The Catholic Church -certainly in Europe- does not have that much power anymore. It is also good that Catholics are called to account harshly for misconduct by servants of the Church, especially those of the twentieth century.
It is good that wrong, sometimes very wrong positions of the Church are criticized. However, in terms of media coverage, if the term “disproportionate” applies anywhere, it is to the criminal behaviour of the actual performers compared to those who kept the villains out of harm’s way: the latter is to be blamed much stronger.
Also in my view, the Catholic Church has taken and continues to take wrong positions.
However, there is one positive aspect to the taking of the Church’s positions: over the centuries, its own positions have been and continue to be extensively considered.
It was and is weighed and weighed, and not only about moral aspects but also about practical meaning.
Previous positions were also revisited, sometimes after centuries.
No misunderstanding: this is quite different from saying that good positions were always taken. I am glad that the (political) power of the Vatican is only a shadow of what it once was.
The martyrs of Otranto
But I am also glad that sometimes the Vatican shows a touch of courage. One such touch was about the so called canonization of the 800 martyrs of Otranto.
The publication of Pope Francis’ speech was accompanied by a text by two historians:
Among those being canonized on Sunday are 800 martyrs who gave their lives for Christ in 1480 – Antonio Primaldo and his Companions. These were the Martyrs of Otranto. Dr. Donald Prudlo, associate professor of Medieval History at Jacksonville State University, Alabama, spoke with Christopher Wells about their dramatic story:
https://www.archivioradiovaticana.va/storico/2013/05/11/otranto_martyrs_exceptional_witness_of_fidelity_to_christ/en1-690956 Archive Vatican Radio
“Mehmed II was one of the most powerful and successful emperors in Ottoman Turkish history. He had taken the impregnable city of Constantinople in 1453, and had pacified the Balkan regions. By the 1470s Mehmed ‘The Conqueror’ was preparing a death blow to Europe. His fleet sailed the Mediterranean without challenge. Having taken ‘New Rome’ he set his sights on ‘Old Rome.’ In order to test the resolve of Christian Europe he sent an exploratory raiding party in 1480. Its target was the small maritime town of Otranto in far south Italy. During this expedition thousands of people were massacred, in what was really an attempt to INSTILL TERROR into the inhabitants of the peninsula. After the city fell, its civil and religious leaders were either beheaded or sawn into pieces. Eight hundred men of the town were offered the choice between conversion to Islam or death. Led by the tailor Antonio Primaldi, acting as spokesman for the group, they were beheaded, one by one, on a hill outside town while their families watched.
“The significance of their sacrifice was clear. Antonio and his townsmen had, in reality, saved Europe – their bravery gave Christendom time both to regroup, and to realize the gravity of the threat. Mehmed II died the next year, at the age of only 49, frustrating Ottoman plans for expansion.
“The Martyrs of Otranto are an exceptional testimony of fidelity to Christ, even in the midst of terrible sufferings. Simple lay Christians, defeated, leaderless, yet bound by their profession of faith in a hostile world, the Martyrs will receive the greatest honor bestowed by the Church, canonization as saints this Sunday, 12 May.”
I capitalised ‘instill terror’ because it is a literal command from the Qu’ran …
In 1529 they christians fought back hard in the first attack on Vienna. With real violence, of course.
In 1565 the Maltese knights triumphed against a four- or five-fold supremacy of Ottoman attackers, and in 1571 the miraculous victory in the battle of Lepanto followed.
In 1683, on the days September 11/12 that later became so famous!, came the beginning of the decline of the Ottoman Empire with the second battle of Vienna.
But so after the conquest of Constantinople in 1453, first followed (among many other atrocities) the conquest of and the Muslim massacres at Otranto.
That’s what the Vatican, in its own very special way, paid attention to.
Courage?
The pope’s own speech is more circumspect, to throw in another euphemism:
As we venerate the martyrs of Otranto, let us ask God to sustain those many Christians who, in these times and in many parts of the world, right now, still suffer violence, and give them the courage and fidelity to respond to evil with good.”
Why doesn’t he at least mentioned those parts of the world by name?
And then this, about a lady who was canonized at the same time as the martyrs of Otranto:
[she], giving up a comfortable life to follow the call of Jesus, taught people to love poverty, in order the more to love the poor and the sick.
Wrong in so many ways.
In this pope’s vision, we have to make do with:
Let us take this question with us to consider during the day: how am I faithful to Christ? Am I able to ‘show’ my faith with respect, but also with courage?
It is something, even if it is very unclear what forms of courage are and are not tolerated and/or commanded in Francis’ eyes. The Vatican has no clue whatsoever when it comes to the abuse of the term “dialogue”: “The Pope reiterated that the Christian who wants to proclaim the Gospel must dialogue with everyone (…)“
The crusades and muhammedan conquests
In comparing the christian crusades with the conquests of several muhammedan empires one can spend tens of thousands of words, but showing half a dozen of maps accompanied with a hundred words is more efficient, maybe even more effective too.
In 622, Muhammad’s political and military career began. By the way, that is also that very special beginning of the Muslim calendar. By the time of his death, 10 years later, he and his comrades in arms had already conquered quite a bit of territory:
A century later, conquests were already advancing rapidly:
By 1080 they had been pushed back somewhat in Western Europe (“Andalus”), but to the east, south and in Anatolia they had won great victories.
Less than 20 years later the first christian crusade was launched. Jerusalem was (re)conquered. The map very clearly shows that in the Middle East islam was hardly pushed back. The aim was access to the ‘holy’ places of christianity.
Towards the end of the christian crusades.
‘Otranto’ in historical context.
Sarcasm in kind words
Hans Jansen wrote somewhat bitingly about those crusades and the interrelationships between those three so-called Abrahamic Religions.
In his unsurpassed book ‘On, on to battle, liberate Jerusalem‘ (Sadly in Dutch only: ‘Op, Op, ten strijde: Jeruzalem bevrijden‘) he wrote:
The current moral equivalence of crusade and jihad is intellectually and historically poorly defensible, but nevertheless of great religious importance. (…) The equivalence limits the dialogue between Islam and Christianity to the exchange of a few convenient slogans. The Christians declare, “We are guilty. To this, the Muslims say, “That’s right. Then the parties go for coffee or tea. Over coffee, it appears that they agree that the Jews are no good, although the Christians ask their Muslim superiors to treat this insight with caution.
Pages 266-267
Here my review of this magnificent book. I called it a ‘perfect present for your atheist, academic friends‘.
In the last years of his life we became friends.
The fact that he was christian -he actually was raised protestant and later in his life chose catholicism- was no problem for neither of us.
Maybe he had even agreed with my observation that the agenda of both the leadership of christianity and islam, unlike other average civilians and most political leaders, covers centuries.
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