Vittorio Messori responds to concerns of many Catholics about his recent historical records on Christianity and Islam. See also the article by Antonio Socci "But Messori is the Pope or with the Great Imam? "
The truth that sets us free
Vittorio Messori
located somewhere in the network of Catholics who say they are worried about some of the contents of this rubrichetta born, unpretentious, from "small talk" morning with a colleague who called me. Are Catholic (and therefore, for me, brothers and sisters in faith, with which I feel solidarity) that call and ask me whether it is appropriate not to be silent certain episodes of the story of the Church. Thus, for example, speaking of Islam seems unpleasant to remember what history tells us: the few commandos in North Africa from Arabia could soon be coming, and with little effort, because bosses welcomed as liberators by local Christians, in fierce fight among themselves but united in hatred towards Byzantium. Or, not silence that Muslims landed in Spain, and here as well, quickly established themselves as rulers, and called for help from a part of the Christian Visigoth nobility in fight with the other party. Or remember that France "most Christian" was more often, even at Lepanto, the Turks. Or, speaking of Europe's Christian roots, to recognize that in certain areas of the continent with the gospel was imposed with the sword, the monk-soldiers as the Teutonic Knights brought the terror that people were massacred by the Saxons as "san" Carlo Great also because they would not accept the gospel, still in full Middle Ages Countries Baltic fought in defense of their pagan gods.
I have the impression that those Catholics who say they are baffled readers 'new', ie who have not followed what I wrote and I write, for many years, in another book, "Nursery", hosted first by the newspaper Avvenire The monthly and now the rudder. In those many pages (later merged into four books, recently reissued by Editions Sugarco) I have always been inspired by a conviction: that is, that the God of Jesus Christ did not need our lies and our cunning and omissions. And the search for Truth, but the whole, is a sacred duty for those who believe in the Gospel. Support from always need to rediscover the Catholic apologetics, in the sense of contrast of the many, too many "black legends" created around the church from its enemies. But the apology can be a boomerang that works against us if we tried to hide the cards that we fear to expose. I did not hesitate to write with clarity, humility, but, moreover, on the first page of the most popular Italian newspaper, my concern at the continuing requests for forgiveness for all of John Paul II. But this concern arose from the fact that this Pope, while great, sometimes it did not seem well informed on certain complex historical events. Obviously, the rest: what man can be omniscient? But I was, and I is clear that we can, we must discuss the events of history but a principle that is indisputable: the Church is holy and yet is made up of sinners and the gospel is the revelation of a God who chose to rely on limitations and errors of humanity. As he put it, perhaps with a joke a bit 'hasty, Jacques Maritain: a thing is the sacred Person of the Church, and another thing is his often mediocre staff. So why shocked if we recognize, with humility and truth, that everyone (starting with the future Head of the Church, that three times in public betrayed the Master), we are all in need of self-examination? © The
Bussola Quotidiana
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