Catholic Bishop: Muslims No More ‘Prone to Terrorism’ than Christians by Thomas D Williams, Ph. D. for Breitbart
An Irish bishop has come out against Catholics who “demonize” Muslims, insisting that followers of Islam are no more likely to commit terror attacks than Christians.
“To define a whole category of people, or a whole nation, or a whole religious group as being in some way more prone to terrorism than any other group is irresponsible,” Bishop Kevin Doran of Elphin told the Irish Catholic late last week.
The bishop took issue with Catholics who identify as “traditional” and “faith-filled” and yet spread fear and distrust of immigrants or say Muslims pose a threat to Western civilization.
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“I’ve found that people who would classify themselves in some cases as traditional Catholics and faith-filled people seem to, in relation to migration and care of asylum-seekers and stuff, they’ll say ‘oh well these Muslims are putting our civilization at risk and they pose a threat to us,’” the bishop said.
Doran went on to say that in his experience, Muslims living in Irish society do so “peacefully and participate fully.”
“We have large numbers of Muslim children in our Catholic schools and they contribute to the ethos in many ways,” he said.
Doran’s opinions on Muslims jibe perfectly with those of Pope Francis, who famously declared in 2017 that “Muslim terrorism does not exist.”
“There are fundamentalist and violent individuals in all peoples and religions — and with intolerant generalizations they become stronger because they feed on hate and xenophobia,” the pope said.
That same year, on the anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks in the United States, the pontiff reaffirmed his conviction that all religions work for peace.
Religions “cannot desire anything other than peace, as they pray and serve, ever ready to help those hurt by life and oppressed by history, ever concerned to combat indifference and to promote paths of communion,” he said.