Australia’s top Catholic cardinal, George Pell, archbishop of Sydney, recently spoke out against Muslims, declaring that Islam is more warlike than Christianity.
In an interview with the National Catholic Reporter, Pell said that “‘the million-dollar question’ was whether intolerance was a modern distortion of Islam or arose out of internal logic. ‘It’s difficult to find periods of tolerance in Islam’” (Australian Associated Press, June 6).
Earlier this year, Pell said the Koran contained “invocations to violence” and that Islam was “not a tolerant religion” (World Today, May 5). These remarks provoked a strong reaction in Australia’s Muslim community.
Pell, who unapologetically supports strict adherence to Catholic orthodoxy, was favored by the late Pope John Paul II, resulting in his rapid promotion to the highest position in the Australian church. Pell hopes to bring the Australian church back under the strict authority of Rome. He is close to the current pope both politically and ideologically.
The vocalization of such views by high-ranking Catholic officials is a precursor to a time coming soon when these two universal religions will come to blows.