Shhhh: “Talk about extreme, militant Islamists and the atrocities that they have perpetrated globally might undercut the positive achievements that we Catholics have attained in our inter-religious dialogue with devout Muslims.” — Robert McManus, Roman Catholic Bishop of Worcester, Massachusetts, February 8, 2013
“Syria: ‘Crimes against humanity’ in Christian town says MP,” from AKI, December 3 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):
Rome, 3 Dec. (AKI) – A Syrian MP has urged the world’s nations and Pope Francis to stop “crimes against humanity” in the historic Christian town of Maalula, which activists said was captured by rebels on Monday.
“The true crime against humanity in Syria is in Maalula,” Christian MP Maria Saddeh told Adnkronos International (AKI), a day after the United Nations implicated Syria’s authoritarian president Bashar al-Assad in war crimes.
“Sixteen nuns have been kidnapped, civilians are being killed and a monastery and 60 houses were burnt down yesterday,” said Saddeh, who was elected to parliament as an independent.
“A massacre in taking place and the West cannot look on. Nations and the Pope must intervene.”
“Maalula is a global symbol of Christianity, part of Syrian and world heritage, where Aramaic is still spoken, where there are churches, monasteries and early Christian archaeological sites,” she stressed.
Syrian rebels including the Al-Qaeda affiliated Al-Nusra Front and other jihadist groups overran Maalula north of Damascus after after five days of intense fighting, UK-based monitoring group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Monday….