Michael Kelly
“the Pope is absolutely correct that not all Muslims are violent”, writes Michael Kelly, but Pope Francis fails to “confront the cold reality that Islamists such as so-called Islamic State claim to be acting in the name of Islam”
The Pope’s press conferences aboard the papal plane have become a staple for Vatican correspondents. On the way back to the Vatican from World Youth Day in Krakow at the weekend, Francis was asked about Islamism and the recent brutal terrorist attacks in Europe carried out by people claiming to act in the name of Islam.
French reporter Antoine Marie Izoarde referred, in particular, to the murder of Fr Jacques Hamel. “Why,” he asked the Pope, “when you speak of these violent events, you always speak of terrorists, but never of Islam, never use the word Islam?”
The Pope was swift in his response. “I don’t like to speak of Islamic violence, because every day, when I browse the newspapers, I see violence in Italy…this one who has murdered his girlfriend, another who has murdered the mother-in-law…and these are baptised Catholics! There are violent Catholics! If I speak of Islamic violence, I must speak of Catholic violence”.
The Pontiff went on to point out “not all Muslims are violent, not all Catholics are violent. It is like a fruit salad; there’s everything. There are violent persons of this religion…this is true: I believe that in pretty much every religion there is always a small group of fundamentalists.”
Of course, the Pope is absolutely correct that not all Muslims are violent – and he is right to point it out. Muslim scholars have been at pains to demonstrate that using Islam to justify violence is not only wrong, but incompatible with a proper understanding of their faith.
But, where the Pope is wrong, is his failure to confront the cold reality that Islamists such as so-called Islamic State claim to be acting in the name of Islam – in short, they claim that their violence is motivated by their religious faith.
A Catholic man murdering his girlfriend or his mother-in-law because of a domestic dispute is a horrendous crime, but, unless he is claiming to be motivated by his Catholic faith, the comparison with so-called Islamic State is simply wrong.
Aberration
Now, people will argue that Islamists using religion to justify violence is an aberration of a true understanding of the Muslim faith – and this is true. But, it would be foolish to ignore the fact that these terrorists do claim to act in the name of Islam whereas, in the case of the Catholic man killing his girlfriend or mother-in-law, his Catholicism is incidental.
In short, the Holy Father is making a classic mistake by confusing causation with correlation. Islamist murders have a causal link with Islam, at least supposedly. Murders by Catholics may correlate with their Catholicism, but correlation is not causation.
Changing face of the Church
The face of the Irish hierarchy is changing one step at a time. On Friday, the Pope accepted the resignations of Bishop Seamus Freeman of Ossory and Bishop Martin Drennan on the grounds of ill health. The same day, he announced that Bishop-elect Fintan Monahan is to be consecrated as the new Bishop of Killaloe. I’ve had some dealings with Fr Monahan over the years and he is the archetype of everything one would want a priest to be. He has a love of the Church and a pastoral zeal that is admirable. These will be qualities that will serve him well in Killaloe. It’s interesting to note, that of the 23 serving Irish bishops, nine have been appointed by Pope Francis, nine by St John Paul II and five by Benedict XVI. When Bishop-elect Monahan is consecrated and vacancies in Ossory and Galway are filled, Francis will have 12 Irish bishops in just over three years compared to Benedict’s five in eight years.
Redrawing the map? Few things provoke more controversy amongst Irish bishops and some clergy than suggestions that the number of Irish dioceses be reduced. A golden opportunity for amalgamation is now there with the vacancy in Galway and the fact that neighbouring Bishop John Kirby of Clonfert is past retirement age. It’s an obvious candidate for consolidation. At the same time, when many people feel that politicians have abandoned local communities, perhaps diocesan consolidation could be seen as yet another blow – particularly in rural Ireland.