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Islamic State desecrates saint’s bones after bulldozing 1,600-year-old church

Aug 23, 2015 7:29 pm By Robert Spencer

saint-elian-sarcophagus

Saint Elian, also known as Saint Julian of Emesa, was a Christian who was martyred in 284AD. But the Islamic State, over 1,800 years later, wants to make sure his bones don’t tempt anyone to idolatry.

More on this story. “ISIS dig up and desecrate saint’s bones after bulldozing 1,600-year-old Christian church,” by Nick Gutteridge, Express, August 21, 2015:

The twisted terror group today released a video showing its barbaric militants razing the ancient Mar Elian monastery to the ground, even digging up and desecrating the bones of a Christian saint.

There were reports that fighters had also kidnapped the monastery’s abbot, Father Jacques Mouraud and a church volunteer, Botros Hanna, who are both now feared dead.

Earlier this month ISIS abducted up to 250 Christians from the monastery and its surrounding villages, many of whom were women and children.

In the sick video the terrorists can be seen gleefully removing the remains of Saint Elian, after whom the monastery was named, from their ancient stone sarcophagus.

The church is said to have been built on the spot where Saint Elian died after he was killed by his father, a Roman officer, for refusing to denounce his faith.

It was a popular pilgrim site with Christians throughout the Middle East and housed Roman frescos which were amongst the oldest paintings in the region.

The monastery, near the Syrian city of Homs, had been renovated several times in recent years, including by Italian priest Paolo Dall’Oglio who was executed in Raqqa by ISIS forces in July 2013.

ISIS said that it bulldozed the church because it was dedicated to a God other than Allah.

The group has routinely kidnapped and executed Christians living in the Middle East as part of its ideological drive to create an Islamist caliphate.

Following the raid on Mr Elian in early August one Christian, called Kino, said: “It’s like living in this horrifying drama that never ends. People are completely afraid”.

“It [an ISIS attack] always happens so suddenly and the Church is never prepared. People are running around searching for their loved ones, and children…these are innocent people, not part of this war.

“He [the bishop] is crying – what is he supposed to do? All those clergy to last these three years in Syria and Iraq, my God are they heroes.”…

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Filed Under: Islamic State (aka ISIS, ISIL, Daesh), Muslim persecution of Christians Tagged With: St. Elian, St. Julian of Emesa


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Comments

  1. Jay Boo says

    Aug 23, 2015 at 7:36 pm

    Does NPR and BBC or CAIR have anything to say about this?
    I bet if we disinterred Muhammad, CAIR would claim offence and BBC and NPR would apologize profusely.

    • mortimer says

      Aug 24, 2015 at 12:19 am

      Lookit. The Salafists are talking about destroying Mohammed’s tomb. You are not well informed.

      • Lia Wissing says

        Aug 24, 2015 at 5:38 am

        Didn’t Saudi Arabia destroy his house, or was that just a rumour?

      • Jay Boo says

        Aug 24, 2015 at 11:00 am

        Mortimer,
        If you are offended when I criticize your repeated slips into a deferential tone when talking about what (Muslims believe) you should take issue at that point in time and defend your indefensible style rather than tossing out a poorly conceived false argument out of spite.

      • Jay Boo says

        Aug 24, 2015 at 11:07 am

        What a shame Mortimer, you could have explained in detail and backed up your information about exactly what the Salafists supposedly intend to do here without implying that the wish to dig up Muhammad’s with no evidence.
        Anyway that tidbit was nothing but a red herring excuse to go froggy on my comment.

    • zulu says

      Aug 24, 2015 at 12:24 pm

      Muslim’s are doing a great job of destroying their own history. Can you imagine the outrage if the US govt. even talked about destroying Muhammad’s birthplace? There would be riots across the world! But because the Saudi’s are destroying this history, we hardly hear a peep.

      As the Hajj begins, the destruction of Mecca’s heritage continues
      http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2013/oct/14/as-the-hajj-begins-the-destruction-of-meccas-heritage-continues

      “The authorities are trying to destroy anything in Mecca that is associated with the prophet’s life,” says Irfan al-Alawi, director of the UK-based Islamic Heritage Research Foundation, who recently returned from a trip to the city. “They have already bulldozed the house of his wife, his grandson and his companion – and now they are coming for his birthplace. And for what? Yet more seven-star hotels.”

      Prophet Muhammad’s Birthplace in Mecca Likely to be Destroyed to Make Royal Palace
      http://www.ibtimes.com.au/prophet-muhammads-birthplace-mecca-likely-be-destroyed-make-royal-palace-1388150

  2. somehistory says

    Aug 23, 2015 at 7:38 pm

    ISIS said that it bulldozed the church because it was dedicated to a God other than Allah
    *****************************************************************************************************
    Yes, now they admit it! They do not, nor have they ever, worshipped the True God of the Bible, and this proves they know it all too well. Their *god* is satan the devil and always has been from the time in the desert when what’s his name began murdering and raping because he felt like it.

    • Champ says

      Aug 23, 2015 at 7:40 pm

      “Yes, now they admit it! They do not, nor have they ever, worshipped the True God of the Bible, and this proves they know it all too well.”

      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

      Indeed!!

    • Peggy says

      Aug 23, 2015 at 8:31 pm

      So they next time one of those slimy creatures says that Allah is same as God we can throw that in their lying faces. If that were true then they wouldn’t destroy this church.

    • Baucent says

      Aug 24, 2015 at 4:08 am

      My thoughts exactly. This fairly definitive statement from ISIS is a slap in the face to the “interfaith dialogue” crowd. Those wet fish clergymen who talk about Islam being one of the great “monotheistic religions” and “we’re all worshiping the same God”. Reality check time. The moon god Allah is not the God of the Bible.

    • Michael Copeland says

      Aug 24, 2015 at 10:44 am

      Can somebody tell the Pope?

  3. Angemon says

    Aug 23, 2015 at 7:40 pm

    Heartbreaking 🙁

    And notice how they claim that a Christian Church was dedicated to a God other than allah, despite all muslim claims about islam being an Abrahamic faith and worshiping the same God as Jews and Christians.

    • Karen says

      Aug 23, 2015 at 7:47 pm

      Ah, very interesting point.

    • abad says

      Aug 23, 2015 at 8:12 pm

      Yeah well they do NOT worship the same God of the Bible and they sure as hell do NOT follow ANY of the Ten Commandments much less the teachings of the Lord Jesus.

      In fact, if there was any one single group who violates the core teachings of the Bible the most, it’s Muslims.

  4. abad says

    Aug 23, 2015 at 7:50 pm

    Monstrous.

    Absolutely monstrous.

    And of course the rest of the global Muslim community won’t speak out against the atrocities of ISL.

    I feel violently ill right now.

    I hate Islam and all it represents: wickedness, destruction, killing, hatred, all in the name of MoAllah.

  5. Karen says

    Aug 23, 2015 at 8:06 pm

    It’s been very gratifying and comforting hearing all the outrage and solidarity from the various Muslim advocacy groups, especially CAIR. So good to hear that they have zero tolerance for this, and that they will shame and isolate the Islamists who desecrate everything non-Muslim in their holy rampage across the world. The marches, the rallies and speeches fill me with…….Oh, wait a minute…… I guess I’m hearing crickets. 😐

  6. CogitoErgoSum says

    Aug 23, 2015 at 8:50 pm

    Sahih Al-Bkhari Volume 1, Book 8, Hadith # 427
    Narrated ‘Aisha (RAA) and ‘Abdullah bin ‘Abbas (RAA) When the last moment of the life of Allah’s Apostle (SAW) came he started putting his ‘Khamisa’ on his face and when he felt hot and short of breath he took it off his face and said, “May Allah curse the Jews and Christians for they built the places of worship at the graves of their Prophets.” The Prophet (SAW) was warning (Muslims) of what those had done.

    So why is there a mosque called The Green Dome standing at the site of Muhammad’s tomb? Come now you members of IS. When do you march on Medina to set things right?

    • DhimmiNot says

      Aug 23, 2015 at 9:32 pm

      In my 9-volume version of Salih Al-Bukhari, this identical hadith is recorded as Volume 1, Book 8, Chapter 55, para 435-436.

      • Lia Wissing says

        Aug 24, 2015 at 5:41 am

        Perhaps they’ll even raze the mosquestrosity on the Temple Mount?

  7. mortimer says

    Aug 24, 2015 at 12:16 am

    The Assyrian Christians are the principal victims of Islam. It’s time to stop the slaughter and force these savages into the 21rst century.

    The enemy of humanity is this THEOCRATIC FASCISM called Islam.

    • Stephanie says

      Aug 24, 2015 at 4:06 am

      … The enemy of humanity is this THEOCRATIC FASCISM called Islam.”

      🙂

    • Lia Wissing says

      Aug 24, 2015 at 5:44 am

      Forcing them into the 21st century? Forcing them out of is the more sensible idea.

  8. Cecilia Ellis says

    Aug 24, 2015 at 12:20 am

    When a pack of Muslim thugs destroys a 1600-year-old Christian church, a Bishop cries . . . perhaps not so much for the historic loss, but in reverence for the centuries of ancestors and current martyrs whose blood has made that place sacred ground. No one hears his sobs for a heritage of love.

    When one person burns a page of the Qur’an, the entire Muslim world erupts in unfettered outrage. News cameras capture the latest footage and journalists rush to meet deadlines on submitting reports of local outrage. People die. Everyone hears about the insult to Islam, whether it’s a statement about the violence inherent in Islam, a trailer to a movie that doesn’t exist or a Muhammad cartoon. Everyone sees the carnage left by those whose heritage of hate was offended.

    A Bishop cries alone; a Christian dies alone; and a Muslim whines, destroys, and kills while a silent world watches and listens . . . and does nothing.

    Beyond that, I am deeply saddened and speechless.

    • sencit says

      Aug 24, 2015 at 2:49 am

      Cecilia, a Christian never dies alone. The Lord Jesus promised never to leave or forsake us.

      • AnneM says

        Aug 24, 2015 at 7:25 am

        AMEN.

    • Cecilia Ellis says

      Aug 24, 2015 at 1:21 pm

      Sencit and Anne, I wholeheartedly agree with both of you. My point, however, was to highlight the absence of world concern, presence, and response when and where Christian persecution is evidently rampant, but overwhelming when Muslims are offended by a single word or a paintbrush or a pen in the hands of someone who dares to speak the truth about Islam. I know that the Lord is with those who die simply for nothing more than being Christian; I just think He would like to have the company of globally voiced condemnation for that evil.

  9. nicu says

    Aug 24, 2015 at 3:33 am

    I apologize for the poor translation : ” The US has occupied Iraq in 4 days: killed 600,000 people and brought the whole Iraqi army to a standstill. And now they are not in a position a horde of murderers, drug addicts and child molesters who call themselves IS to turn off ? ” Vladimir Putin

    • duh_swami says

      Aug 24, 2015 at 6:22 am

      Can you substantiate that number, Abu?

  10. Stephanie says

    Aug 24, 2015 at 4:03 am

    Mafia godfather & Jew_Christian_HATER#1, 9:30 “… may Allah DESTROY them” through the hands of the Believers 8:17 “… He might test the Believers”

  11. duh_swami says

    Aug 24, 2015 at 6:34 am

    Dem bones, dem bones, dem Holy bones…’What did you do today Abu”?….
    ‘I desecrated some Holy bones in the name of Allah’…Allah hates Holy bones…they must be desecrated, wherever found….
    These people are really pious…But don’t worry, this has absolutely nothing to do with Islam….

  12. duh_swami says

    Aug 24, 2015 at 7:10 am

    Is Allah the same God as the other God, called ‘The One True God’?, If the One God, wrote or inspired to be written, the Bible, and the same God also later wrote or had written the Quran, it is blatantly obvious that the One God had a major personality change…In his early godly works the One God urged humans to follow something called the ‘Ten Commandments’, the Supreme Commandment and the ‘Golden Rule’…But early Christians forgot part of the message, so the One God put a curse on them. Quran 5:14…All this caused the One God to become concerned so he wrote or had written the Quran. In his second scholarly work, The one God says to forget all that nice guy stuff and kill those infidels wherever you find them, unless they relent , embrace Islam and pay the zakat tax. If Allah really is the one true God, a violent schizophrenic, he hates your guts Christians and other infidels and want’s you dead…Or you can just abandon the silly notion that it’s all one God…

  13. Joe says

    Aug 24, 2015 at 11:48 am

    Why are we waiting to destroy this group while they kill, torture and destroy. We should be organizing the
    free world to wipe this evil group out.

  14. ConnectingDots says

    Aug 24, 2015 at 1:30 pm

    “ISIS said that it bulldozed the church because it was dedicated to a God other than Allah.”

    That’s odd. According to imam Moh Abdallah Nasr, speaking inside Cairo’s biggest synagogue, “Christians, Muslims & Jews all worship same god.”

    https://twitter.com/patrickkingsley/status/486935997914304512

    Either ISIS is wrong, or imam Nasr is wrong.

    If ISIS decides that Nasr is wrong, then he should be on the lookout for ISIS.

    • Carlos Danger says

      Aug 24, 2015 at 2:48 pm

      Ask any Hajji if Jesus is the son of God.

  15. Tony says

    Aug 24, 2015 at 1:39 pm

    And where is the pope on this (watch out the world is warming) because hell is taking over

  16. Carlos Danger says

    Aug 24, 2015 at 2:47 pm

    Turning the other cheek does not seem to work very well.
    I’d suggest a good swift kick to the bollocks, and that will work even better if you kick them before they can slap you.

    time for a paradigm shift in responding to the hajjis.

  17. the renegade says

    Aug 25, 2015 at 4:34 pm

    I think ISIS needs to raze mecca and medina first as these were formerly paegan temples before Muhammad changed the label in the bottle and said that it is safe for consumption because it had his brand on it.

    They should stop praying towards direction of mecca as they praying in the direction of stone tablets inscribed in quranic (read satanic) verses and a black stone which they kiss and put their bald heads into when worship in mecca and also going around the black box they call kaaba. They should first destroy and stop this idolatry.

    Also ISIS is treating Muhammad like god as they BLINDLY follow in his treacherous path. Is that not the same as Idolising a person and worshiping him? By blindly following every horse shit that Muhammad has vomited out of his dirty mind and mouth they have already idolised him and built all these beautiful fantasies and lies that try to give credence to every filthy act and crime this man has committed in his life time. They are worshiping Muhammad !

    ISIS – first destroy the above, once done take a gun and blow your own brains out so that the Muhammad who is increasingly getting restless in the hollow mind of yours is set free.

    As for us Dhimmis we need to need defend our way life, our faith and our freedom that allow us to be and live like civilised human beings.

    LOVE YOUR ENEMY AND AHIMSA SHOWN TO THESE PEOPLE JUST ISN’T GOING TO CUT IT.

    WE NEED TO RISE AGAINST, FIGHT AND DEFEAT THIS “ADHARMA” (INJUSTICE) CALLED ISLAM AND MUHAMMAD AND HIS INSANE FOLLOWERS.

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