Pope Urges Religious Freedom for Indonesians
October 11, 2011
DAN writes:
The persecution of the Church in Dar al-Islam, specifically Egypt, Iraq, Nigeria, and Pakistan, is generally known to anyone with a basic following of recent world events. In each case, Pope Benedict XVI has spoken out for these Christian populations, many of them nearly two thousand years old. Now the violent jihad being waged against Christians in “moderate” Indonesia has garnered the attention of the bishop of Rome. He has called upon Muslims in the Asian country to protect Christians and respect their religious freedoms. I commend the Holy Father for advocating for the besieged Christians of Indonesia, though he needs to be more open about the Islamic motivation inspiring the jihad against Christians across Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia (in other words, return to the spirit of Regensburg). Of course the response of the Muslims will be either denial or yet another violent outburst for suggesting Muslims are violent.