Vatican foreign minister: international community must do more to counter Islamic State
April 21, 2015
The Vatican’s Secretary for Relations with States said in an interview that the international community should do more to counter the Islamic State’s persecution of Christians.
“How can you be blind or deaf to this suffering?” said Archbishop Paul Gallagher. “The international community cannot remain passive or indifferent to this humanitarian tragedy.”
Citing statements made by Pope Francis and by the Vatican’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Archbishop Gallagher told Avvenire it is morally permissible to stop the transnational “aggression through multilateral action and the proportionate use of force.”
“It is clear that Muslim leaders have an important responsibility to disavow and condemn without any ambiguity the claims of the so-called ‘Islamic State’ and the atrocities” committed by it, he added.
Archbishop Gallagher also said that the international community could impose economic sanctions on nations that sell arms to the Islamic State.
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