Need for Faith & Reason Brought to Life in London
A useful example showing one important reason why Benedict XVI so emphasises the importance of faith and reason in today’s world, thanks to a group of Muslim radicals protesting in London during the Pope’s visit.
Dressed threateningly in balaclavas and kafiehs, holding black flags, and led a by a vociferous preacher, they bellowed: “Down Down Benedict!”, “Benedict: terrorist!” and “Benedict! Watch your back!”.
Their preacher then ranted about hedonism in Western society. “Christians!” he yelled to perplexed passers-by on the other side of the street, protected by an increasingly large number of police officers. “You have forgotten who Jesus really is!”
Although he made the error of equating Christianity and the Pope with the increasingly secularized West of today, he had a point.
An Islam which desperately needs to be informed by reason, clashing with a West that has turned away from God and urgently in need of faith – it was, to me at least, an apt illustration of the Holy Father’s warnings, vividly brought to life in central London last night.
Edward Pentin Edward Pentin is the Register’s Senior Contributor and EWTN News Vatican Analyst. He began reporting on the Pope and the Vatican with Vatican Radio before moving on to become the Rome correspondent for EWTN's National Catholic Register. He has also reported on the Holy See and the Catholic Church for a number of other publications including Newsweek, Newsmax, Zenit, The Catholic Herald, and The Holy Land Review, a Franciscan publication specializing in the Church and the Middle East. Edward is the author of The Next Pope: The Leading Cardinal Candidates (Sophia Institute Press, 2020) and The Rigging of a Vatican Synod? An Investigation into Alleged Manipulation at the Extraordinary Synod on the Family (Ignatius Press, 2015). Follow him on Twitter at @edwardpentin.
