• Why Jihad Watch?
  • About Robert Spencer and Staff Writers
  • FAQ
  • Books
  • Muhammad
  • Islam 101
  • Privacy

Jihad Watch

Exposing the role that Islamic jihad theology and ideology play in the modern global conflicts

Dhimmitude at the Vatican

Jan 9, 2004 6:35 am By Robert Spencer

Joseph D’Hippolito recaps the recent furor over Cardinal Renato Martino’s remarks pitying Saddam Hussein, and their larger meaing, in the Jerusalem Post:

“Why would a Roman Catholic cardinal who leads a papal commission express public sympathy for a murderous, sadistic tyrant?

“Cardinal Renato Martino unintentionally motivated thoughtful people to ask that question after his remarks following the capture of Saddam Hussein by American troops December 12.

“Martino, president of the Pontifical Commission on Peace and Justice, told a press conference that he ‘had a sense of compassion for him’ after watching the video confirming Saddam’s capture. ‘I feel pity to see this man destroyed, being treated like a cow as they checked his teeth,’ Martino said.

“Many Catholics, such as American conservative Michael Novak, say Martino was not speaking for Pope John Paul II or for the Catholic Church. Regardless, Martino’s comments reflect the Vatican’s position of appeasing Arab dictators and Islam to satisfy its own geopolitical agenda.

“That agenda regarding Israel involves seeking balance between Israeli and Palestinian claims, writes Vittorio Emanuele Parsi, professor of international relations at the Catholic University of Milan. ‘The Vatican’s political stance remains directed by a cornerstone and long-held principle within Church tradition: Attention must be given to peoples and not their governments,’ Parsi writes in the October-December edition of the Italian magazine, Diritto e Liberta.

“Tragically, that approach explains the pope’s inability or refusal to go beyond pro-forma condemnations of terrorism and publicly denounce the ‘culture of death’ within Palestinian society.

“The Vatican’s geopolitical agenda includes creating a more peaceful world through inter-religious dialogue. The pope hopes he can keep Islam from hardening into a permanent fundamentalism that would ‘lead to the clash of civilizations that (he) considers ominous for the fate of humanity,’ Renzo Guolo, professor of the sociology of religion at the University of Trieste and a specialist in Muslim fundamentalism writes in his book, Xenophobes and Xenophiles: Italians and Islam.

“But the emphasis on dialogue is so extreme that Rome seems willing to ignore former Muslims who face isolation and persistent threats as the result of converting to Catholicism. ‘We feel abandoned,’ a woman named Nura told the Italian daily Corriere della Sera. ‘After our conversion, we have no one to support us. We ask the Church and Italy: Protect us, defend us.’

“Those bishops who oppose the papal approach remembered how the pope, ‘who ordinarily speaks about all topics, had spread a veil of silence over the persecution of Christians in Muslim countries,’ Guolo writes.

“The Pope’s goals, while noble, reflect a simplistic, almost naive world view.
‘For Karol Wojtyla, religious dialogue is necessary – to foster the common good of humanity,’ Guolo writes. ‘This dialogue is sustained by the awareness (of) common values across cultures, because these values are rooted in human nature. He seems to believe that only the prophetic message, the utopian perspective, the mystical leap powered by an intense spirituality, can achieve this objective.’

“Papal objectives aside, Martino’s comments also reflect pervasive, virulent anti-Israeli and anti-Western sentiment within the Church’s upper echelons. L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican’s official newspaper, published the following on its front page during the siege at the Church of the Nativity: ‘Rarely has history been so rudely forced and pushed backward by a clear intention to offend the dignity of a people. The land of the Risen One is profaned with iron and fire, and is the victim of an aggression that amounts to extermination.’

“Two years earlier, Archbishop Hilarion Capucci, the head of a Vatican delegation to Baghdad, called his visit ‘one of solidarity with the Iraqi people in the face of the international embargo against their country’ and ‘thanked Iraq for its moral and material support for the Palestinian cause.’ . . .

“Yet things in Rome seem to be changing. Civilita Cattolica, the official magazine of the Vatican secretary of state, published in October an article decrying Islam’s ‘warlike and conquering face’ throughout history and criticizing the ‘perpetual discrimination’ Christians face in Muslim countries.

“Given Rome’s internal rivalries, however, it remains an open question whether a pope and his Vatican that behaved like Winston Churchill in the face of communism will continue to behave like Neville Chamberlain in the face of jihadism and Islam.”

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

Follow me on Facebook

Filed Under: dhimmitude, Vatican City


Learn more about RevenueStripe...

FacebookYoutubeTwitterLog in

Subscribe to the Jihad Watch Daily Digest

You will receive a daily mailing containing links to the stories posted at Jihad Watch in the last 24 hours.
Enter your email address to subscribe.

Please wait...

Thank you for signing up!
If you are forwarding to a friend, please remove the unsubscribe buttons first, as they my accidentally click it.

Subscribe to all Jihad Watch posts

You will receive immediate notification.
Enter your email address to subscribe.
Note: This may be up to 15 emails a day.

Donate to JihadWatch
FrontPage Mag

Search Site

Translate

The Team

Robert Spencer in FrontPageMag
Robert Spencer in PJ Media

Articles at Jihad Watch by
Robert Spencer
Hugh Fitzgerald
Christine Douglass-Williams
Andrew Harrod
Jamie Glazov
Daniel Greenfield

Contact Us

Terror Attacks Since 9/11

Archives

  • 2020
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2019
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2018
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2017
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2016
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2015
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2014
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2013
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2012
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2011
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2010
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2009
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2008
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2007
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2006
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2005
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2004
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2003
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • March

All Categories

You Might Like

Learn more about RevenueStripe...

Recent Comments

  • gravenimage on Uighur leader: ‘We’re actually quite worried’ about what Biden might let China get away with
  • OLD GUY on Iranian top dogs approve bill to end UN nuclear inspections, increase enrichment
  • gravenimage on Uighur leader: ‘We’re actually quite worried’ about what Biden might let China get away with
  • OLD GUY on UK: Woman converts to Islam, distributes Islamic State jihad terror videos
  • OLD GUY on Al-Qaeda Calls on Jihadis to Kill Non-Muslims With Poisoned Coronavirus Masks

Popular Categories

dhimmitude Sharia Jihad in the U.S ISIS / Islamic State / ISIL Iran Free Speech

Robert Spencer FaceBook Page

Robert Spencer Twitter

Robert Spencer twitter

Robert Spencer YouTube Channel

Books by Robert Spencer

Jihad Watch® is a registered trademark of Robert Spencer in the United States and/or other countries - Site Developed and Managed by Free Speech Defense

Content copyright Jihad Watch, Jihad Watch claims no credit for any images posted on this site unless otherwise noted. Images on this blog are copyright to their respective owners. If there is an image appearing on this blog that belongs to you and you do not wish for it appear on this site, please E-mail with a link to said image and it will be promptly removed.

Our mailing address is: David Horowitz Freedom Center, P.O. Box 55089, Sherman Oaks, CA 91499-1964

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.