plus ça change

By Diogenes ( articles ) | Nov 07, 2005

Reading the CWN story on how the French bishops have responded to rioting in Muslim neighborhoods, I couldn't help reflecting on how little things have changed in Christendom over the past several centuries.

As Pope St. Pius V said after the Battle of Lepanto, the Ottoman Turks were simply helpless victims of urbanization, unemployment, and unstable family life. Later King Jan Sobieski urged the people of Poland to understand the insecurity that caused Turkish forces to encircle Vienna, rather than accentuating ethnic divisions and giving in to a climate of fear.