Italian Bishop: Muslims Must Condemn Islamist Violence or Leave Italy

In a forceful editorial in his local diocesan newspaper this past weekend, Bishop Tommaso Ghirelli of Imola called on citizens to stop blaming foreigners en masse. “Rather we are asking the Muslims who live among us to show that they are honourable men, and publicly condemn these persecutions and acts of cruelty,” he said. “Otherwise they ought to have the courage to leave our country, because nobody wants to have enemies in their own home.”
He added: “We know that they are intimidated by fundamentalists, but the time has come to break the vicious cycle of abuse.”

He also called on politicians to fulfil their duty to protect and defend the lives and the freedom of the people, otherwise they “will pay dearly for every silence and every act of cowardice.”

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