Skip to footer

Pope Francis to the world: Don't 'look the other way' about killing of Christians

While addressing pilgrims and tourists in St. Peter's Square on Monday, Pope Francis pressed the international community to do something about the killing of Christians in several parts of the world.

|
Tony Gentile/AP
Pope Francis gestures as he leads the Angelus prayer from the window of the Apostolic Palace in Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican April 6, 2015.

| Vatican City

Pope Francis on Monday again pressed the international community to do something about the killing of Christians in several parts of the world and not "look the other way."

He has been increasingly vocal about the fate of Christians being targeted by Islamic extremists in parts of the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

Addressing pilgrims and tourists in St. Peter's Square, Francis praised those who were "sensitizing public opinion about the persecution of Christians in the world."

While not suggesting any particular course of action, he urged "concrete participation and tangible help in defense and protection of our brothers and our sisters, who are persecuted, exiled, slain, beheaded, solely for being Christian."

The pope was building on his Good Friday denunciation of what he then called "complicit silence" about the targeting of Christians.

"They are our martyrs of today, and they are many. We can say that they are more numerous than in the first centuries," Francis said.

"I hope that the international community doesn't stand mute and inert before such unacceptable crimes, which constitute a worrisome erosion of the most elementary human rights. I truly hope that the international community doesn't look the other way," the pontiff said, speaking from a window of the Apostolic Palace.

The advance of Islamic State group fighters has forced members of ancient Christian communities to flee their homes in Iraq.

Francis has been keen on ensuring these Christians feel the Vatican's concern.

On Easter, a Vatican cardinal, Fernando Filoni, celebrated Mass in a Kurdish area of Iraq, and a day earlier, led prayers in a tent in a refugee camp in Irbil.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to Pope Francis to the world: Don't 'look the other way' about killing of Christians
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2015/0406/Pope-Francis-to-the-world-Don-t-look-the-other-way-about-killing-of-Christians
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe