The Pope's Weakness
Ivan Rioufol
Le Figaro
April 22, 2016
The obvious: nothing is less evident than a compatibility of political Islam, a totalitarian ideology, with democracy. Yet it is this problem that the Pope evades, due to his refusal to contemplate the confrontation between the West and the Muslim world, despite History and the facts.
His choice of bringing from the Greek island of Lesbos, last Saturday, three Muslim Syrian families for whom the Vatican took responsibility, is clearly a happy portrayal of Catholic humanism. His oversight of the Christians of the Middle East, persecuted by the Islamic State, makes one fear nonetheless a lack of interest for his own religion. For him, all refugees are "children of God." But the vengeful Muslim God is not the Christian God of Love.
On Tuesday, the Holy Father accused Western societies of closing themselves, "out of fear of the change of mindset and lifestyle" that the arrival of the immigrants entails, according to him. While addressing himself to them, he alluded to "our God, the clement and the merciful," making use of the formula of the Koran. However, to expect goodwill from Islam all the while submitting himself to Allah is a weakness that discredits Francis.
