No problem. The Pope will just explain to the jihadis how true Islam and the proper understanding of the Qur’an reject every form of violence. Abashed, they will lay down their arms.
“Video calls for jihad in Balkans on eve of pope’s visit,” AFP, June 6, 2015:
Islamists claiming to be members of the Islamic State (IS) group called for jihad in the Balkans in a video widely reported Friday by local media, on the eve of a visit by Pope Francis to Sarajevo.
The 21-minute video, made in a slick style and carrying the logo of a production company linked to IS propaganda, appears similar to other videos released by the group.
The video does not make any reference to the pope’s visit and it was not possible to determine when and where it was recorded.
The video features a dozen jihadists presented as being from Albania, Bosnia and Kosovo. Some of them speak in Bosnian and Albanian, and they wear hats and gloves.
It was not the first video in which Islamists from the Balkans have called for jihad, but its impact was amplified by the proximity to the pontiff’s visit.
In the video a Kosovo Albanian, introduced as Abu Muqatil Al-Kosovo, said “misbelievers” in the Balkans would face “horrible days”.The pope arrived in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo on Saturday, where he held a mass for 65,000 at the city’s Olympic Stadium, urging Bosnians to seek lasting ethnic and religious harmony to heal the deep, lingering wounds of the 1992-1995 war that devastated the former Yugoslav republic.
Experts say Francis’s visit represents a significant challenge for the security forces in the country that has become a fertile ground for homegrown jihadists….
mortimer says
Hopefully, Pope Francis can encourage the process of reconciliation in the former Yugoslavia. The Serbian government has already begun reaching out to the other member republics of the former country. A renewed Yugoslavia is needed as a free trade zone and even a confederal organization. There can be no prosperity in the region without it. Yugoslavia was a great success and the various tribes collaborated well as long as a charismatic, authoritarian dictator was in charge. A free trade union is needed among these countries. They have almost everything in common and everything to gain from learning to like one another. There are signs (a few jihadists aside) that the young people in this region are not poisoned by the past hatreds and want to put it behind them.
Lia says
Poor ol’ nunc Francie: no matter how sweetly he speaks to them, they still want to kill him!
Don McKellar says
I wonder if he’s going to drive around in a convertible and get out and mingle with the crowds in the Balkans? He may actually be that stupid, based on what we’ve heard and seen of him so far.
Malcolm says
Catholics are used to insults from the uncouth, the difference is Pope Francis way, is in line with Christ teaching and you with Mohammads.
Angemon says
Are the security forces excluded from the pool?
R Cole says
The former Pope was more relevant – when it came to Islam.
And how the words he used – ring true today.
Regensburg lecture
Pope Benedict XVI
The Muslim objection/offense taken – to the Pope’s statement – that Muhammad’ might /violent jihad – should be accepted as right. That is what they pine for most – the acknowledgement – that Muhammad’s might be made right – and they are being told – in a religious context – it was wrong then – and is still so.
Don’t Underestimate…
Then we mustn’t forget Muslim invaders eventually took this nation – as Muslims want more than religion from Islam – we must acknowledge how adept these religious middlemen – are at taking over more advanced nations and claiming all the talent within them as their own.
The arches of the Islamic mosque – so famously displayed as Islamic achievement – are a Roman invention.
With the Arab market in mind – Muslims aim one day to take commission / jizya from the world – for things which they had no part in their creation..
Raju G. C. Thomas says
As head of the Catholic Church,the supporter of Croatian Catholics, and promoter of world Catholic interests, the Pope’s visit to the Balkans will be counter-productive for Orthodox Serbian Christians’ goals and interests. The primary conflict in the former Yugoslavia was between Catholic Christian Croats and Orthodox Christian Serbs. They
TH says
Popes these days are never in favour of wars and ethnic cleansing, much less in favour of fights between Orthodox and Catholics. They want Chistian unity, and the reunion of Catholicism and Orthodoxy is considered a priority, as the differences between both Chuches are minor compared with the differences with Protestantism.
raju G. C. Thomas says
The Pope is innocent fair-minded and just towards Orthodox Christians including the Serbs. The Catholic Croations were not.
Raju G. C. Thomas says
The Pope, the Catholic Churoh and Cathoics are not ant-Orthodox Christianity and anti Orthodox Christians. The exception was Croatian Catholics against the Orthodox Serbian Church and Orthodox Christian Serbs. Almost all Orthodox Christian Serbs trapped in Croatia at the end of the convict have converted to Catholicism and become Croatians. After all, they belonged to the same race and spoke the same language. It was an easy transformation..
Raju G. C. Thomas says
The Pope, the Catholic Church and Catholics everywhere are not anti Orthodox Christianity, anti Orthodox Christians or anti Orthodox Christian Serbs. Not even Catholic Slovenes of Slovenia of the former Yugoslavia. The exception was Catholic Croats of the former Yugoslavia, and now of Croatia where all Serbs have been driven out or converted to Catholicism to become Croats.
raju G. C. Thomas says
The Pope, the Catholic Church and Catholics are not the problem. It was the mentality and behavior of Catholic Croatians towards Orthodox Christian Serbs in the former Yugoslavia that was the problem. Serbs and Croats are of the same race, and speak the same language except written differently in the Roman and Cyrlic scripts. However, being Catholic Christian Croats saw themselves as ethnically and morally superior to Orthodox Christian Serbs. A Serb converting from Orthodox Christianity to Catholicism made him a Croat. Serbs become Croats when they become Catholics. There are no Serb sin Croatia now. They have either fled or become Catholics, therefore Croats.
GKP says
ISIS are the true followers of Islam in this world and curse for humanity as the principal of Islam is against humanity.There is no surprise if ISIS plot jihad to kill Pope.
The problem with non Muslims is that they judge Islam on the basis of their religion without reading Qur’an and Pope is one of them.
epistemology says
You can’t expect anything from somebody who calls Abbas a peace angel.
baki says
This guy speaks in south slavian, I guess it is croatian or maybe serbian, or simple serbo-croatian.