An American spokesperson for Al Qaeda, Adam Gadahn, concluded last year that because of church scandals Catholics were “fertile ground” for conversion. According to newly declassified documents, Gadahn wrote to Osama Bin Laden in January 2011 and laid out reasons for reaching out to Catholics, particularly in Ireland, and urged Bin Laden to use public anger over the church’s mishandling of clerical abuse to encourage conversions to Islam. The letter was among files allegedly found at Bin Laden’s Pakistan hideout after he was killed by U.S. special forces in Abbottabad, Pakistan, last May. The letter from Gadahn particularly highlighted reasons for approaching the Irish, noting Ireland was not a participant in “Bush’s Crusade wars” and “the increasing anger in Ireland towards the Catholic Church.” He noted the hunger of youths because of Ireland’s economic downturn and wrote that Irish people—”the most religious of atheist Europe”—were moving toward secularism. “Why do not we face them with Islam?” he asked.
Al Qaeda: Catholics 'Fertile Ground'
Show Comments (
)
Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
The latest from america
“Inside the Vatican” host Colleen Dulle shares how her visit to Argentina gave her a deeper understanding into Francis’ emphasis on “being amongst the people” and his belief that “you can’t do theology behind a desk.”
Christians who have lived in Nagorno-Karabakh for 2,000 years are being driven out by Azerbaijan. Will world leaders act?
The problem is not that TikTok users feel disappointed about the potential loss of an entertaining social platform; it is that many young people see a ban on TikTok as the end of, or at least a major disruption to, their social life.
Two new Broadway productions cast these two towering figures in sharp relief.