The Churches in America remain largely silent about all this, because they have been manipulated into thinking that it is “hateful” and “bigoted” to name the perpetrator in this instance. “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.” So said Robert McManus, Roman Catholic Bishop of Worcester, Massachusetts, on February 8, 2013, but Bishop McManus is just the tip of the iceberg. His point of view is shared by the vast majority of Christian clergy of all denominations in the U.S.
“Ancient Christian sites in Syria threatened,” by Martin Bailey, The Art Newspaper, May 28, 2014 (thanks to Persecution.org):
The Syrian government claims that there has been extensive damage to ancient Christian sites in Maaloula, a small town where Aramaic (the language of Jesus’s time) is still spoken. It lies 35 miles north-east of Damascus, at the base of mountains rising up from the desert. There has been extensive fighting around Maaloula since last September and in April president Assad’s government forces regained control from the rebels.
Earlier this month, the Syrian directorate general of antiquities and museums published a report of a mission to Maaloula. It is difficult to verify their claims, and it is not clear who inflicted the damage, but the survey presents disturbing evidence of destruction. Many of the rebels are unsympathetic towards the country’s Christian minority. Although the government report accuses rebels of looting religious artifacts, it is possible that some may have been removed to safety.
The Greek Catholic monastery above the town, dedicated to Saints Sergius and Bacchus (Mar Sarkis and Bakhos), dates back to the fourth century AD. It is one of the world’s oldest churches and was built on the foundations of an earlier pagan temple.
Part of the monastery’s walls have been damaged by shelling and the Syrian government report claims that the church’s main dome has been “destroyed”. Some of the roof timbers date back 2,000 years and these may have been damaged. The ancient marble altar, probably also pagan, is said to have been destroyed and “drilling operations were carried out under the altar in search of treasures”. The government report claims that “all of the movable antiquities and holy items inside the monastery have been stolen, including the most important Maaloula icons”. The oldest icon, depicting the two saints of the monastery, may date from the 14th century.
The monastery occupies a strategic position, on the cliff that dominates the town. Just beneath it, the hillside is riddled with caves, some of which were occupied by prehistoric humans over 50,000 years ago. Many of the caves and rock-cut tombs are said to have been “vandalised, sabotaged, drilled, door-smashed (in a bid to search for treasures) and turned into fortified barricades”.
Below lies the Greek Orthodox convent of St Techla (Mar Takla). Most of its buildings are relatively modern, although they lie on an ancient site. The Syrian government report says that the cave shrine with the tomb of the saint has been “completely burned”, and the fate of the most important icons is “yet to be known”. A fire was started in the church of St John the Baptist “after most of the items have been stolen and the rest broken and sabotaged, such as the altar, the crosses, icons and frescoes”. At least 12 of the nuns were kidnapped and taken hostage in December 2013, but released last March.
Emma Cunliffe, an archaeology graduate from Durham University and now a heritage consultant, is monitoring damage of Syrian sites. Although details of the situation at Maaloula remain unclear, she is certain there has been “shelling of many Christian sites and extensive iconoclasm”.
Richie says
I think within our lifetimes we we’ll see Muslims destroy the surviving Christian mosaics in the Hagia Sophia in occupied Costantinople.
This is not a surprise- their religion is one of destruction; kill and destroy, that is what Islam is all about. The liberal west is too cowardly to defend itself. Britain and Sweden are already lost. Some of Europe may still survive, but Muslims are winning- and will continue to do so until the west is not afraid to speak out
Richie says
I think within our lifetimes we we’ll see Muslims destroy the surviving Christian mosaics in the Hagia Sophia in occupied Cosntantinople.
This is not a surprise- their religion is one of destruction; kill and destroy, that is what Islam is all about. The liberal west is too cowardly to defend itself. Britain and Sweden are already lost. Some of Europe may still survive, but Muslims are winning- and will continue to do so until the west is not afraid to speak out
mariam rove says
Islam is all about destruction. It is as simple as that. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. M
citycat says
An old Pagan temple?
Them Pagan goes must be stretching awake.
Be good if the Earth Goddess wins, get our trees back, clean rivers, sanity
Polo says
@citycat
Yeah, Earth Goddess is going to save you as you’re being beheaded or stoned to death. Stay off the dope, ya’ dig?
richard Sherman says
England? Are you kidding? Winston Churchill can no longer be read in public in England!..See Cameron’s DHIMMI treatment of Paul Weston…England is finished.
Kepha says
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.” So said Robert McManus, Roman Catholic Bishop of Worcester, Massachusetts, on February 8, 2013, but Bishop McManus is just the tip of the iceberg. His point of view is shared by the vast majority of Christian clergy of all denominations in the U.S.
I am not sure that “vast majority” is correct. You are correct about, perhaps, the RC clergy and the “aging line” Protestant denominations, but they are no longer “the vast majority of Christian clergy in the USA”.
A good chunk of the Christian clergy in the USA at this point of time is probably Evangelical/fundamentalist (a fundamentalist is an Evangelical whom a liberal reporter doesn’t like). For such people, the watchword is witness rather than “dialogue”.
The Evangelicals are the ones who read Barnabas Fund newsletters, believe that the Qur’an is a pack of lies, and are working on ways to reach Muslims for Christ. How do I know? I am an Evangelical layman and have sought out and supported conservative churches for my entire adult life.
We are painfully aware of the ferocity of Islam’s persecuting zeal. It is our brethren, in many cases, who are facing the death penalty for apostasy. We are also the ones who get smeared as “American Taliban” by Islam’s liberal enablers. If we say we have learned more than we would have liked to about Islam since 9/11–and I am one such person–it is because being charitable is written into a fat, black book which we think is the voice of God the Holy Spirit. But since our fundamentals include the divinity as well as humanity of Jesus Christ, the inspiration and authority of the Old and New Testaments, the atoning and very real character of Jesus’ death on the cross, and his victory over death in the resurrection, we cannot but be aware of the Qur’an as a false witness to the saving works of God.
So, we do not answer Islam’s call for jihad with a counter-call for crusade? It is only because we are finally seeing some fruit of from our witness to historically Muslim peoples, and we do not wish to spoil the Lord’s harvest. A scant thirty years ago, nobody would’ve thought that Kabyle people in Algeria and Turks and Kurds in southern Anatolia would be going to Christ-preaching churches. The move away from Islam in parts of Africa has also caught us both flat-footed and humbly grateful to God for His great mercies. So have responses among Guest Workers in Europe and among Muslim immigrants and their offspring in the USA. Why, in China, one of Evangelical Christianity’s most popular musicians is a formerly Muslim woman! Such movements, not Huleku-style massacres, are the victories that rejoice the heart of God Almighty.
I myself have spoken against Bp. MacManus and the shenanigans of modernist clergy (the wonderful folks who bless homosexual abomination and call it marriage, who praise spoiled women putting on black robes and playing “Anything You can do I can do Better”, and who condemn any serious reading of the bible as “fundamentalist”. I further see any dialogue worthy of a Christian’s time as one in which the Gospel message of Jesus Christ and him crucified and risen will be communicated–and we will admit such a thing is witness rather than confessing Islam as spiritually good (although we confess ourselves the equals of Muslims in being sinners in need of salvation, one set of beggars telling another set of beggars where to find bread).
The clergy I listen to and I myself do not see Islam as “another path to God” or spiritually equal to Christianity–although we see ourselves as equals of the Muslims and Evolutionary Materialists in being sinners in need of divine grace, one set of beggars telling another (who also seem to be robbers) where to find bread. Those who do seem to see Islam in a positive light are the ones who encourage spoiled women to put on robes and play “Anything-you-can-do-I-can-do-better”, make the murder of a child in the womb a sacrament of femininity, bless casual pairings of homosexuals as “marriage”, and decry any serious reading of Scripture and heeding it as “Ugh!-fundamentalism!” Many in that camp are people whom I often doubt are Christians in any meaningful sense at all.
@Patrick W–Why not read the Bible and re-acquaint yourself with the God who is there?
AnneM says
Thank-you for your wonderful faith-sharing and the good news of the spread of the Gospel of Jesus with many Muslims coming to faith in Christ.
Fr. Thomas J. Hennigan says
I read a repot in a Spanish Catholic news wsbsite which quoted a nun who had escaped to France and gave an eyewitenss report of some of the atrocities. She reported that two young Christian men, of the Greek Catholic Church, wer crucified for refusing to convert to Islam. The jihadists todl them that they would get the same punishment as their Master. I hope that the testimonies will be collected by the Greek Catholic Church in Damascus and that they can eventually be canonized as martyrs. Tthe ttholoigcal definition of martyrdom is giving ones life due to “hatred of the faith”, in Latin “odium fidei”. Thhis is real martyrdom, not the Islamic version of blowing up innocent people.
I would assume that such atrocities are reported to the Vatican by the Nunciature, but it appears that the Pope is not in a mood for confrontng Islamic jihadists with the truth.
mortimer says
Thank you, Father, for speaking a word in favor of the authentic martyrs.
AnneM says
Thank-you for your report and God Bless.
Charli Main says
Destroying the religious sites of other religions and replacing them with Mosques is fundamental Islam.
In every country that the Muslims have invaded the have defiled and desecrated the Holy Sites of the pre-existing religions—Hindu, Buddhist, Christian etc.
The Hagia Sophia, Dome on the Rock, Taj Maharl and the Great Cathedral in Cordoba are just a few of millions of examples of Muslim defilement and desecration.
Jay Boo says
Blame the Islamist Obama admin
Obama now wants to give more help to these (friendly rebels) in their fight against Assad with increased ‘training’ and is dubbing his support of these terrorist Islamists as a counterterrorism challenge.
Charli Main says
Sounds like Obama is proving to be an important step in furthering the ultimate Muslim ambition for the USA——-adding minarets to the White House
G179 says
Islam is an equal opportunity offender.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/05/27/exclusive-pictures-syria-s-oldest-synagogue-destroyed-by-assad.html
Josh Rogin, The Daily Beast:
Exclusive Photos: Syria’s Oldest Synagogue, Destroyed by Assad
Syrian Arab Army forces flattened the Eliyahu Hanabi Synagogue in the Jobar neighborhood of Damascus over the weekend. The attack not only wrecked a site that’s at least 400 years old. It may have destroyed thousands of irreplaceable Jewish artifacts contained inside the synagogue, according to opposition leaders and photos obtained at the site.
bill says
inter-religious dialogue with devout Muslims
I love that word dialogue. Don’t hese chumps know that Muslims have no hesitation in saying whatever you like to hear, as long as they get their way in the end. Lying is sanctioned y the Quran.
ApostateOfWesternism says
And who, might I ask, gave the Syrian takfiris as much political and military power as they currently have? Was it not the degenerate Western civ which you are so adamantly defending?
We who support moderate Islam have always stood with Assad.
CogitoErgoSum says
“Who is your father? Who are you?”
Watch the video in the link below to the end and you will see who will destroy whom.
P.S: the language being spoken is Aramaic.
Kepha says
I normally avoid “The Gospel According to Hollywood” like the plague and idolatry that it usually puts forth. However, the linguist in me got the better of the Puritan, and I watched the film because I wanted to hear what Aramaic sounded like.
John says
Read The End of America by John Price.