Your gift counts double until 5/31: $27,385 to go in our Easter Campaign. Please help now!

Jerusalem patriarch laments Muslim, Jewish extremism

CWN - January 11, 2011

Addressing representatives from bishops’ conferences in Europe and North America who were making an annual pilgrimage to the Holy Land, Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal of Jerusalem lamented the persecution of Christians in the Middle East.

Recalling a proposition issued at the conclusion of the October synod of bishops-- “the attention of the whole world should be focused on the tragic situation of certain Christian communities of the Middle East, which suffer all manner of trials sometimes even to the point of martyrdom-- the Patriarch said that “painful experience caused us to write these words. They turned out to be a prophecy as well, when we think about the situation in Baghdad and Egypt.”

He added:

We are still anxious [about] the two extremisms: the Muslim one with [its] attacks against our churches and our faithful, and the Israeli right wing, invading more and more Jerusalem, trying to transform it to an only Hebrew–Jewish city, excluding the other faiths.

Additional sources for this story
Some links will take you to other sites, in a new window.

An appeal from our founder, Dr. Jeffrey Mirus:

Dear reader: If you found the information on this page helpful in your pursuit of a better Catholic life, please support our work with a donation. Your donation will help us reach five million Truth-seeking readers worldwide this year. Thank you!

Easter Campaign:
Progress toward our Spring 2013 goal ($27,385 to go):
$80,000.00 $52,614.70
34% 66%
Sound Off! CatholicCulture.org supporters weigh in.

All comments are moderated. To lighten our editing burden, only current donors are allowed to Sound Off. If you are a donor, log in to see the comment form; otherwise please support our work, and Sound Off!

Show 1 Comments? (Hidden)Hide Comments
  • Posted by: Justin8110 - Jan. 11, 2011 5:27 PM ET USA

    This is a fallen world and all of us regardless of religion live under the burden of Adams sin so the lamenting will continue until the Second Coming. The worst part is neither Jews nor Muslims have access to the sacraments of the Church in order to help them live a life above the state of fallen nature and so the conflicts continue.

Catholic World News Email Newsletter
Donate to Support this Site: Your contribution will be put to good work.
Tour the CatholicCulture.org Site
Shop Amazon to Raise Money for Catholic Culture

Recent Catholic Commentary

The Mystery of the Spirit 9 hours ago
Against a Facile Assurance of Salvation, the Need for Mystery 11 hours ago
Making Sense of Society: The Ebook 16 hours ago
An exorcism? No, a blessing. You'd think reporters would know the difference. 18 hours ago
Learning from the sick, and from the death of a child May 17

Top Catholic News

Most Important Stories of the Last 30 Days
Pope strongly supports call for reform in religious life CWN - May 8