At the Papal Angelus on Sunday, Aug. 10, our Holy Father, Pope Francis, said of the situation in Iraq: “The news coming from Iraq leaves us incredulous and appalled,” and “All this seriously offends God and seriously offends humanity…You cannot bring hatred in the name of God. You cannot make war in the name of God!”

While Pope Francis is calling for “an efficient political solution that can stop these crimes,” the reality is quite apparent. The Islamic State (IS) has one goal and only one goal: the establishment in Iraq of a caliphate based on an extremist form of Islam, the spread of extremist Islam throughout the Middle East and the elimination of all religious minorities (Christians) who live in Iraq and will not convert to this warped understanding of the Islamic religion.

U.S. Air Strikes

Archbishop Giorgio Lingua, the Vatican’s nuncio in Iraq, told Radio Vaticana: “This (military air strikes by the U.S.) is something that had to be done, otherwise [IS] could not be stopped.”

The Vatican is in a difficult position to say the least. Not wanting to condone violence but recognizing the necessity to defend people who are in need and being slaughtered for their faith, the Vatican knows that if it is seen in any way encouraging Western military intervention, it could easily be used as propaganda by extremists against Christians and other religious minorities in the area and throughout the world.

But the Holy See must take a concrete stand in the name of peace, in the name of justice, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the model and exemplar of humanity.

We encourage the Vatican in its efforts to organize humanitarian aid for the refugees and others affected by this violence and in its attempts to assist in the brokering of peace in this horrible situation. We also encourage our own nation to continue in its efforts to relieve the suffering of those innocents caught in the path of war but also to continue its efforts to root out the cancerous lesion on the Middle East that is the extremists of IS.

Cannot Be Ignored

This is a struggle that will not just go away. This is an issue that cannot be ignored. And we urge our Muslim brothers and sisters, and all people of goodness, to join in the continuing struggle against radical Islam and add their voices in condemnation. After all, we find in the Koran the following:

“Whoever recommends and helps a good cause becomes a partner therein, and whoever recommends and helps an evil cause shares in its burden.” (Chapter 4, Verse 85)

“Repel (evil) with what is better. Then will he, between whom and thee was hatred, become as it were thy friend and intimate.

“And no one will be granted such goodness except those who exercise patience and self-restraint.” (Chapter 41, Verses 34 and 35)