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| Africa: Horn | |
| Enemy Islam. An Interview with the Bishop of Rumbek, Sudan | |
| 2004-07-27 | |
| Like the parsons egg, good in parts On May 26 in Naivasha, Kenya, the Arab-Islamic government of Khartoum signed a peace agreement with Christian and animist separatists from southern Sudan, ending twenty years of civil war. Other than the south, the accord concerns the three bordering regions of Abyei, the Blue Nile and the Nuba Mountains. The agreement does not affect Darfur, which lies to the west along the Chad border where another bitter war between Arabs and black African tribes is being waged. The long war in the south has put the Catholic Church found in these regions to a difficult test, as an extremely high number of Christians have been among the conflict's two million victims. But as Msgr. Cesare Mazzolari, the Italian-born bishop of Rumbek (in southern Sudan) said in a recent interview: "A new Christianity will arise from the blood of martyrs." The interview — conducted by Stefano Lorenzetto and printed in the May 23 Sunday issue of the Milan-based daily, "Il Giornale" — is republished below in its full, original version. The interview is an exceptional report, offering a perfect portrait of a frontier-land bishop who knows "his" Islam very well, sees it in practice and describes it without reticence as an Islam made also of crucifixions, slavery, forced conversions and trickery. According to bishop Mazzolari there is a world of difference between Islam and Christianity: Allah is not the same God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. However the bishop does not idealize Christian warriors who have taken up arms against Muslims from Khartoum. Even they have committed their share of wrongdoings. The bishop reported such instances, and has subsequently endured problems on account of this. Even less so does the bishop praise the West and Western Christianity while lashing out vicious accusations against the United States. Following the attacks of September 11, the bishop views Americans as waging a furious hunt based on vengeance, which he says leads only to hatred. The bishop explains how his extremely poor African faithful "experience September 11 everyday" in their lives. Yet they take no revenge. "They suffer injustice and disease without any bitterness. You can only learn from them," he said.
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| Posted by:tipper |
| #4 Although I think Bishop Mazzolari is in some ways prescient (clash of cultures, much violence to come), I also see him as one of the most dangerous kinds of people in the world today, in the mold of Michael Moore: he mixes intelligent statements with confused ones and stirs up passions for misguided quests. He seems intent on hawking martyrdom ("the time to be martyred is drawing near...there's a need for purification...") I am not interested in joining a martyrdom movement; I don't expect anyone to die for my sins, nor will accept dying for others' sins. He draws us near with his misgivings about Islam ("The Church has defeated communism, but is just starting to understand...Islam, which is much worse"), so that we are lulled into believing we have shared values, and then he berates Bush for scoffing at "the planet's highest authorities, the UN and the pope". Funny, I don't recall the United States being beholden to either as supreme authority. (He's going to be a hit in Europe, though.) He uses inflammatory, hyperbolic language to compare truly miserable and difficult lives in Africa with lives in America ("Here you experience poverty in terms of food and culture. In America you'll experience the worst misfortune that could ever befall you...you'll understand what is means to be a slave".) "The answer does not lie in thinking we're right and they're wrong." Largely, Bishop, it does. |
| Posted by: jules 187 2004-07-27 4:40:31 PM |
| #3 Wonder if the Archdruid read about this? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2004-07-27 4:08:24 PM |
| #2 The Romans tried to extinguish Christianity by martyring the faithful. All it seemed to do was increase the numbers of Christians. Islam in Africa may find itself in for a rough ride if history repeats itself. |
| Posted by: Chemist 2004-07-27 4:02:16 PM |
| #1 âThe time to be martyred is drawing near. I hope the Lord grants us the grace to face such bloodshed. Thereâs a need for purification. Many Christians will be killed for their faith. Yet a new Christianity will arise from the blood of these martyrs.â The Bishop would not like me, but he is a good man none the less. I hope Jarhead and his boys will have the opportunity to answer the bishop's prayers. His people ahave suffered enough. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-07-27 2:51:04 PM |