"Christians murdered in Libya whispered name of Jesus before death, bishop says" (Catholic Herald, 2/18/15)
"With #BringBackOurGirls no longer trending, Nigerians aghast at 'inaction' from donors" (EWTN News/CNA, 3/30/15)
"Christians are of course not the only victims of homicidal violence in the world, but we cannot ignore the fact that in many countries they are the most frequently intended victims....
All of us and all our institutions in the West risk being Pilates who wash our hands....
'Pray for those who persecute you' (Matt 5:44). This kind of forgiveness cannot seek recompense in the hope of divine punishment. It must be inspired by a charity that excuses one’s neighbor without, however, closing one’s eyes to the truth but, on the contrary, seeing to stop evildoers in such a way that they will do no more harm to others and to themselves....
We Christians are horrified at the idea that people can kill in God’s name. Someone, however, could object, 'But isn’t the Bible also full of stories of violence? Isn’t God called ‘the Lord of hosts’? Isn’t the order to condemn whole cities to extermination attributed to him? Isn’t he the one who prescribes numerous cases for the death penalty in the Mosaic Law?' If they had addressed those same objections to Jesus during his life, he would surely have responded with what he said regarding divorce: 'For your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so' (Mt 19:8). The same is true for violence....The first chapter of Genesis presents a world where violence is not even thinkable, neither among human beings themselves nor between people and animals" (Rev. Raniero Cantalamessa, Good Friday homily in St. Peter's Basilica).
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