APOLOGIES DUE

A PATTERN OF VIOLENCE AND EXTREMISM
By MICHAEL COREN, TORONTO SUN
September 23, 2006

It was said after the Holocaust by those who believed in freedom, decency and tolerance that, "We are all Jews now."

After the events of the past week it is now time for those who still believe in these virtues, irrespective of religion or race, to stand up and proudly announce, "We are all Catholics now."

Yes, we are all Catholics now. Catholic like the Holy Father who spoke scholarly and moderate words about Islam, dialogue and the error of spreading religion by force.

Words for which there was never any need to apologize. Nor did he.

Pope Benedict merely said that he was sorry for any offence and pain that his comments may have caused.

We must now wait for someone to apologize for the churches that were firebombed in Palestine shortly after the Pope's speech and for Somali religious leader Abubukar Hassan Malin who urged Muslims to "hunt down" Benedict and kill him "on the spot."

Apologize for the abusive and threatening demonstrations, including calls for the Pope to be executed, that British Muslims organized outside Westminster Cathedral in London last Sunday, as families with children made their way to Mass.

Apologize for the Shura Council in Iraq, an umbrella of several Sunni groups, which stated after the Pope's comments that, "We will break up the cross, spill the liquor and impose the head tax, then the only thing acceptable is a conversion or the sword."

Apologize for the Muslims attacks on Catholic priests in Turkey in the past year, including the murder of Fr. Andrea Santoro.

Apologize for those Muslim leaders who compared the Pope to Hitler and promised to kill him.

Apologize for the massive persecution of Christians in Egypt, including kidnappings, rape, murder and beatings.

Apologize for the churches in Pakistan and Iraq that have burnt to the ground, for the beheading of Christian schoolgirls in Indonesia and for the arrests of Muslims who wish to convert to Christianity.

Apologize for the sermons in some mosques that compare Jews to monkeys and pigs and call for the Jewish people to be slaughtered.

Apologize for those Muslim countries that make television dramas claiming Jews kill gentile babies so as to drink their blood.

Apologize for those Muslim leaders who declare that Spain and Portugal have to be "retaken" by Islam.

Apologize for the invasion on the Christian heartlands of North Africa and the Middle East hundreds of years ago, just as Pope John Paul apologized for crimes committed against Muslims and Islam during the Crusades, the European response to this expansion.

Apologize for the murder of three of the translators of Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses, for the murder of Dutch film director Theo Van Gogh and for the murder of Daniel Pearl.

Let me make it extremely clear that I do not blame all Muslims for what is done by some of their co-religionists in the name of Islam.

But when country after country and mob after mob behave thus, a certain pattern does seem to emerge.

I hope and pray that this violence and extremism does not represent Islam.

I hope there is room for genuine dialogue.

But, frankly, I am not optimistic about the possibility of having such an honest discussion now.

As India's Cardinal Toppo commented after Pope Benedict's statement and the violent reaction, we must all respond with "courage and prayer because truth needs no other defence."

Quite so. Once again, we are all Catholics now.