“Beheading, pure murder”

“Horror”. He has no other words to describe what he felt following on TV the news of the beheading of French hostage Hervé Pierre Gourdel, occurred on September 24. Monsignor Marc Stenger is the bishop of Troyes and is the president of Pax Christi France. He is familiar with the areas martyred by the homicidal fury of ISIS. At the beginning of August he was a member of a small delegation of French Bishops who travelled to Iraq to bring the solidarity of Christians of France to the Iraqi population. He commented the beheading of Gourdel with a broken voice. “Stronger that the emotions – he said – was a sense of horror at the barbarism that men are capable of. We have already seen it with the English and American hostages beheaded a few days ago. It’s important to react and remember that man is capable also of good deeds. We must make an effort not to linger in this negative and tragic image of man and his history”. What worries you the most? “I believe that today we must resist two temptations. The first temptation is to generalize. These groups describe themselves as Muslim and claim to act on behalf of Islam. These are serious statements that call into question all Muslims. We have the duty to remember that these groups are unrelated with religion because no religion can commit such crimes and allow that men are treated with such cruelty, that is the denial of humaneness. What they do are not religious deeds. These are veritable murders. The second temptation we need to avoid is not to limit ourselves in the response. What I mean is that there are currently armed interventions against the self-proclaimed Islamic State. It is certainly necessary to stop the aggressor. But we must not remain at this level, that is, to react with the mere force of weapons. Although in cases such as this resorting to arms could be legitimized to a certain extent, it is also necessary to remember that violence leads to further violence”. The French government is committed in combating ISIS together with the United States. What is your opinion about this military engagement? “I will answer this question by reiterating what Pope Francis said to this regard, namely that when there is an unjust aggression is it legitimate to stop the unjust aggressor. We are coping with a band of assassins that must be stopped. And stopping them means to prevent them from taking action”. Could their present actions be compared to the genocide of a population? “It could, as we have seen in the case of the French hostage brutally killed. I don’t know which religion Hervé Gourdel belonged to. But he was certainly not killed for his Christian belief. They are authentic assassins”. How are French Muslims reacting to these barbarisms? “Very clearly. Over the past days Muslim leaders in France have condemned the crimes committed by the Daesh organization in a joint statement. They said that this organization has nothing of a State nor of Islam and in harmony with Christian authorities they also condemned the criminal acts perpetrated against Christians in Syria and Iraq. Their appeal to the young Muslims of France has also been very important so that the latter may not let themselves be tempted by fighting in support of these terrorists”. What can be said to France in these tragic days? “It’s a time when horror has overtaken us with the beheading of a French man by a criminal group tied to ISIS. Before the cruel death of an innocent man we appeal to all men and women of good will not to give in to the temptation of generalizing, making innocent people pay the dues with exclusion and words of condemnation for acts of cruelty committed by others. It should be clear that these deeds have nothing to do with Islam and that they belong to no religion. It’s the moment to be united, believers of all religions and humanists, to condemn together the barbarisms and commit ourselves where we are to promote gestures of fraternity, respect and welcome, especially towards those who are different from us. It’s the time to build together a world of communion and peace”.