“The rise of terrorism throughout the world has contributed greatly to the growth of Islamophobia, thus presenting Islam to everyone as a dangerous and criminal religion whose followers must be avoided by all means. The presence of a Muslim, in any environment, often arouses fear because, in a simplistic and unjust way, the Muslim is compared to the terrorist. Yet not all Muslims are terrorists,” noted theologian Father Donald Zagore, a priest of the Society for African Missions (SMA), in Togo, in an interview with Fides News Agency.
Fr. Zagore explained: “With the phenomenon of pedophilia affecting the Catholic Church, it is very easy for many to generalize. The Catholic Church, as a whole, is presented as a dangerous and criminal institution: the direct consequence is to provoke the idea that the status of presbyter is unjustly assimilated to the reality of pedophilia. But not all priests are pedophiles.
“Of course, one must have the courage to recognize with humility that all these painful situations are the result of a failure of Churchmen, a sign of an inability to rethink, reform and constantly convert to Christ. But the Church cannot be defined solely on the basis of the failure and sin of the men who are part of it. We must not ignore the inexhaustible wealth that our faith has: that richness that is Jesus Christ himself. Even if the Catholic Church remains a network that, as a human reality, contains good and bad fish, a field growing good seed and weeds, it remains a mother who gives the world light, strength, and hope because it gives Jesus Christ, the saint of saints. The Church is of Christ, belongs to him, is generated and guided by him.”
