The president of the Pontifical Council for New Evangelization says
the recent shootings in Norway, whose perpetrator claimed to be
defending historically Christian countries against Islam, had nothing to
do with God and authentic Christian faith.
“This is a sad moment for everyone. We could never make religion an
instrument for violence. God cannot be present in the killing of
people,” said Archbishop Salvatore “Rino” Fisichella, president of the
Vatican's newest pontifical council, in a July 28 interview with CNA.
Anders Behring Breivik, who has confessed to attacks that killed 77
people in Norway on July 22, said the bombing and shootings were a
strike against the multicultural attitude he believes will allow Muslims
to dominate Europe.
In an online manifesto, Breivik said he was “not an excessively
religious man” but “a supporter of a monocultural Christian Europe,” and
therefore, he reasoned, a Christian.
Archbishop Fisichella took pains to differentiate this attitude from
an approach rooted in the Gospel message. Christianity, he said, is not
the cultural weapon of Breivik's imagination, but “a religion of love,
of rejoicing, and of respect.”
“We could never accept violence made in the name of religion and in the name of God,” he stated.
The archbishop said that amid changing European demographics,
Christians must love their neighbors regardless of religious
differences.
“The word 'respect' is very important for us and very Biblical. It
means that we know that there is someone else who probably does not
think the same way or know my religion, but we respect them, and they
should respect our own thoughts and religion.”
He pointed out that the recent increase in Islamic immigration can
challenge Europeans to develop a deeper grasp of their own Christian
tradition.
“We cannot forget that in Europe, the Christian identity is very
weak. Many people do not know what the main content of the faith is, and
the challenge that Islam and other religions present is (for them) to
better understand their own traditions and origin.”
“This is why I think one of the instruments for the New
Evangelization should be to understand our identity and our belonging to
the Church.”
Archbishop Fisichella said an authentic re-awakening of faith in
Europe would require “Christians that are credible for their way of
living and not just their intentions,” to show their countries the “new
lifestyle” that Christ proclaims.