Greg DalyFrench Catholics have called on the Church to support a campaign to stop Western companies from buying oil from Islamic State (IS).
Arguing that oil purchases from Islamic State are effectively funding slaughter, Joseph Thouvenel, vice president of the French Confederation of Christian Workers and head of a new association, New Martyrs, says that 84 members of France's Parliament had signed a New Martyrs petition demanding a parliamentary inquiry into which French companies had been trading with IS.
“Revolted by the appalling plight of Christian populations confronted by the bestiality of these blood-thirsty groups, we demand an assurance from our parliament that not one drop of terrorist petrol is being purchased by French firms,” says the petition, which has also been signed by many clergy and religious.
Thierry Bonaventura, spokesman for the Council of European Bishops' Conferences, agrees that Islamic State is a wealthy organisation which knows how to manage its finances and use the media, which “makes it essential for European governments to do what they can to cut its supplies”.
Stressing that IS’s butchery is directed not merely at Christians but against anyone who did not support the group, he said “the region is right on our doorstep, so we'd like to see European governments take firmer action, particularly if it turns out that Western firms are helping the persecutors”.
“If it’s true Western companies have been buying petrol from it, then something certainly must be done. We can't condemn IS on one side and help it on the other,” he said.