Muslims might be offended, so we must stop doing whatever it is that might offend them. That is universal policy in the West these days. No other group is accorded such consideration. And above all, we must not do anything to draw attention to the Muslim persecution of Christians. That might harm the wonderful “dialogue” that the Church is conducting with Muslim leaders — a “dialogue” that hasn’t prevented a single church from being burned down or a single Christian from being murdered. Isn’t that right, Bishop McManus?
“Fearing Attacks, Catholic Church Gets Rid of Statues of Monks Beheaded By Muslims,” by Virginia Hale, Breitbart, July 8, 2016:
A Catholic church in Lyon, France, has sold off statues of monks killed by Muslims, for fear they will provoke attacks.
The statues, which were to be shown at Saint Louis church, honoured monks who were beheaded by Muslims in Algeria during the 1990s. The Algerian consul in the city responded with “fury” to the statues. The church sold the statues to an institute that hosts a private museum of Catholic artifacts to prevent conflict with local Muslims.
Cardinal Barbarin approved the statues to be placed in the church’s grounds last year. But the more powerful Bishop of Lyon was persuaded by his personal entourage by arguments that the statues may cause Muslims to launch attacks on the works. The Bishop’s aides argued, “Imagine if [someone] unbalanced [were to] to decapitate these statues?”.
They argued that because there is a Salafist mosque very close to the church, such attacks may be likely. As a result of this the Bishop of Lyon decided to sell the statues to a museum.
The church had already delayed the inauguration of the statues to appease the Algerian consulate. They planned for their official launch to happen in the spring of this year. The date was moved to avoid clashing with Algerian Independence Day.
Some in the area feared the statues would provoke Muslims. The Socialist Party mayor of Lyon, Miriam Poot, said she didn’t want the statues and that the church should first have consulted the district council.
French Catholic officials in Algeria were also more than reluctant about the statues being placed at the church. Lyonnais Jean-Paul Vesco, Bishop of Oram, said he worried that they would provoke attacks on them. The Catholic priest feared the message of the statues would be religious war or “embezzlement”….