... The interview is an exceptional report, offering a perfect portrait of a frontier-land bishop who knows âhisâ Islam very well, sees it in practice and describes it without reticence as an Islam made also of crucifixions, slavery, forced conversions and trickery. According to bishop Mazzolari there is a world of difference between Islam and Christianity: Allah is not the same God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
However the bishop does not idealize Christian warriors who have taken up arms against Muslims from Khartoum. Even they have committed their share of wrongdoings. The bishop reported such instances, and has subsequently endured problems on account of this Even less so does the bishop praise the West and Western Christianity while lashing out vicious accusations against the United States. Following the attacks of September 11, the bishop views Americans as waging a furious hunt based on vengeance, which he says leads only to hatred. The bishop explains how his extremely poor African faithful âexperience September 11 everydayâ in their lives. Yet they take no revenge. âThey suffer injustice and disease without any bitterness. You can only learn from them,â he said.
| If they retaliated more often on their tormentors their lot in life might not be quite so bad. My advice: turn the other cheek. But as soon as you run out of cheeks, slap the bastard back... |
When asked about Christian-Muslim dialog, the bishop responded: âOne day they came and asked me to speak with Muslims, that is, to do the impossible.â And when commenting on the question about a âclash of civilizationsâ, Mazzolari remarks: âThis is just the beginningâ... |