The Catholic Church has become increasingly troubled by the rise of
Islamic fundamentalism in the Middle East as evidenced from the violence
in recent days perpetrated against Christians in Egypt, according to a
leading Catholic source.
In an interview with Newsmax TV, Father James Mulford, publisher of
Zenit News Agency, the largest Catholic news outlet in the world, said
the violence has become "a major concern" for the church which has
always tried to promote religious freedom and democratic values.
"It's a major concern and Pope Francis and the Catholic Church always
has been in favor of religious freedom," said Mulford, who is based in
Rome and recently followed the Pope on his World Youth Day trip to
Brazil.
He made a point of highlighting recent comments by Catholic Coptic
Patriarch Ibrahim Isaac Sidrak, who said there were no real divisions
between Christians and Muslims in Egypt, and summarized the position
that the violence and destruction of churches is being carried out by "fanatical groups" based on a perception that they represent the West.
At the same time, he said, the Church does not seek to support any
particular political regime or crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood, the
group widely seen as instigating the violence against Egyptian
Christians.
"The Catholic Church and I would say the Christians in general, they're
not behind a regime. They'll never come out and say, we're in favor.
They're in favor of freedom, they're in favor of democracy, they're in
favor of human rights. That's what the church and the Christians are
always going to speak out of. Not condemning one particular group or
not backing another," he said.
In the wide-ranging interview, Mulford also reflected on the style of
Pope Francis' 5-month reign so far, and his approach to a number of
social issues.
"The people in the Vatican that I know, my friends that work there,
they're saying that he has an open ear . . . That's one of the reasons
he doesn't live in the Apostolic Palace like many of the popes before
him," he said. "He has breakfast, lunch and dinner with hundreds of
people and literally anyone can come up to him and have his ear and say
something to him. He's very open to that."
He added that Francis had also been quite clear during his speeches at
World Youth Day about encouraging young people to "shake things up" in
the Church, to get active and to put pressure on Catholic leaders to
become more responsive instead of "naval gazing."
"[It] was very clear in Rio de Janeiro with the young people, and he
knew that there was an international audience listening to him, that
let's clean up our own house, the things that we need to change,
whatever's needed to change, but especially let's not forget that we
were called to be witnesses to the world of Jesus Christ."
Mulford also said that while the media has compared Francis to a rock
star because of the magnitude of enthusiasm he receives at public
appearances, the label is inaccurate because he is less concerned about
promoting himself and more interested in being a man of the people.
"The big difference is when you have a rock star, that person, whether
it be a man or a woman, they're the center of attention. It's more to
promote themselves, it's a self-promotion, whereas the pope went to
Brazil not to promote his image, not to stand out and to be the center
of attention," Mulford said. "On the contrary, he went there to visit
the Brazilians and he said in many of his talks, he said, I came to
visit you."
He added, "He's not a rock star and he doesn't pretend to be one."
Mulford also reflected on comments the pope made last month about not
judging gay clergy, which became the subject of controversy as people
questioned whether he was shifting the Church's position on
homosexuality.
"He said we should live and judge people with compassion. There's no
change in Catholic doctrine in that sense. The Catholic Church has
always had an outreach for every category of human existence that you
could imagine and the pope continued that," he said. "[The pope] said
[in Rio], let's not forget that Christ was also compassionate and that
we should be compassionate with everyone."
Regarding the recent opposition of American Catholic bishops to the
Obama administration's contraceptive coverage mandate in Obamacare,
Mulford said it was not the policy of the pope to weigh in on individual
policies.
"It has never been the role of the Catholic Church throughout history to
weigh in on individual laws or mandates unless you're talking about
something that would be to promote communism or Marxism or something
that would be to eradicate the basic democratic principles," he said.
"There are lawmakers, there are members of the church, whether they be
clergy, whether they be bishops, cardinals, and also laypeople who are
fighting that fight. It's not something that Pope Francis is going to
intervene directly and give his personal opinion."
He added, "If you are a Christian, if you are a Catholic, if you're
someone who upholds liberty, then become active. That is the message of
Pope Francis."