ISIS threatens Pontiff in new video
The Pontiff and the Catholic church are being attacked in a video from ISIS.
It depicts the conflict between Christianity and Islam, as Pope Francis and the Catholic church are made out to be the new targets.
The video shows ISIS members tearing pictures of the Catholic leader, and his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI. Statues of Jesus and Mary are also destroyed.
Next, a church is wrecked as a narrator, speaking with an American accent, praises “the truthful soldiers of Mohammed” for conquering the territory in East Asia.
Lastly, the church can be seen in flames. This image is accompanied by the narrator saying: “After all their efforts, it would be the religion of the cross that would be broken.
“The Crusaders’ enmity toward the Muslims only served to embolden a generation of youth.”
This part refers to the Crusades, a series of religious wars carried out by Christian knights against the Muslims in Jerusalem. While the Arab army can boast of many victories, Rome was never captured. This has made the city an obsession for ISIS.
Then, a man named ‘Abu Jindal’ says in English: “Remember this, you kuffar [an extremely offensive term for non-Muslims] — we will be in Rome, we will be in Rome, Inshallah [god willing].”
This video was filmed mostly in the city of Marawi, Philippines.
Paloma García Ovejero, the Pope’s deputy spokesperson, has reacted to this video.
According to him, Pope Francis will not rearrange his itinerary because the security measures are high enough.
He said, “We haven’t raised the security measures because the controls are already very high. St. Peter’s Square, as pilgrims and tourists can ascertain, is always very well protected.”
Catholic news website Cruxnow.com, reports that Pope Francis’s top aid, Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin, has also reacted to the video.
In an interview with reporters in Rimini, Italy, he said, “I saw, yes, yesterday that video that was shown on TV. Evidently, one cannot avoid worrying. Especially because of this senseless hatred that there is.”
This is not the first time ISIS has threatened the Pope. In September 2016, the terrorist group singled him out as the number one enemy of the Islamic State (ISIS).
This was revealed in a feature, titled: “In the Words of the Enemy.”
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