Bill Donohue comments on media reaction to news that a Catholic priest was beheaded in Syria last week:
It’s either because the mainstream media don’t really care whether Muslims have beheaded yet another Catholic priest, or they just expect the followers of Islam to act that way. Those are the only two plausible explanations that account for the media blackout of what happened to Syrian priest François Murad on June 23.
The beheading of Fr. Murad was not the work of some isolated madman; rather, it was the work of religious madmen, cheered on by a crowd of Muslim fanatics. The terrorists, Jabhat al-Nusra, an Al-Qaeda linked group, stormed a monastery in northern Syria where the priest was staying. As usual, they screamed “Allahu Akbar” (“Allah is the greatest”) while a kitchen knife was put to the priest’s neck. The jihadi group was celebrated by men and boys who took pictures with their smartphones.
A fellow Franciscan priest, Fr. Pierbattista Pizzaballa, blames those who have been arming the extremists. But this interpretation is incomplete: the fact is there are few moderates in most of the Muslim world, so it makes little difference who the West arms—the results are always the same.
It’s been a week since the beheading of Fr. Murad, and while reports were slowly released, there was plenty of time over the weekend to report on this insanity. Thanks to Catholic Online, which led with the story, as well as TheBlaze and CNSnews, we are learning what happened.
It remains to be seen whether the big media will inform the public about this latest act of Muslim barbarism. President Obama should issue a statement as well.
