A Revealing Interview on "Dialogue" with the Muslims

by Christopher A. Ferrara

        As Muslims slaughter Christians in the Sudan and a dozen other places around the world, the Vatican apparatus only intensifies its absurd pursuit of "dialogue" with the followers of this inherently war-like religion.

        On November 25, 2002, Zenit published an interview with Father Maurice Borrmans, who is described as "a long-time consultor of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue." The interview contains a number of important admissions about the utter futility of "inter-religious dialogue" with Muslims, and the danger this unprecedented activity poses for the Catholic Church.

        First of all, Father Borrmans frankly admits that Islam is not merely a religion but a political force: "At the dawn of modern times, it was thought that Islam was only a religious event, but it immediately revealed itself to be a political event, too." Father Borrmans further concedes that after forty years of Catholic "dialogue" with the Muslims, "There is quite a bit of suspicion on both sides. Muslim magazines are not friendly toward Christian missions, and Christian publications are concerned about the progress of the Muslim ‘dawa’ [mission] in all countries and the construction of mosques in Europe." In other words, "inter-religious dialogue" has only served to open the way for Islam in once-Christian countries.

        The admissions do not end there. Borrmans also notes that "For the past 30 years we have witnessed a multiplication of inter-religious talks and conferences which, however, almost always end only with good intentions. How many times has there been talk of revising school textbooks, to change the way of seeing the other religion! A slight change has been made on our side, but almost none on the Muslim side."

        Does any of this persuade the Vatican apparatus that "inter-religious dialogue" with the Muslims is a dangerous one-way street that the Church ought to exit immediately? Not on your life! As Father Borrmans declares: "In a dialogue, you don't choose the other side. It must be accepted as it is. The Muslim-Christian dialogue has the duty to attempt the impossible and to accept what is precarious. Precisely when the other side hardens, we must undertake new initiatives…."

        What for? What have all these "initiatives" accomplished besides the advance of Islam into the heart of Europe - and even Rome itself - and the retreat of the Catholic Church throughout all of former Christendom? Why should the Church go on "attempting the impossible" - making friends of the implacable enemies of Christ and His Church - instead of praying for their conversion or defeat?

        How far removed all this is from the traditional Catholic faith summed up so concisely in the Message of Fatima, delivered to earth by the Mother of God at the very place named for a Muslim princess who converted to Catholicism.