The brutal murder of the head of Turkey’s Catholic Church, Bishop Luigi Padovese, on June 3, 2010, has rattled the country’s small, diverse, and hard-pressed Christian community.[1] The 62-year-old bishop, who spearheaded the Vatican’s efforts to improve Muslim-Christian relations in Turkey, was stabbed repeatedly at his Iskenderun home by his driver and bodyguard Murat Altun, […]
Bishop Matthias Ssekamanya of Lugazi warned of a rapid growth in Islamic influence in Uganda during a visit to the headquarters of the international Catholic pastoral charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). According to Bishop Ssekamanya, Arab states like Libya are investing increasingly in Uganda, and Muslims have gained key positions in a […]
President Obama’s latest paean to what he calls “the Muslim world,” delivered at the State Department today, was an exercise in whistling past the graveyard of real and growing dangers and a litany of misleading statements that borders on official malpractice. Its most important upshot is this: The United States is now prepared to do […]
Although the execution of Osama bin Laden was mainly a symbolic and psychological act of counterterrorism, its most immediate consequence, ironically, affects U.S.-Pakistan relations. In response to Pakistani upset about their national sovereignty being trespassed, the Zardari government severely condemned what it called “an unauthorized unilateral action.” Members of U.S. congress, already disappointed in the […]
Law enforcement scrutiny, detainment by police, and a court date to answer trumped-up charges: these are the consequences of preaching Christianity to Muslims not only throughout much of the Islamic world, but sometimes even in America as well. The most infamous example occurred last June, when four missionaries from Acts 17 Apologetics were arrested and […]
Aaron Proctor, a Philadelphia-based libertarian writer, can count himself the latest victim of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), an organization that ironically claims to work for civil rights. Proctor, a colorful commentator for the Philadelphia version of Examiner.com, had the temerity to investigate CAIR’s dubious background in connection with its Philadelphia branch’s planned fundraising […]
Not only does last week’s jihadist rampage against Ethiopia’s Christians highlight the travails Christians encounter wherever Islam has a sizable population, but it offers several insights, including some which should concern faraway, secular nations with Muslim minorities. According to Fox News: Thousands of Christians have been forced to flee their homes in Western Ethiopia after […]
From Congressman Keith Ellison’s emotional breakdown to Congresswoman Jackie Speier’s accusations of “racism,” last week’s hearings on Muslim radicalization have made it clear that those who oppose the hearings have little of substance to offer. Still, the tactics used by such apologists—namely, appeals to emotionalism and accusations of racism—are influential enough that they need to […]
“You can sit here and talk about jihad from here to doomsday, what will it do? Suppose you prove beyond any shadow of doubt that Islam is constitutionally violent, where do you go from there?” Such was Columbia professor Hamid Dabashi’s response to my assertion that Islamists seek to resurrect the caliphate and wage offensive […]
The outlook for Christians in Pakistan is bleak according to the country’s Catholic leader, who described how Shahbaz Bhatti’s death has robbed minority groups of a “great leader” and left them feeling “oppressed, repressed and depressed.” Archbishop Lawrence Saldanha of Lahore said the murder of the Federal Minister for Minorities showed how extremist religious parties […]
The Becket Fund grieves the assassination of Shahbaz Bhatti, Pakistan’s Minister for Minorities Affairs, today. Mr. Bhatti was gunned down leaving his home on Wednesday morning in Islamabad. He was an outspoken critic of Pakistan’s draconian blasphemy law, which prescribes death for offending Islam. “The last time that Mr. Bhatti was in the offices of […]
Catholic Book Review: My Muslim Friend: A Young Catholic Learns about Islam by Donna Jean Kemmetmueller, FSP In today’s complex world, we have an ever growing need to learn about and understand other cultures and religions. Images of war and terrorism enter into our homes on a daily basis. Stereotypes abound, frequently leaving children fearful […]
