim criminals (when he changed the centuries-old Vatican ritual at Easter of washing 12priest’s feet his first Easter, just after he was ‘ smoked in’) was so embarrassing. And I noticed the muslims’ disdain sneering at him as he groveled , there was nothing humble kissing their feet .
He showed who he bowed to right then for the world to see and he has proved this ever since.
I read the entire interview in both languages. It was extraordinary how he managed to slip in ever so gently ,that explosive and ridiculous comparison between Mohammed rampant desire for conquest and subjigation and Jesus commission to his apostles and disciples to spread the good news of the gospel to all peoples.
His point was made on such a matter of fact way and he used his position to push a lie that is almost impossible to fight because it plays right into the bigotry of so many and into the lies of the Islamophiles. He utterance of the lie give it credence because he is pope. In fact it’s the only time I have ever heard this lie. I actually think he made it up to cause even more hardship for Christians.
You will have noted that it is his practice to say something orthodox and then say or do something heretical or bordering on heresy.
That way he persues his agenda of secularising the Church and bringing about a revolution in the Church that will take it away from the authentic teaching of Christ. Not by changing doctrine per say, but by altering practice and over time do a just becomes something for cannon lawyers and academics.
Of course I am simplifying it greatly, but I am sure you get the drift.
In any case, when i read these comments in particular I really understood, REALLY UNDERSTOOD, that it really is a battle against principalities, dominions etc.. (st Paul ).No one can stop the damage being done to the Church by this man and his ilk..the Card. Kasper’s of the Church. No speeches or books , no petitions or demonstrations. No , the only way they will broken is by God Himself with His army of angels. However we do have a part to play in this epic drama. It’s a very difficult task , but one which God will give the grace for if we sincerely ask and commit. We can do as we have been asked so often by Mother Mary to do. We can pray with great fevour in petition The Rosary, to fast and make other sacrifices, esp for their conversions back to the faith and away from the modernist agenda they embrace. And to strive to live holy…yes holy…lives filled with hope, trust and show others by our example that we live in the joy of the Lord. The rest we have to leave to Jesus knowing that He will not abandon us, His holy Church
A reminder the pope is not the head of the Church, he is in effect, the prime minister. The Catholic Church was founded by Jesus Christ. He is the head of His own Church .The pooe is his vicar and this vicar is a false hearted one.
Not forgetting that the pope said (amongst many other lies), that muslims worship the same god as christians.. (well he used the term christians but of course we know what he meant).
That a pope does not know the difference between God and satan is an extremely big giveaway.
Thank you.
The Pope’s statement isn’t totally unfounded. During the 12th and 13th centuries, what is now Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia were pagan lands wedged between the spheres of influence of the Catholic Church in the West, and the Orthodox Church in the east.
In what are known as the Northern (or Baltic) Crusades, the Teutonic knights and others made war on the pagans who, when subjugated were coercively converted to Christianity. There have been Jews in Lithuania since the 8th century; their circumstances were better under the pagans than subsequently under Christian rule.
That’s probably the most clearly analogous thing to jihad. So, you could say that being Christian didn’t stop the Teutonic Knights from engaging in very forcible coercion in religion; and therefore has to be implicit in Jesus’ charge to his disciples.
Then there was the colonization of the Americas, in which the relationship between the conquistadores and the missionaries in imposing colonial rule and introducing Christianity seems be to at least to some degree comparable to jihad.
But if you compare the first generations of Christianity and Jesus’ disciples with the first generations of Islam and Mohammed’s companions, while it may be _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” that the Pope is being not just ahistorical but antihistorical. The Pope’s words call to mind Bat Ye’or’s books “The Dhimmi” and “The Decline of Eastern Christianity” in which she describes the harm which dhimmi communities do to themselves and to each other as they, internalize and self-enforce the rules imposed by their Muslim overlords. In the past, this was a consequence of the zero (or negative) sum game imposed by jihadi conquerors; the Pope’s preemptive dhimmitude is deeply troubling even to this non-Christian.
historically. not theologically.
what people did, as opposed to what their holy books advised.
Indeed. That’s the point. That’s the bottom line.
I have actually come to the conclusion that this pope is just not very bright. His faulty anologies and poor critical thinking skills are signs that the man struggles to keep up. Not that there’s a problem with that. But he needs to learn to keep his mouth shut. That way, people might be fooled into thinking that he has something worthwhile to say.
I politely disagree. The more he talks, the more he reveals his true nature. He’s either a fool or a wolf in sheep’s clothing. My opinion is that he’s the latter. It’s important for people to see what he truly is.
It seems that this Pope is to Catholicism what Obama is to the US Presidency–an absolute joke.
«Unlike the spread of Christianity, Islam spread through the sword.»
I dislike this sentence, also Christianity spead mainly through the sword. Maybe not in the Mediterranean area that was unter Roman Empire, but the northern part of Europe was mainly christianized by the sword. While the first Christians refused to serve in the (Roman) army, the chrurchfather Augustinus in the 5th century introduced the “Holy War” concept that was soon applied not only for defensive wars but also for missionary purposes.
When a German king became christian, his whole “tribe” had to convert too, like the king of the Franks, Chlodwig in the 6th century. Carl “the Great” in the 9th century slaughtered the Saxons who refused to convert, he was called the “Sachsenschlächter”, the slaughterer of the Saxons. The “Deutscher Ritterorden” (German
crusaders) after the crusades in the Holy Land were “disoccupied”, and so the imperor gave them land in Northern Europe in condition that they “mission” the Prussians, no matter if by “good will” or by the sword (they didn’t show good will. After Poland became christian in the 10th century, the Lithuanians were “christianized” too, by the same means. So were most of the Slavic people. The Albigensians and many other “heretics” were slaughtered too.
As the crusaders invaded Jerusalem, Muslims and Jews where slaughtered alike in a barbaric way. In one cursade they first made halt along the Rhine to slaughter the “infidel” Jews. In a further cursadeagainst the Holy Land, they made a little stop to invade and destroy (the orthodox) Constantinople in favour of Venice. As soon as the “Reconquista” was terminated, the Catholic kings Isabella and Ferdinando expelled all Jews who refused to convert. The popes never were against extermination of the native Americans or against slavery.
The last example of “peaceful” behaviour was during WW2, where the Croatian Catholics of the Ustache – with personal (!) help of Franciscan monks and under the benevolent eye of pope Pius XII slaughtered more than half a million (!) orthodox Serbs and Jews who were so “stubborn” not to convert, they also had concentration camps like Jasenovac; it’s horrific to read the barbarities they committed. The German bishops with the Concordat with Pius XII had to swear unconditional (!) loyality to Hitler, we know the result.
This was only a little overview, sure there would be much more to add …
Christianity is not the New Testament, it’s what the Church made of it, including persecuting followers of the true teachings of Jesus.
BTW, I like reading your articles very much in general, only when it comes to your apology for the Church … and I surely don’t want to defend Jorge.
There is a lot more than this…his pro-Muslim statements simply don’t stop. When is he going to resign? He might want to follow a career as an Imam….
For too long I had relied on the reports of others to attempt to gauge the reports about the radicalism of this Pope. Say something critical of his position and/ or question his motives, and a legion of defenders rush forth claiming that the Pope had been “misquoted”, among other less kind accusations.
Upon the Pope’s visit to the US Congress, I decided to watch the entire speech and use my own reason to determine for myself what was said.
I watched initially in shock, then horror as the Pope paid nothing more than a sound byte nod to ending abortion in America as amoral and as an aversion against God. Instead, he droned on and on about the environment.
Watching the speech at the UN, how much time was spent on the persecution and martrydom of Christians the world over, but especially in Muslim nations or where ISIS is prevalent?
His attacks against capitalism. His criticisms of the US.
I, too, began to come to the conclusion that this Pope is hostile to not only Western thought, but also Christianity.
It was Christianity that ended slavery in Europe and ultimately in the United States. Islam still practices it.
It was Christianity that truly established the recognition of the individual as a creation of an All-Powerful God; and the subsequent natural standing of Rights and respect for differences in sex, race, and creed. Something Islam does not do.
Womens’ rights?
Similarly, at this time I have also been wondering why the Catholic Church is so adamant about accepting illegal aliens in America. If God is Law and Order, what- or more accurately, whom- represents chaos and anarchy? If US Immigration Law is clear, then what is it when someone breaks the law? So, if an organization claims to be following the Word of God, and God is order, then breaking the law must be against God.
How could the church take this chaotic position?
It was soon revealed to me at a church seminar. A visiting hispanic priest, from the Southwest helped reveal the devious nature of what is afoot. He spoke about how we need to open our doors to illegals, and even learn to speak Spanish, as that is the way of the future. Churches are closing in the Northeast as population leaves or dies. Churches in the Southwest, however, are bursting with attendance and cannot meet the needs of its ever-burgeoning congregations.
Hm. I wondered to myself: “…and where is it that the Pope is from?”
Latin America.
So, sensing the decline of the traditional West in America as the Christian, Anglo dominated society, is it truly the position of the Catholic Church- much like the modern politician- to woo future congregants of hispanic origin into its doors by catering to this segment of the population, laws of a sovereign nation be damned, just to keep the lights on? Has Rome selected a Pope based solely on logistics from a region of the world that is responsible for the influx of illegal immigrants in the US? Call it an olive branch of support for continued attendance in the US?
Whore of Babylon is having more meaning these days.
proud to be a recovered catho-holic… this pope is a total moron…
This guy and Obama are the polar opposites of the majestic John Paul II and Ronald Reagan.
This pope makes me rethink the answer to the playground funny: “Is the Pope Catholic?”
Wow, you are all either brainwashed or incredibly historically ignorant (/in denial) if you believe for one second that Christianity was spread across Europe “peacefully”. Who destabilized two entire continents (Africa and South America) by forcefully converting them by means of the sword? Who went on imperialistic Crusades where every non-Christian refusing to convert was beheaded or killed by other means?
Get a grip on reality. Pope Francis is the most intelligent man to become pope in decades, and he seems to be more historically knowledgeable than any of you here, living deep in denial about the past of your faith.
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