Tribulation Times
NEWS.VA: Radical Islamic groups fanning the conflict that plagues Lebanon
Radical Islamic Groups are fanning the conflict and want to infect Lebanon: this is the alarm launched to Fides by Fr. Paul Karam, National Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in Lebanon. Fr. Karam, commenting on the recent clashes between Alawites and Sunnis in Lebanon, said: "We are very concerned for two reasons: the flow of Syrian refugees continues in northern Lebanon, moreover the conflict is spreading in Lebanon. This happens because of political interests that trample human rights, and the fragility of our country, ethnic-religious composite mosaic. Herein lies the major component of fanatic Islamic movements that fan on the religious aspect, fomenting hatred among communities." Fr. Karam insists that "violence has never solved anything: the road to reconciliation is dialogue, respect for others, keeping in mind the good of the country." On the conflict in Syria, Fr. Karam said: "Sending UN Observers is an act of responsibility on behalf of the international community. But should not be exploited at a political level by any of the warring parties. We hope it is a mission in the sign of truth, credibility and transparency. Only thus peace can be reached."The Christian situation "is very worrying," says the priest. "In Syria – he recalls - the faithful have freedom of faith and public testimony which is not guaranteed in other states in the Middle East. We are concerned because the Christians, as a minority, are the easiest target. Syrian fellow priests tell us that the situation is dramatic: there are forces who want to turn the conflict into a religious war, and this would be a tragedy." EDITORIAL: The Vatican and Islam: Has Dhimmitude Prevailed?
“It was in the beginning a ‘springtime’ because really it was a free movement, (an) independent, unorganized movement for freedom,” Father Samir Khalil Samir told CNA. But the movement slowly became “organized by other groups, especially by Islamic groups, in Egypt, also in Libya, in Bahrain, so that now the situation is no more a spring,” he said. Fr. Samir is an Egyptian Jesuit who teaches at Rome’s Pontifical Oriental Institute, as well as in Beirut and Paris. Last year he cautiously welcomed the rise of the “Arab Spring,” a series of popular uprisings that dislodged several Middle Eastern dictators. While some observers were hopeful that more democratic forms of government would take root in the wake of the protests, many countries instead saw Islamist movements rise to political prominence. Fr. Samir said this has been particularly true in his homeland of Egypt, where the 30-year military dictatorship of President Hosni Mubarak was toppled last year, and in other states such as Tunisia and Libya. He described the situation in Libya since the fall of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi in October 2011 as “not wonderful” due to “an Islamization after the secular system of Gaddafi.” He also believes that the present civil uprisings in Bahrain and Syria are being fueled by Islamist forces. Fr. Samir said he still prays for “an open society for all people” in the Arab world but believes there are two road blocks – a lack of experience with democracy and a lack of education particularly for Arab women. MORE: Christianity at the crossroads in the Middle East - An interview with Fr. Samir Khalil Samir SJ
Thoughts and Sayings of Saint Margaret Mary: The Practice of Virtue
31. If you find within yourself an abyss of pride and vain esteem, bury these passions in the abyss of the humility of the Sacred Heart, wherein you must lose all that stirs you interiorly, so as to be arrayed in His sacred annihilations.Prayer request? Send an email to: PrayerRequest3@aol.com
This month's archive can be found at: http://www.catholicprophecy.info/news2.html.
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