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Hugh Fitzgerald: Pope Francis and Imam Drouiche on the Strasbourg Attack (Part One)

Dec 27, 2018 10:00 am By Hugh Fitzgerald

After the recent murderous attack by a Muslim terrorist at the Strasbourg Christmas Market, Pope Francis condemned the violence and offered his compassion for the victims:

The Pope has expressed “sadness”, “concern” and “condemnation” of the December 11 attack on the Christmas market in Strasbourg. In a telegram signed by the secretary of state, Card. Pietro Parolin, addressed to the archbishop of the city, Msgr. Luc Ravel, Francis expresses his “compassion … to the families affected and to all the people affected by this attack, assuring his prayer.” While entrusting the dead “to God’s mercy”, he addressed “a special thought to the professionals and volunteers who care for the injured. As a sign of consolation, he implores the abundance of divine blessings on the victims, on those who assist them and on the entire French people.

Pope Francis’s statement was a cut above his usual comments after such attacks, when he seldom fails to remind us, in one form or another,  that “there is no such thing as Islamic terrorism” and that ‘“authentic Islam and the proper reading of the Quran are opposed to every form of violence.” He mentioned, this time, only the victims, expressing his “sadness” and his “compassion..to the families affected by this attack,” offering a “special thought to the professional and volunteers who care for the injured,” and especially, asked for divine blessings “on the victims, those who assist them, and on the entire French people.” This was more heartfelt than the usual boilerplate of his remarks of sympathy, especially his asking for “divine blessings…on the entire French people.”

But Pope Francis still could not bring himself to mention the killer’s faith, much less the reason for his murderous spree. He dared not, on this occasion, to yet again exculpate Islam: it’s becoming too absurd to do so. Had he been less pusillanimous, he might have mentioned “those texts which lead some astray” or even have used the word “Jihad” — just imagine what a clearing of the air that would have been, if at long last even this appeasement-minded Pope had managed to do so, as in such a simple remark as this — “we see in Strasbourg, to our great sadness, more innocent victims of Jihad”). Instead, he did not mention the murderer at all, or the texts that beyond all doubt motivated his killing of Unbelievers (see, e.g., Qur’an 2:191-194, 4:89, 8:12, 8:60, 9:5, 9:29, 47:4).

Meanwhile, the situation has returned to near normal in Strasbourg: there is a heavy police presence but shops and schools have been reopened, excluding Christmas markets.

The situation “has returned to near normal”? Normal, except that the“Christmas markets” remained closed for at least a week in mid-December. The plural is used — are there many such markets in Strasbourg? We know that one of the largest and most important Christmas Markets in all of Europe takes place in Strasbourg. Keeping it closed deals a heavy economic blow to all those merchants who do a great deal of their year’s business at the Christmas Markets, and to restaurants and hotels frequented by tourists who would ordinarily come from all over to visit the Christmas Market in Strasbourg. When the Market reopened, with that “heavy police presence,” just how light-hearted and celebratory for the season could people be, seeing those machine-gun-toting police everywhere, remembering the killings, and no doubt worrying — as they never had to worry before the Muslim invasion of Europe — of a repeat performance by other Muslim killers? Can Strasbourg truly be described as having “returned to near normal”? And what kind of atmosphere was there likely to be at other Christmas markets in France? In Germany? Murder casts its pall. The heightened anxiety felt by many is not so easily dispelled. Some no doubt decided not to visit any Christmas markets. Was there be a significant decrease in the total number of visitors? Now that it is after Christmas, the results will soon be in.

The death toll are three dead and 14 wounded. Among them was the young Italian journalist Antonio Megalizzi. Of those killed, one is Thai, one French, one Afghan.

The 29 year old , Cherif Chekatt, who initially escaped capture, was found on a Strasbourg street and shot dead by the police. According to Interior Secretary Laurent Nuñez, Chérif “incited religious practice in a radical form” and was engaged in proselytism of others.

According to some testimonies, confirmed by the prosecutor Remy Heitz, the young man would have shouted “Allah[sic] akhbar! (God is great!)” before killing the first victim.

He shouted “Allahu Akbar,” which does not mean “God is great!” but “Our God is greater [than yours].” When uttered by a jihadist in the course of committing his crime, it is a supremacist war cry, designed to “strike terror” in the hearts of the Unbelievers. The Western media continue to insist, however, on translating the phrase variously as “God is great,” “God is greater,”and “God is greatest.” They apparently can’t be bothered to find out the true significance of the phrase.

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Filed Under: Catholic Church, Featured, France, Hugh Fitzgerald Tagged With: Allahu akbar, Pope Francis, Strasbourg


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Comments

  1. mortimer says

    Dec 27, 2018 at 10:22 am

    Pope Francis is a Pollyanna, looking on the bright side of every tragedy and explaining away the dark clouds of Islamic HATRED directed against Christians.

    He really doesn’t GET IT … all the while this Dhimmi pope smugly lectures the world that he spontaneously knows what Islam is … more so than those who have spent a lifetime reading and studying Islam.

    The pope’s lack of humility on the topic of Islam is truly appalling. HE HAS NOT READ ANY OF THE SOURCE TEXTS OF ISLAM, but preposterously presents himself as an expert.

    Roman Catholics and other Christians will suffer because of this pope’s naivety.

    • James Lincoln says

      Dec 27, 2018 at 10:55 am

      Mortimer,

      There is another, more disturbing, possibility.

      Pope Francis may have, indeed, read the primary source texts of Islam. I have followed this closely, and I can see no statement by Pope Francis that he has NOT read these Islamic texts. As leader of the Catholic Church, he should have a good working knowledge of all of the major world religions besides Christianity. Due diligence would include reading their primary source texts.

      It is clear that Pope Francis is a Marxist / globalist Islamophile / apologist. Regarding Islam, he is either grossly misinformed or he is actively promoting their brand – instead of Christianity.

      • August West says

        Dec 27, 2018 at 12:17 pm

        There is another possibility.

        The pope is starting to play the role of the leader of a dhimmie community in an Islamic land.

        He might be setting an example of how to submit to Islam.

      • Laura says

        Dec 31, 2018 at 6:02 am

        I think you are right on this unfortunately. I am a catholic and cannot understand this pope at all. It scares me.

    • Mark says

      Dec 28, 2018 at 7:58 pm

      You are correct. As a faithful Catholic I do pray for the pope, but I otherwise have no use for him. He is a very bad pope and is leading the CHURCH to destruction!! He has shown himself to be nothing but an apologist for islam, the greatest enemy Christians , Jews, and the entire world has ever seen

    • Charles Lutz says

      Dec 29, 2018 at 6:17 pm

      Mort, Bergoglio (aka Pope Francis) is in a hard place: between gay cardinals and gay-hating imams. No wonder he acts so confusedly.

  2. mortimer says

    Dec 27, 2018 at 10:36 am

    If this pope had the ability to LIVE IN REALITY, he would quietly ask some group like the Knights of Columbus to begin martial arts training and get gun licences. That way, many or most churches could have a trained person sitting beside the door to protect Christians against jihadists.

    I attended a mosque open house and observed a notice for MARTIAL ARTS classes for members of the mosque. WHY DO MUSLIMS WANT TO LEARN MARTIAL ARTS ? … they are not under threat in any Western country.

    Muslims are going in large numbers to rifle ranges … why? Muslims are going in large numbers to martial arts training … why? Christians are Pollyannas and ostriches gullibly waiting for the AL WALAA WAL BARAA to boil over in violence against Christians.

    The reality is that many seemingly mild-mannered Muslims are preparing for JIHAD. WAKE UP, people!

  3. Renate says

    Dec 27, 2018 at 10:51 am

    Can a pope be impeached?

    • esther says

      Dec 27, 2018 at 12:06 pm

      historically, it seems ONE MY HAVE BEEN NEUTRALIZED—-and another
      urged to take a permanent vacation

      • Carolyne says

        Dec 27, 2018 at 7:18 pm

        I have read that Pope John Paul I was murdered by putting poison in his tea. When John Paul II was on his deathbed the Vatican issued a photo purported to he him watching TV. It was from the rear and his fringe of white hair was carefully arranged. But since he was known to be dying, I never understood why this hoax was perpetrated.

        • gravenimage says

          Dec 28, 2018 at 1:10 am

          Why would you consider a heart attack to be poison? There is no basis for this calumny, save some pretty ridiculous conspiracy theories–claiming, among others, that he was murdered by the CIA, traditionalist Catholics, liberal Catholics, the Soviets, the Vatican Bank, and that favorite of conspiracy theorists, the Masons.

  4. Lisa Letto says

    Dec 27, 2018 at 10:53 am

    If Pope lived in Roman times he may have: Gave good wishes to those dead in the Arena, mentioning that not all Lions kill Christians. He then strongly suggested the animals learn to chew without swallowing?

  5. Walter Sieruk says

    Dec 27, 2018 at 12:38 pm

    Shame in Pope Francis for coming out with that the total falsehood and blatant lie of a statement that “there is no such thing as Islamic terrorism.” There is no genuine excuse for the pope to be outright liar. He has much information as his disposal to know better and say such an ignorant and false statement Could it be that he is scared that the imams and mullahs might can mad at him if he publicly speaks the truth about Muslim terrorism being inspired by the Quran ? ,It is as found in in 2:191-194, 5;33 47:4. 9:5, 111. Is he a liar because he’s a coward? Whatever the reason or reasons for the pope to speaking such a complete falsehood ,he is in the wrong.

    As for that Christmas market jihadist mass murderer, Muslim terrorist , Cherif Chekatt at Strasbourg, was to no informed person surprise, not just a jihadist but also an ISIS supporter. This jihadist died forty eight hours later after he later in a shootout with police So right after he died ,to his shock and horror, he found himself trapped and suffering in the fires of an awful place the Bible calls “hell.” Luke 16:19-31.

    To put this in another way, if a Muslim is also a jihadist and he dies in a shootout , as that jihadist , of Strasbourg ,Cherif Chekatt did, or if he dies in a suicide/homicide bombing attack it was because that he was indoctrinated with and likewise believed in the doctrine found in the Quran, 44:54. 55:56. 78;31.,of a lust –filled sex paradise with many virgins, in in for his use only, because he died as a “martyr” for the cause of Islam. That jihadist will discover the hard way that he was instructed in and put his faith in a false doctrine that is from a false religious book of false religion .This doctrine of a paradise for the jihadist who died fighting for Islam was only an enticing religious story of fiction. The Bible does give warning against giving “heed to fables…” First Timothy 1:4. [N.K.J.V] As for in a murderous jihad attack, in spite, of the Muslim clerics falsely calling it a “martyrdom operation.” That jihadist after in dies in a jihad murder attack, and learn too late, the truth of Bible with informs its reader that a murderer “will not inherit the Kingdom of God.” Galatians 5:21.

    In addition, such false teachers, as those imams and mullahs, who teach and ingrain false yet enticing doctrines as that a lust /sex fill place with virgins into the hearts and minds of others had been predicted in the Bible. For it is written, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine , but according to their own desires , because they have itching ears , they will heap up for themselves teachers ; and they will turn their ears away from the truth and be turned aside to fables.” Second Timothy 3,4.

  6. Benedict says

    Dec 27, 2018 at 1:47 pm

    The pope should carry a sweet little wolf cub on his shoulder instead of a lamb, that would bring the symbolism closer to reality.

    • Westman says

      Dec 27, 2018 at 10:33 pm

      Perhaps he is bringing home the lamb chops…symbolically leading the sheep to slaughter.

    • Tom W Harris says

      Dec 28, 2018 at 5:18 am

      I give up…which one is the actual sheep?

  7. dan christensen says

    Dec 27, 2018 at 2:14 pm

    Nice picture at the top. Who is the sheep and who is the pope?

    • Benedict says

      Dec 27, 2018 at 2:59 pm

      dc: The pope is neither. He is a PR Manager a “hired hand”:

      “The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.” – John 10.

  8. somehistory says

    Dec 27, 2018 at 6:25 pm

    Perhaps he meant to write ” the *new* normal.”

    Didn’t the mayor of London say something about living with terrorism? Didn’t a former PM or President of France say something about terrorism being the “new normal”? Did not others in governments say similar things?

    Perhaps my memory is failing, but it seems as though the governments wish their citizens to get accustomed to being attacked, to the extra “precautions” …living in expectation of what is coming, but not voicing any concerns or opinions.

    As for the pope actually pointing to the problem…no one should hold their breath waiting for that. In his “special thought”….he included ” the entire French people”…He could have said all of the *innocent* French people. The “entire” includes those who are plotting against the innocent.

  9. gravenimage says

    Dec 27, 2018 at 6:47 pm

    The situation “has returned to near normal”? Normal, except that the“Christmas markets” remained closed for at least a week in mid-December. The plural is used — are there many such markets in Strasbourg?
    …………………

    There are at least two–the Christkindelsmärik Strasbourg in the Place Broglie, and the Christmas Market Cathedral in the Place de la Cathédrale.

    It was the former–the largest in France–that was attacked this month.

  10. gravenimage says

    Dec 27, 2018 at 7:36 pm

    test

  11. gravenimage says

    Dec 27, 2018 at 7:41 pm

    test 2

  12. Troy Caldwell says

    Dec 28, 2018 at 12:15 pm

    He needs to be kicked out pure evil Protects Child Molestors, Defends Islam wants all countries to be taken over by Muslims & the list goes on

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