Jesuit scholar of Islam assesses
the pope's visit to the UAE
by Edward Pentin
Egyptian native Father Henri Boulad says the historic visit offers a ‘golden opportunity’ to address some ‘thorny issues,’ but urges Pope Francis to take a more realistic approach toward Islam.
Edward Pentin
Pope Francis arrives in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, becoming the first pope in history to set foot on the Arab Peninsula. The key event of the Feb. 3-5 visit is a “Human Fraternity Meeting” of inter-religious leaders aimed at prompting the values of brotherhood and peaceful dialogue.
For Melkite Jesuit Father Henri Boulad, the visit could mark a “step forward in Christian-Muslim relations” provided the Holy Father raises “clearly sensitive issues” affecting the region.
An expert of Islam and author of nearly 30 books in 15 languages, Father Boulad told Register Rome correspondent Edward Pentin via email Jan. 19 that he expects the Pope to call on the Arab nations to face up to their responsibilities to welcome Muslim migrants from countries such as Iraq and Syria, but
he also asked that the Holy Father change his position on Islam, calling his approach “much too naive and angelic.”
In an interview with the Register in 2017,
Father Boulad said Islamist terrorists were applying what their religion teaches them, but that the Church had failed to address this because she had fallen prey to a leftist ideology that is destroying the West.
A native Egyptian, Father Boulad says that for dialogue to be fruitful, “we need a common basis of values and principles on which we all agree,” and that, given the UAE’s openness, the country “could — and should — play a key role to find such a basis in order to build together a permanent peace.”
Father Boulad, what is your opinion of the visit, the first by a pope to the Arab Peninsula? Is it a step forward or could it foster syncretism?
This first visit of a pope to the Arab Peninsula could mark a step forward in Christian-Muslim relations, provided that Pope Francis raises clearly certain sensitive issues, such as:
• the apostasy considered by Islam as a crime punishable by death; moreover, the UAE do not recognize or authorize the teaching of any religion except Islam.
• The status of second-class citizens and submission (
dhimmi) for non-Muslims raises the issue of religious freedom.
• The status of women and the issue of citizen equality should be dealt with.
• If the Emirates disassociate themselves from Islamist terrorism, we expect them to firmly condemn the Muslim Brotherhood, Daesh [ISIS] and other extremist groups.
• Given the immense wealth available in the UAE, we expect them to give special care for Muslim migrants that have been coming over to Europe. Their support should be in concert with the oil monarchies of the Gulf, including Saudi Arabia.
Therefore, we are expecting the Pope to urge these Arab-Muslim countries to face up to their responsibilities vis-à-vis their Muslim brothers seeking to emigrate.
[I'd be very surprised if he did that! Why wouldn't he have thought about that all these years, after nagging the European nations to take in all the Muslim migrants from AFrica and the Middle East? Besides, how many of those migrants seeking entry to Europe would even think of migrating to SAudi Arabia or the Emirates???] By welcoming them, they would spare them the cultural shock of their integration into Europe. COLORE=#B200FF]It is outrageous that these Gulf countries refuse to open their doors to Syrians and Iraqis welcomed by far-less-wealthy neighboring countries, such as Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey and Egypt. [But those welcomed in these countries are genuine refugees from the Iraqi and Syrian conflicts, for whom the immediate priority is just to get out ASAP of whatever hellhole they find themselves in, and for whom the nearest quickest recourse is usually one of these neighboring countries. They are not the Bergoglio hordes - those Muslim migrants from African seeking a new and more prosperous life in Europe while reinforcing the already significant Muslim enclaves in the major European cities! None of the Middle Eastern countries would nor could welcome refugees in such numbers!]
Do you think such visits to Muslim-majority nations can be more damaging than helpful to the Church and the faith?
Such visits cannot be damaging. Rather, they offer a golden opportunity to frankly address some of the thorny issues raised above, which require concrete answers. This visit could encourage the UAE to open up to a more liberal Islam. The Pope should emphasize that the Emirates are already on the right track, by their openness to Christians, to modernity and to human rights. I would highlight several recent initiatives in the Emirates, which augur the best for a new era in Christian-Muslim relations:
• Qatar is financing the construction of a Maronite church in Keserwan (January 2019);
• A cathedral will be built in Bahrain;
• Abu Dhabi will see the inauguration of St. Elias Cathedral; [and]
• The only Kuwaiti priest, Father [Emmanuel] Gharib, is able to celebrate the Bible in Bedouin attire.
However, we should not lose sight of
what The Observatory of Religious Freedom says about Bahrain [e.g. non-Muslim missionary activities among Muslims are not allowed; the country’s Shia majority continues to face oppression] and the UAE [e.g., Muslim citizens do not have the right to change religion. Apostasy in Islam is punishable by death]. [As if see'hear/speak-no-Muslim-evil Bergoglio would ever bring that up!]
Do you think Francis has in any way improved in his interaction with Islam?
Unfortunately, no.
I feel that Pope Francis has hardly changed his approach to Islam in any way. His policy of the outstretched hand is always the same: that is to say, much too naive and angelic. Massive migration to Europe, mainly from Muslim countries, which he supports, shows that he loses sight of the serious societal problems that will arise: the non-integration/assimilation of Muslims in host countries, the incompatibilities of Islam with human rights, secularism, freedom and equality — not to mention the contradictions in the Pope’s statements.
On the one hand, he asks the host countries to respect the culture of immigrants, their Islamic worldview and traditions. And on the other hand, he asks Muslims to integrate and to respect the laws of the host country. It is quite difficult to reconcile these two opposite views, since Muslims consider the Sharia [law] to stand above the laws of the secular European host countries.
It is well known that Muslims have never integrated in countries invaded by them. Rather, they have forced the conquered countries to lose — often permanently — their ethnic and cultural identities, their religions, their languages and their traditions. This is a serious problem that arises more and more with political Islam in Europe. The Pope seems to ignore the history of Muslim conquests and the societal problems posed to Europe by political Islam. This endangers European identities, their traditions and their Judeo-Christian roots. [Thanks, Fr Boulad, for articulating that self-evident fact, even if you may just have struck apoplexy into Spadaro, Tornielli and the rest of the worst of the Bergogliacs.]
In conclusion, I would say that the Pope’s visit to the UAE could help Islam in getting out its present confrontation with the modern world. The only reasonable way is dialogue. For such a dialogue to be fruitful we need a common basis of values and principles on which we all agree. Given the openness of the UAE, they could — and should — play a key role to find such a basis in order to build together a permanent peace.
[Yeah, right - the old standby panacea for all conflicts - dialog for the sake of dialog, just to seem like something is being done. As if anyone could dialog away the inherent Muslim objective of world conquest, in which anyone who does not become Muslim will be reduced to abject dhimmitude, as this pope already is (but in his case, gladly and voluntarily).]
I don't know about you, but if you had any reservations at all about Papa Wojtyla's first 'inter-religious' meeting in Assisi in the name of universal brotherhood, what do you think the inter-religious 'Human Fraternity Meeting 'in Abu Dhabi would be? Shall we not be hearing more blood-curdling Masonic affirmations of brotherhood - his word of the year - from Jorge Bergoglio of the Grand Lodge of the Vatican???