{"id":5973,"date":"2014-04-05T22:07:00","date_gmt":"2014-04-05T22:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/holy-land-bishops-urge-christian-muslim-unity-against-extremism\/"},"modified":"2014-04-05T22:07:00","modified_gmt":"2014-04-05T22:07:00","slug":"holy-land-bishops-urge-christian-muslim-unity-against-extremism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2014\/04\/holy-land-bishops-urge-christian-muslim-unity-against-extremism\/","title":{"rendered":"Holy Land bishops urge Christian-Muslim unity against extremism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Jerusalem, Israel, Apr 5, 2014 \/ 04:07 pm (CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- The Holy Land\u2019s bishops have said that Christians and Muslims need to unite against extremism, stressing that people of all beliefs are at risk.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cChristians and Muslims need to stand together against the new forces of extremism and destruction,\u201d the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land said in an April 2 statement posted on the website of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cAll Christians and many Muslims are threatened by these forces that seek to create a society devoid of Christians and where only very few Muslims will be at home,\u201d the assembly continued. \u201cAll those who seek dignity, democracy, freedom and prosperity are under attack. We must stand together and speak out in truth and freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThe assembly\u2019s bishops urged the pursuit of \u201ca society in which Muslims and Christians and Jews are equal citizens, living side by side,\u201d in which \u201cnew generations can live and prosper.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThey downplayed notions that Islamic extremism threatens only Christians.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThere is no doubt that the recent upheavals in the Middle East, initially called the Arab Spring, have opened the way for extremist groups and forces that, in the name of a political interpretation of Islam, are wreaking havoc in many countries, particularly in Iraq, Egypt and Syria.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThere is no doubt that many of these extremists consider Christians as infidels, as enemies, as agents of hostile foreign powers or simply as an easy target for extortion,\u201d the assembly continued. \u201cHowever, in the name of truth, we must point out that Christians are not the only victims of this violence and savagery.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThe statement noted that moderate Muslims and those labeled heretical, schismatic, or non-conformist are also being attacked and murdered.<\/p>\n

\tWhile Christians are sometimes targeted \u201cprecisely because they are Christians,\u201d they are victims \u201calongside many others who are suffering and dying in these times of death and destruction.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThey are driven from their homes alongside many others and together they become refugees, in total destitution.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tHowever, the assembly warned against selective use of the charge of persecution. They criticized using the word \u201cpersecution\u201d only to refer to Christians suffering \u201cat the hands of criminals claiming to be Muslim.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThis habit \u201cplays into the hands of extremists, at home and abroad, whose aim is to sow prejudice and hatred, setting peoples and religions against one another.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThe assembly attributed the uprisings to desires for \u201ca new age of dignity, democracy, freedom and social justice.\u201d Christians had lived under \u201cdictatorial regimes\u201d that provided \u201claw and order\u201d at the \u201cterrible price of military and police repression.\u201d Christian fear of extremism and chaos led them to defend these regimes.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cInstead, loyalty to their faith and concern for the good of their country, should perhaps have led them to speak out much earlier, telling the truth and calling for necessary reforms, in view of more justice and respect of human rights, standing alongside both many courageous Christians and Muslims who did speak out,\u201d the bishops said.<\/p>\n

\tThe bishops noted that Christians and Muslims should be aware that the outside world will not protect them, as local and international powers \u201cseek their own interests.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cWe, alone, can build a common future together. We have to adapt ourselves to realities, even realities of death, and must learn together how to emerge from persecution and destruction into a new dignified life in our own countries.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThe bishops voiced their prayers both for their allies and for those \u201cwho are harming us now or even killing us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cWe pray that God may allow them to see the goodness he has put in the heart of each one,\u201d they said. \u201cMay God transform every human being from the depth of his or her heart, enabling them to love every human being as God does, He who is the Creator and Lover of all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jerusalem, Israel, Apr 5, 2014 \/ 04:07 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- The Holy Land’s bishops have said that Christians and Muslims need to unite against extremism, stressing that people of all beliefs are at risk.<\/p>\n

\t“Christians and Muslims need to …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-middle-east-africa"],"yoast_head":"\nHoly Land bishops urge Christian-Muslim unity against extremism<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Jerusalem, Israel, Apr 5, 2014 \/ 04:07 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- The Holy Land’s bishops have said that Christians and Muslims need to unite against extremism, stressing that people of all beliefs are at risk. “Christians and Muslims need to ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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