Leading authority on Islam calls Pope Francis 'immoral!'

From the religion of peace...

“And slay them wherever you come upon them, Fight them, till there is no persecution and the religion is Allah’s.”
4:89: “If they turn their backs, take them, and slay them wherever you find them; take not to yourselves any one of them as friend or helper.”
5:33: “This is the recompense of those who fight against Allah and His Messenger, they shall be slaughtered, or crucified, or their hands and feet shall alternately be struck off; or they shall be banished from the land.”

Holy See should look to itself before "casting stones" at others?!

The leading authority on Islam in Turkey has condemned the Pope as "immoral" for describing the killing of 1.5 Armenians in 1915 as genocide.

Mehmet Görmez, head of the presidency of religious affairs in Turkey (making him the most senior scholar and Islamic cleric in Turkey and Northern Cyprus) said the Holy See should look to itself before "casting stones" at others.

The Pope prompted a diplomatic row when, in remarks to 

commemorate the Armenian killings, he described the massacre as genocide. Turkey hauled in the Vatican's envoy for a dressing down, and recalled its own representative from Rome.

"The Vatican will come out as the biggest loser if we are all giving account for past sufferings and pain caused," Mehmet Görmez told Reuters in an interview.

Thousands of refugees from Syria are currently in Turkey, having fled the depredations of Islamic State. "Is the current situation of millions of Syrian refugees much less cause for concern to the Vatican than what happened during the Armenian deportation? I find the Pope's statement immoral, and can't reconcile it with basic Christian values."

Görmez criticized rising Islamophobia in Europe which he blamed on a weak economy and difficulties integrating immigrants. He said: "Islamophobia should be considered a crime against humanity, just like anti-Semitism." 

Görmez also said violence carried out by groups such as the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), Boko Haram, Al Shabaab and al Qaeda was a consequence of ignorance and poverty, as well as of the exploitation of the Middle East and Africa for two centuries. But he said in addition that the Koran should not be used to validate violence.

"Islam was a religion creating civilization throughout history. When educating Muslim children, clerics should reflect on the comparison between that and today's Koranic interpretations that incite violence," he said.

The debate has been prompted by the 100th anniversary of the World War One massacre by Ottoman Turkish forces, which is this Friday. France, the European parliament and Pope Francis use the term "genocide" . Turkey says they were not genocide because the killings were not the result of an order from above or an organized campaign. (??)

United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Monday that the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon prefers to describe the killings as an "atrocity crime" and not genocide. 

An article by the New York Times dated 15 December 1915 states that one million Armenians had been either deported or executed by the Ottoman government. 

Res ipsa loquitur!!

An article by the New York Times dated 15 December 1915 states that one million Armenians had been either deported or executed by the Ottoman government.

With the implementation of Tehcir Law, the confiscation of Armenian property and the slaughter of Armenians that ensued upon its enactment outraged much of the western world. While the Ottoman Empire's wartime allies offered little protest, a wealth of German and Austrian historical documents has since come to attest to the witnesses' horror at the killings and mass starvation of Armenians.

In the United States, The New York Times reported almost daily on the mass murder of the Armenian people, describing the process as "systematic", "authorized" and "organized by the government". Theodore Roosevelt would later characterize this as "the greatest crime of the war"

The remains of Armenians massacred at Erzinjan

Armenian Genocide is acknowledged to have been one of the first modern genocides, because scholars point to the organized manner in which the killings were carried out in order to eliminate the Armenians, and it is the second most-studied case of genocide after the Holocaust.

To date, twenty-three countries have officially recognized the mass killings as genocide, a view which is shared by most genocide scholars and historians.

Historian Hans-Lukas Kieser states that, from the statements of Talaat Pasha  it is clear that the officials were aware that the deportation order was genocidal.  Another historian Taner Akçam states that the telegrams show that the overall coordination of the genocide was taken over by Talaat Pasha.

Armenian woman kneeling beside dead child in field.

Death marches

The Armenians were marched out to the Syrian town of Deir ez-Zor and the surrounding desert. There is no evidence that the Ottoman government provided the extensive facilities and supplies that would have been necessary to sustain the life of hundreds of thousands of Armenian deportees during their forced march to the Syrian desert or after.  By August 1915, The New York Times repeated an unattributed report that "the roads and the Euphrates are strewn with corpses of exiles, and those who survive are doomed to certain death. It is a plan to exterminate the whole Armenian people."

Sources:

Christian today

Wikipedia

Pope’s sex abuse advisers meet in Rome over Chile bishop!

VATICAN CITY — Four members of Pope Francis’ advisory commission on clergy sex abuse traveled to Rome to express their concerns in person about Francis’ appointment of a Chilean bishop accused of covering up for the country’s most notorious molester.

The four met with Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston, the head of the commission, about the appointment of Juan Barros as bishop of Osorno in southern Chile, they said in a statement Sunday. O’Malley agreed to relay their concerns to the pope, according to the statement.

Victims of the Rev. Fernando Karadima say Barros knew of and even witnessed Karadima’s abuse decades ago. Barros was a protege of the charismatic Karadima, who was sanctioned by the Vatican in 2011 for sexually abusing minors.

Commission member Marie Collins said that if Barros doesn’t appreciate that Karadima’s behavior was inappropriate, ‘‘then he doesn’t understand child abuse.’’

‘‘And if he doesn’t understand child abuse,’’ she continued, ‘‘there’s a child protection concern about him being in charge of a diocese.’’

In the statement, the four commission members said the process of appointing bishops must take into account their understanding of how children must be protected.

Bergoglio didn't get the memo...

‘‘In the light of the fact that sexual abuse is so common, the ability of a bishop to enact effective policies, and to carefully monitor compliance, is essential,’’ the statement said.

Barros, the former chaplain of Chile’s armed forces, has faced unprecedented popular and ecclesial opposition since he was named in January. More than 1,300 church members in Osorno, some 30 diocesan priests, and 51 of Chile’s 120 members of Parliament sent letters to Francis urging him to rescind the appointment.

Barros has denied wrongdoing and insisted he didn’t know about the abuse until reading 2010 news reports. The Vatican has defended the appointment but said bishops will be held accountable.

O’Malley is in Rome this week for a meeting of the Council of Cardinals.

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Turkey furious at Pope ‘genocide’ claim

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis uttered the word “genocide” on Sunday to describe the mass murder of Armenians 100 years ago, sparking fury from Turkey which slammed the term as “far from historical reality”.
In a solemn mass in Saint Peter’s Basilica to mark the centenary of the Ottoman killings of Armenians, Francis said the murders were “widely considered ‘the first genocide of the 20th century’,” quoting a statement signed by Pope John Paul II and the Armenian patriarch in 2001. Many historians describe the World War I slaughter as the 20th century’s first genocide, but Turkey hotly denies the accusations.
“The pope’s statement, which is far from the legal and historical reality, cannot be accepted,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Twitter. “Religious authorities are not the places to incite resentment and hatred with baseless allegations,” he added.
The foreign ministry summoned the Vatican envoy to Ankara to explain the pope’s comments. It accused the pontiff of engaging in a “one-sided narrative” that ignored the suffering of Muslims and other religious groups at that time.
While Francis did not use his own words to describe the killings as genocide, it was the first time the term was spoken aloud in connection with Armenia by a head of the Roman Catholic Church in Saint Peter’s Basilica.
“It was a very courageous act to repeat clearly that it was a genocide,” Vatican expert Marco Tosatti told AFP. “By quoting John Paul II, he strengthened the Church’s position, making it clear where it stands on the issue,” he added.
The Argentine pope described the “immense and senseless slaughter” and spoke of the duty to “honour their memory, for whenever memory fades, it means that evil allows wounds to fester.”
The 78-year-old head of the Roman Catholic Church had been under pressure to use the term “genocide” publicly to describe the slaughter, despite the risk of alienating an important ally in the fight against radicals.
Before becoming pope, Jorge Bergoglio used the word several times in events marking the mass murders, calling on Turkey to recognise the killings as such.
As pope, Francis is said to have used it once during a private audience in 2013 - but even that sparked an outraged reaction from Turkey.
Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their kin were killed between 1915 and 1917 as the Ottoman Empire was falling apart, and have long sought to win international recognition of the massacres as genocide. But Turkey rejects the claims, arguing that 300,000 to 500,000 Armenians and as many Turks died in civil strife when Armenians rose up against their Ottoman rulers and sided with invading Russian troops.
More than 20 nations, including France and Russia, recognise the killings as genocide.
Vatican expert John Allen said ahead of the mass that the “truly bold” thing for Francis to do was “show restraint” - something the pope may feel he has achieved by uttering the word “genocide” but only while quoting his Polish predecessor.
When Francis visited Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan offered the pontiff a pact under which he would defend Christians in the Middle East in exchange for the Church tackling Islamophobia in the West, Allen said - describing it as “a potential game-changer”.
In 2014, Erdogan, then premier, offered condolences for the mass killings for the first time, but the country still blames unrest and famine for many of the deaths.
Francis said the other two genocides of the 20th century were “perpetrated by Nazism and Stalinism”, before pointing to more recent mass killings in Cambodia, Rwanda, Burundi and Bosnia. “It seems that humanity is incapable of putting a halt to the shedding of innocent blood,” he said.
The Armenian victims a century ago were Christian and although the killings were not openly driven by religious motives, the pontiff drew comparisons with modern Christian refugees fleeing Islamic militants.
He referred once again to the modern day as “a time of war, a third world war which is being fought piecemeal”, and evoked the “muffled and forgotten cry” of those “decapitated, crucified, burned alive, or forced to leave their homeland.” “Today too we are experiencing a sort of genocide created by general and collective indifference,” he said. Vatican watcher Marco Politi said the address was typical of a pope who “uses language without excessive diplomatic cares” and whose aim was to “stimulate the international community” to intervene in modern-day persecutions.

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Turkey recalls ambassador over pope's Armenia genocide words

VATICAN CITY (AP) - Pope Francis on Sunday marked the 100th anniversary of the slaughter of Armenians by calling the massacre by Ottoman Turks "the first genocide of the 20th century" and urging the international community to recognize it as such. Turkey immediately responded by recalling its ambassador and accusing Francis of spreading hatred and "unfounded claims."

Francis issued the pronouncement during a Mass in St. Peter's Basilica commemorating the centenary that was attended by Armenian church leaders and President Serge Sarkisian, who praised the pope for calling a spade a spade and "delivering a powerful message to the international community."

"The words of the leader of a church with 1 billion followers cannot but have a strong impact," he told The Associated Press.

Historians estimate that up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I, an event widely viewed by scholars as the first genocide of the 20th century.

Turkey, however, denies a genocide took place. It has insisted that the toll has been inflated and that those killed were victims of civil war and unrest.

Francis defended his words by saying it was his duty to honor the memory of the innocent men, women and children who were "senselessly" murdered by Ottoman Turks.

"Concealing or denying evil is like allowing a wound to keep bleeding without bandaging it," he said.

He said similar massacres are under way today against Christians who because of their faith are "publicly and ruthlessly put to death - decapitated, crucified, burned alive - or forced to leave their homeland," a reference to the Islamic State group's assault against Christians in Iraq and Syria.

Francis called on the world community, heads of state and international organizations to recognize the truth of what transpired to prevent such "horrors" from repeating themselves, and to oppose all such crimes "without ceding to ambiguity or compromise."

Turkey has fiercely lobbied to prevent countries, including the Holy See, from officially recognizing the Armenian massacre as genocide and reacted strongly to Francis' declaration.

"The pope's statement, which is far from historic and legal truths, is unacceptable," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu tweeted. "Religious positions are not places where unfounded claims are made and hatred is stirred."

The Foreign Ministry summoned the Vatican's envoy in Ankara, and then announced it was recalling its own ambassador to the Vatican for consultations.

In a statement, the ministry said the Turkish people would not recognize the pope's statement "which is controversial in every aspect, which is based on prejudice, which distorts history and reduces the pains suffered in Anatolia under the conditions of the First World War to members of just one religion."

It accused Francis of deviating from his message of peace and reconciliation during his November visit to Turkey.

Several European countries recognize the massacres as genocide, though Italy and the United States, for example, have avoided using the term officially given the importance they place on Turkey as an ally.

The Holy See, too, places great importance in its relationship with the moderate Muslim nation, especially as it demands that Muslim leaders condemn the Islamic State group slaughter of Christians.

But Francis' willingness to rile Ankara with his words showed once again that he has few qualms about taking diplomatic risks for issues close to his heart. And the massacre of Armenians is indeed close to the Vatican's heart given that Armenia is held up as the first Christian nation, dating from 301.

That said, Francis is not the first pope to call the massacre a genocide. St. John Paul II wrote in a 2001 joint declaration with the Armenian church leader, Karenkin II, that the deaths were considered "the first genocide of the 20th century."

But the context of Francis' pronunciation was different and significant: in St. Peter's during an Armenian rite service with the Armenian church and state leadership in attendance on the 100th anniversary of the slaughter. And his call for international acknowledgement of what happened went beyond what John Paul had written.

Francis' words had a deeply moving effect among Armenians in the basilica, many of whom wept. At the end of the service, the Armenian Apostolic Church's Aram I thanked Francis for his clear condemnation and recalled that "genocide" is a crime against humanity that requires reparation.

The Armenian president, Sarkisian, praised Francis for "calling things by their names."

In the interview, he acknowledged the reparation issue, but said "for our people, the primary issue is universal recognition of the Armenian genocide, including recognition by Turkey."

He dismissed Turkish calls for joint research into what transpired, saying researchers and commissions have already come to the conclusion and there is "no doubt at all that what happened was a genocide."

The lead sponsor of a new U.S. congressional resolution recognizing the genocide, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), said he hoped the pope's words would "inspire our president and Congress to demonstrate a like commitment to speaking the truth about the Armenian genocide and to renounce Turkey's campaign of concealment and denial."

The definition of genocide has long been contentious. The United Nations in 1948 defined genocide as killing and other acts intended to destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, but many dispute which mass killings should be called genocide and whether the terms of the U.N. convention on genocide can be applied retroactively.

Reaction to the pope's declaration on the streets in Istanbul was mixed.

"I'm glad he said it," said Aysun Vahic Olger. "When you look at history, there's proof of it."

However, Mucahit Yucedal, 25, said he felt genocide is a "serious allegation."

"I don't support the word genocide being used by a great religious figure who has many followers," he said.

AP writers Suzan Fraser in Ankara and Desmond Butler and Ayse Wieting in Istanbul contributed to this report.

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Bergoglio calls American leaders to fight inequality

Anti-Capitalist Bergoglio

In a message addressed to the President of Panama Juan Carlos Varela, Pope Francis urged leaders attending the OAS Summit to strengthen efforts against inequality which he considered a “source for conflicts.”
“Inequality, the unfair distribution of riches and resources, is source for conflicts and violence among peoples, because it involves the progress of some to be built on the necessary sacrifice of others and, to live with dignity, they have to fight against the rest,” the Argentine pontiff said in a letter sent on Friday to Mr. Varela and released today by the Vatican.
“In emerging economies, a big part of the population has not benefited from the general economic progress; a gap bigger and bigger between the rich and the poor has been opened,” Francis said.
In a message that appears in tune with the slogan of the Panama meeting – “Prosperity with equity: the challenge of the cooperation in the Americas”-, the pope called for “direct actions” to help those in need.
“It is not enough to wait for the poor to collect the crumbs that fall from the hands of the rich… Direct actions are needed to help the disadvantaged.”
Renewing his defense of immigrants’ rights, Francis affirmed “the lack of cooperation between States leaves many people outside the law and without the possibility of making their rights matter.”
The 78-year-old religious leader questioned the “offensive and outrageous differences” in the heart of cities and called for an “authentic” stance against racism, xenophobia and intolerance.
No human being, he affirmed, must be left without “basic goods” such as land, work, housing and “public services” such as health, education, security and the protection of the environment.


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Bergoglio: Beloved by hundreds of millions around the world, plus top New York media power players!

“If I were not a Catholic…”

“If I were not a Catholic, and were looking for the true Church in the world today, I would look for the one Church which did not get along well with the world; in other words, I would look for the Church which the world hates. My reason for doing this would be, that if Christ is in any one of the churches of the world today, He must still be hated as He was when He was on earth in the flesh. If you would find Christ today, then find the Church that does not get along with the world. Look for the Church that is hated by the world, as Christ was hated by the world. Look for the Church which is accused of being behind the times, as Our Lord was accused of being ignorant and never having learned. Look for the Church which men sneer at as socially inferior, as they sneered at Our Lord because He came from Nazareth. Look for the Church which is accused of having a devil, as Our Lord was accused of being possessed by Beelzebub, the Prince of Devils. Look for the Church which the world rejects because it claims it is infallible, as Pilate rejected Christ because he called Himself the Truth. Look for the Church which amid the confusion of conflicting opinions, its members love as they love Christ, and respect its voice as the very voice of its Founder, and the suspicion will grow, that if the Church is unpopular with the spirit of the world, then it is unworldly, and if it is unworldly, it is other-worldly.Since it is other-worldly, it is infinitely loved and infinitely hated as was Christ Himself.  – Venerable Fulton Sheen

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in the clothing of sheep, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Matthew 7:15

Newchurch gets a long very much with the world… High praise for Bergoglio worldwide.

“When a foulness invades the whole Church . . . We must return to the Church of the past.” – St. Vincent of Lérins (445)

“I am worried by the Blessed Virgin’s messages to Lucy of Fatima. This persistence of Mary about the dangers which menace the Church is a Divine warning against the suicide of altering the Faith, in Her liturgy, Her theology and Her soul…I hear all around me innovators who wish to dismantle the Sacred Chapel, destroy the universal flame of the true Faith of the Church, reject Her ornaments and make Her feel remorse for Her historical past.” –Eugene Cardinal Pacelli (the future Pope Pius XII) 1931

Pope Francis: Beloved by hundreds of millions around the world, plus top New York media power players…

The Hollywood Reporter’s “35 Most Powerful People in New York Media 2015″ feature is filled with interesting tidbits: Fox News CEO Roger Ailesis a fan of “So You Think You Can Dance”; Hoda Kotb watches MTV’s “Girl Code.” Who knew?

And the interesting thing than many of the most-powerful have in common? Overwhelmingly, when asked about their “dream interview,” the answer was “the pope.”

Media folk as disparate as Comedy Central’s Larry Wilmore, “CBS Evening News” host Scott Pelley, Buzzfeed editor-in-chief Ben Smith and ABC News’s Barbara Fedida all name-checked Pope Francis.

[Could Pope Francis save Congress?]

Some power players had specific reasons.

Jeff Zucker, president of CNN: “No pope has ever sat for an extended interview, but there hasn’t been a pope like this one.”

Shane Smith, founder of Vice Media: “The pope because he is probably the most dynamic political, religious, cultural figure the world has seen in the past 50 years.”

Megan Lieberman, editor of Yahoo! News Group: “And all U.S. news organizations would love to get the pope. Everyone wants to talk to the rock-star pope.”

Some, admittedly, wanted to split their pick: “CBS This Morning” anchor Charlie Rose said he would request the pope and Jack Nicholson, while “60 Minutes” producer Jeff Fager would go with the pope and Vladimir Putin. Presumably not at once.

MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough went with: “As always, Paul McCartney. Everybody else is a distant second. If he’s not available, I guess the pope will do.”

Congratulations, Pope Francis — you have your pick of New York’s media elite!

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Read more:

– How chatty Pope Francis keeps the Vatican scrambling

– Pope Francis voices hope about Iran deal, calls for end to persecution of Christians

– Pope Francis reportedly met with a transgender man at the Vatican

Easter - The Resurrection of Our Lord

Fr. Hewko - Easter Sunday - SSPX - MC

PUTIN: Greater military potential guarantees a calm life

Strengthening Russia’s military potential is a guarantee for peaceful life and the sovereign development of the country, President Vladimir Putin said at the promotion ceremony for top military officers.

“Building the military, strengthening of the defense potential will continue in a gradual and system way. We all understand very well that this a major factor in Russia’s stable and sovereign development and an insurance for the calm and peaceful life of millions of our citizens,” RIA Novosti quoted Putin as saying.

The ceremony of promotion of Russia’s top military and law enforcement commanders to new ranks took place in the St George Hall of the Grand Kremlin Palace on Thursday.

At the same event Putin reiterated Russia’s opposition to meddling with other nations’ internal affairs and blamed such actions for the major problems that had recently appeared in the international politics.

“We are against interfering with home affairs of sovereign countries against instigation of military conflicts. When such politics was exercised towards a number of countries in North Africa and Middle East it resulted in an outburst of terrorism there. Near our borders it caused a bloody drama [for] our neighbors, the Ukraine,” he said.

“Today we can see that some nations are changing their policy in the direction of unlimited preemptive actions of offensive nature. As a result, the conflict potential is increasing in the regions that are of strategic significance for Russia. The threats emerge that we cannot ignore,” Putin noted. He added that the increase of the Russian defense potential would be executed primarily through perfecting the structure of the forces and through better cooperation with other countries that seek peace, stability and development.

The Russian leader also announced a set of major inspections that would be launched in all Russian military districts and in all branches of the military forces.

“No one has ever succeeded in intimidating or pressuring our country and no one ever will – we have always had and always will have an adequate answer for all internal and external threats to national security,” the president said in an address to the FSB collegium.

“No changes for the better will happen if we constantly yield, give in or use baby talk, it will only improve if we become stronger,” Putin said.

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Obama: 'When I've Listened to Less Than Loving Expressions by Christians, I Get Concerned?!!'

Obastard Slams Christians again...

(CNSNews.com) - "I am no preacher," President Barack Obama told an Easter Prayer Breakfast at the White House on Tuesday. "I can't tell anything to this crowd about Easter that you don't already know. I can offer just a couple of reflections very quickly before we begin the program."

Obama's final "reflection" was this: "On Easter, I do reflect on the fact that as a Christian, I am supposed to love. And I have to say that sometimes when I've listen to less-than-loving expressions by Christians, I get concerned. But that's a topic for another day," he said.

"Where there is injustice -- I was about to veer off," he joked. (Laughter.) I'm pulling it back," he smiled.

"Where there is injustice, we defend the oppressed," he continued -- without mentioning the oppression and extermination of Christians in the Middle East, and most recently, in Kenya.

"Where there is disagreement, we treat each other with compassion and respect. Where there are differences, we find strength in our common humanity, knowing that we are all children of God."

Immediately preceding his latest criticism of Christians, Obama quoted Pope Francis, saying the pope "encourages us to seek peace, serve the marginalized, and be good stewards of God's creation."

"I want to quote him," Obama said: "He says that we should strive 'to see the Lord in every excluded person who is thirsty, hungry, naked; to see the Lord present even in those who have lost their faith... imprisoned, sick, unemployed, persecuted; to see the Lord in the leper -- whether in body or soul -- who encounters discrimination.'

"Isn't that how Jesus lived?" Obama asked. "Isn't that how He loved? Embracing those who were different; serving the marginalized; humbling Himself to the last. This is the example that we are called to follow -- to love Him with all our hearts and mind and soul, and to love our neighbors -- all of our neighbors -- as ourselves."

President Obama is careful to avoid linking Islam with "radical extremism." But two months ago, he reminded people attending the National Prayer Breakfast that Christians also have committed atrocities.

"And lest we get on our high horse and think this (attacks in the name of Islam) is unique to some other place, remember that during the crusades and the Inquisition, people committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ,"the president said.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest was asked about Obama's "less than loving" comment at Tuesday's White House briefing.

"Do you know what he was referring to, what he gets upset about?" a reporter asked Earnest.

"I don't," Earnest replied.

Later, another reporter asked what Obama was talking about -- "whether he meant the Religious Freedom Restoration Act."

"I did have the benefit of attending the breakfast today, too, and I don't think it was a big question that was hanging in the air," Earnest said. "I think it was something that drew a lot of laughter in the room, principally because people understand that, you know, in a room full of believers, there's still going to be people with pretty starkly different views.

"And in some cases, it means that those differences may provoke some people to fall short of even the expectations that they set for themselves, so they try to set a high standard for the way that they live their life, and the president acknowledged in his remarks that he was somebody who himself felt -- acknowledged that he fell short of that every day, too."

A reporter noted that Obama also "made some sort of controversial remarks about Christianity" at the National Prayer Breakfast in February.

"I'm not sure they were particularly -- I don't think I'd stipulate that they were controversial," Earnest said. "But just because people disagree with them doesn't mean that they're controversial inherently."

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Francis 'Demands' concrete help for persecuted Christians day after IS militants destroy church in Syria

Pope Francis condemned the international community’s “mute and inert” response to the persecution of Christians. 

His strong comments on Easter Monday came after church leaders in the UK and in Rome used their homilies over the Easter weekend to draw attention to the plight of persecuted Christians in the Middle East and Africa.

While those homilies – including that by the preacher of the Papal household on Good Friday – were characterized by calls for Christians not to respond violently to persecution, Francis yesterday demanded “concrete and tangible” help.

He urged pilgrims gathered in St Peter’s Square yesterday to pray the Regina Coeli, the Marian hymn recited in place of the Angelus during Eastertide, with him: “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.”

A day earlier, on Easter Day, Islamic State militants blew up a large 80-year-old church in north-eastern Syria, the Syrian Arab News Agency reported.

The Church of the Virgin Mary. Photo: AINA

The Church of the Virgin Mary stood in Tel Nasari, and Assyrian village.

The Assyrian International News Agency reported that the church was levelled after after Assyrian and Kurdish fighters attempted to re-enter their village.

Tel Nasari was one of 35 villages attacked by IS in February. Jihadists are still holding more than 300 villagers kidnapped during the attacks.

Pope Francis’ remarks on Monday were addressed to the Shalom Community, a New Movement for young people, which had sponsored a relay race to raise awareness of persecution.

Their race, which ended in St Peter’s Square, was over, he said, but: “What must continue on the part of all is the spiritual journey of prayer, intense prayer; the concrete participation and tangible help in the defense and protection of our brothers and sisters, who are persecuted, exiled, killed, beheaded, for the only reason of being a Christian.”

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Bergoglio has written a pop song, sort of…

Francis — dubbed the Rock Star Pope early in his tenure for his mass public appeal — has ventured into the musical world by collaborating on a pop song about peace.

Italian-Argentine musician Odino Faccia assembled the song “So We Can All Be One” from phrases used by the pope during his homilies. A Vatican spokesman told CBS News on Tuesday that the pope saw the lyrics in advance and gave them his stamp of approval.

Faccia performed the song to a huge audience in St. Peter’s Square following Palm Sunday mass on March 30. He told Italian media that the pope said he liked the performance.

The song — a highly commercial pop song with a danceable Latin rhythm — is written and performed in Spanish (“Para Que Todos Sean Uno”).

The lyrics, like the pope does himself so often, seek to address young people: “The future is in your mind, your hands and your heart. So we can all be one. Unity is the path… an alliance always open to love and truth.”

Faccia told Italian media that it was the pope himself who asked him to write a song dedicated to peace, using the pontiff’s own words.

The singer-songwriter, who is also a peace ambassador for UNESCO, said he had a “close and trusting relationship” with Francis that began after he performed in St. Peter’s Square last year following the canonization ceremony for Popes John Paul II and John XXIII.

On that occasion, Faccia performed a song based on poems by Saint John Paul II.

Like Pope Francis, Faccia is the son of Italian immigrants to Argentina.

“I felt like the Pope was very close to me,” he told the Italian press. “To me he is like a friend, a father, a grandfather.”

“Para Que Todos Sean Uno” is distributed by Sony music. It is now available on iTunes in Spanish, but Portuguese, Italian and English versions are in the works.

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