Catholic Priest Bows to PC Mob, Apologizes for Calling Islam a Threat to America
Instead of defending the Catholic faith like the heroic martyrs of the last two millennia, a Minnesota priest offered his pinch of incense to the gods of Tolerance in yet another instance of clerical cowardice.
In his Jan. 5 homily, the Rev. Nick VanDenBroeke rightly identified Islam as the “greatest threat” to both the world and the United States, according to the New York Post.
The homily was originally available on the website for the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Lonsdale, where VanDenBroeke serves as pastor, but the recording has since been removed.
The verifiably accurate but somehow controversial statement was part of his sermon on a day dubbed “Immigration Sunday” by the Catholic bishops of Minnesota.
With the exception of some pockets of resistance, the church has been heavily advocating for more immigration in an effort to stem the tide of dwindling church attendance.
Despite all of the pearl-clutching and fake outrage, VanDenBroeke made it clear in his homily that he doesn’t hate Muslims.
“They are people created out of love by God just as each one of us is. But while we certainly do not hate them as people, we must oppose their religion and worldview,” he said, according to City Pages, which had access to the recording.
While his statement might not be politically correct, VanDenBroeke wasn’t wrong. Violence against Christians worldwide has been on the rise in recent years.
Just last Easter, Christians were murdered by a jihadist group on their holiest day of the year in Sri Lanka.
The BBC reported last year that worldwide “attacks on Christians are at near genocidal levels” and they are being wiped out in the Middle East.
Although he had truth on his side, VanDenBroeke issued an apology because his homily “contained words that were hurtful to Muslims,” he said. “I’m sorry for this. I realize now that my comments were not fully reflective of the Catholic Church’s teaching on Islam.”
Archbishop of Minnesota Bernard A. Hebda also released his own groveling mea culpa after receiving heat from the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the Post reported.
While the Catechism of the Catholic Church acknowledges that all religions hold some part of the truth of divine revelation, the main underpinning of Catholicism is “extra Ecclesiam nulla salus” — meaning that outside the church, there is no salvation.
Islam, therefore, should not hold such a privileged place that a priest cannot speak freely about it. After all, VanDenBroeke is a Roman Catholic priest who made remarks to his congregation in the course of a sermon at a Catholic Mass.
Unfortunately, one of the hallmarks of modern Catholic leadership is its cowardice in the face of social justice warriors.
Pope Francis is vocal in his pandering to the migrant community while remaining virtually silent on the scourge of radical Islam as Christians are slaughtered around the world.
The church that was literally built on the bones of the martyrs should not shy away from the truth. If early Christians were willing to go before the jaws of hungry lions, VanDenBroeke and his bishop should have the courage to withstand a tongue lashing from their PC enemies.
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