In unusually strong language, the Vatican is asking the world to intercede to prevent the genocide being carried out in Iraq by the terrorists who make up the Islamic State.
Usually, papal and congregational statements from the Vatican emphasize the need to stop war. “No More War!” has been the refrain of popes for the past century. But now there is a different tone to what we hear coming from religious leaders.
The Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue called upon Muslims to condemn the actions of the radical Islamists, adding that the future of interreligious dialogue is at stake.
“All must be unanimous in condemning unequivocally these crimes and must denounce the invocation of religion to justify them,” the statement said. “Otherwise, what credibility will religions, their followers and their leaders have? What credibility would remain to the interreligious dialogue patiently pursued in recent years?”
While the teaching of the Church has always been to avoid war and promote dialogue, these days we are hearing more about the conditions that would justify intervention and even about the obligation to defend the rights of people who are threatened with extinction.
“When all other means have been exhausted, to save human beings the international community must act. This can include disarming the aggressor,” said Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Vatican representative to U.N. agencies in Geneva.
Even the Vatican nuncio to Iraq, Archbishop Giorgio Lingua, has gone so far as to welcome the limited American airstrikes carried out this week against the Islamists as they move into Kurdish-held lands. “This is something that had to be done, otherwise (the Islamic State) could not be stopped.”
Archbishop Tomasi told Catholic News Service Aug. 12, “From the teaching of Pope John Paul II we have a clear orientation and precise guidelines” for what is generally termed “humanitarian intervention.”
Armed intervention “must not be unilateral, but internationally recognized. All other means – dialogue, negotiations – for protecting the innocent must be exhausted; and real assistance for those whose rights are being trampled must be provided,” he said.
Archbishop Tomasi recalled the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and the fact that the massacre of Tutsis by the majority Hutus was on the front page of newspapers and was a topic of repeated discussions, regionally and internationally, but international action was extremely limited.
“People met, but did nothing,” the archbishop said, “and we have mourned the Rwandan genocide ever since.”
In blunt language, Archbishop Lingua wondered what had taken the U.S. so long to react to the mass killings of Christians. He asked what did the West think was going on in the Middle East.
The world seems now to understand what is happening in Iraq and the Middle East. It is nothing less than a new crusade being carried out by radical Islamists to rid the world of anyone who thinks other than they do. One rebel leader frankly said the goal is to fly the Jihadists’ flag over the White House.
Even the secular press seems to have caught on. For almost a year, the Catholic Press and our cable TV news show Currents, seen on NET-TV, has been outlining the advance of the radicals, while everyone else seemed to be in denial.
The world seems to have awakened to the new reality. We can only hope it is not too late.
