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Is it too much to ask for that we could get a pope who’s actually Catholic? Because it seems, lately, that the major prerequisite for becoming pope is being an insufferable leftist with his head firmly jammed up his arse. Especially when it comes to Islam.
First, apparently forgetting that his predecessors built massive walls around the Vatican specifically to keep out Muslims (who had plundered nearby churches in 846 AD), Pope Leo has seen fit to install a Muslim prayer room in the Vatican. Prompting many to ask where the chapels are in, say, the Masjid al-Haram, which is a trick question, of course: it’s forbidden for non-Muslims to come within even 12 miles of the place. Even your average mosque is off-limits to ‘infidels’, except under special circumstances.
It got even worse when, this Easter, the pope chose to visit, not Nigeria, where Christians are being daily slaughtered by Muslims, but Algeria, where he prated a whole lot of Kumbaya bollocks about Christians and Muslims “liv[ing] in peace and harmony”. Even more extraordinary, this pontifical poltroon prattled that “the Catholic church, too, through her communities and initiatives, wishes to contribute to the common good of Algeria”.
Well, good fucking luck with that, you cretin: because it’s illegal in Algeria. To prove it, the Algerian government shut down the Catholic church’s Caritas charitable organization in 2022. Along with all 47 Protestant evangelical churches in the country. It’s an imprisonable offence in Algeria to preach Christianity. Even carrying a Bible warrants detaining and questioning.
And that is almost benign, compared to how many Muslim countries treat Christians.
Somalia:
Christians in Somalia face extreme peril on multiple fronts […] Christians discovered practicing their faith are often summarily executed.
No churches exist in Somalia. There are no churches in Mauritania, either. Public Christian worship is also outlawed in Morocco.
Yemen: Christians can be imprisoned, tortured, or killed. Possessing a Bible in Houthi-controlled areas is dangerous. No legal protection for Christians exists.
Sudan: Over 100 churches have been damaged or destroyed. Christians have been abducted and killed. Islamist extremists operate with impunity.
Nigeria: More Christians are killed for their faith in Nigeria than anywhere else in the world. Boko Haram, ISWAP and Fulani militias operate freely. The government has largely failed to prosecute perpetrators.
In Syria, where the world’s oldest Christian communities were wilfully slaughtered and enslaved by Islamic militants, the Christian population has collapsed from 1.5 million to 300,000. In neighbouring Iraq, the Christian population has collapsed from 1.2 million in 2011 to just 120,000 in 2024. Christians are described as “close to extinction”.
Afghanistan: Christians face death if discovered. No public Christian communities exist. The Taliban is actively working to erase any Christian presence.
Mali: Pastors executed, churches burned, villages massacred. Governments have lost control of large swaths of territory to jihadist groups, including Boko Haram and JNIM.
What about ‘moderate’ Saudi Arabia? No churches allowed. No public Christian worship of any kind. Apostasy and proselytising are capital offences under Sharia law. Bibles are confiscated. Even private worship by foreigners can result in arrest and deportation.
And, of course, Saudi Arabia strictly enforces the ban on non-Muslims anywhere near the holy sites in Mecca.
What about World Cup host, Qatar? Converting from Islam attracts the death penalty. Even proselytising to a Muslim warrants up to five years in prison. Merely bringing ‘Christian materials’ into the country can result in two years in prison.
Similarly, in ‘moderate’ Turkey, where Muslims long ago stole the magnificent Hagia Sophia church, built in the sixth century, and turned it into a mosque, the Christian population has collapsed from 20 per cent to just 0.2 per cent over the last 100 years. The historic Halki Seminary remains closed and no legal training of clergy is permitted.
So, why didn’t the pope visit any of those places? Or is his pathological empathy not quite as suicidal as that?
