[No "anti-Islamic bias" on Their Excellencies' part?]
Prelates speak about Islam as synod discussion concludes …
CWN – October 18, 2012
On the eleventh day of the Thirteenth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, 25 synod fathers spoke on various aspects of the synod’s theme, “The New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian Faith.” It was the final morning of formal interventions … Five prelates discussed Islam in their interventions. Bishop Raphaël Guilavogui of N’Zérékoré (Guinea) said that Islam “in certain places blocks the evolution of the Church by not allowing the construction of chapels or churches, for undisclosed reasons.” Bishop Matthew Kukah of Sokoto (Nigeria) said that “many Islamic scholars have often created the impression that somehow, missionary activities had a direct connection with western imperialism since both missionaries and the colonialists were seen as speaking the same language, having the same culture, coming from the same lands and so on. I believe that we need to redress these mistakes by re-reading and rewriting our common history.” “Since the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood in power, we are witnessing a new process of Islamization of state institutions,” added Coptic Catholic Bishop Kyrillos William of Assiut. “As before, Christians continue to be considered second-class citizens,” and hatred of Christians continues to be sown in schools. Cardinal George Pell of Sydney discussed Islam …:
Next year will be the 1700th anniversary of the Edict of Milan, when Emperor Constantine promulgated religious freedom in the Roman Empire. In some European and English-speaking countries Christian religious liberties are being limited by the Courts, by regulations, sometimes by parliaments. Much more seriously we see examples of violent persecution of Catholics in the Middle East, Africa and parts of Asia. Religious liberty, as a basic human right for all law-abiding religious followers, should be a topic in the final message and in the small group discussions.
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Additional sources for this story: Bulletin of the Synod of Bishops No. 20 www.vatican.va/news_services/press/sinodo/documents/bollettino_25_xiii-ordinaria-2012/02_inglese/b20_02.html