AFRICA/EGYPT - “As missionaries for years we have sensed in secular circles hatred towards the Catholic Church"

Cairo (Agenzia Fides)-“I sympathise with the Holy Father because as missionaries we are familiar with discrimination on the part of secular circles” said Italian Comboni missionary Fr. Luciano Verdoscia, who has served for years in Cairo assisting poor children in Mansheya, the Zabbaleen or rag-pickers district.
“For years we have sensed profound hatred on the part of secular circles towards the Catholic Church as the bearer of a vision of man, originated from God - Fr. Luciano said- I speak of secular circles not of all secular individuals. A truly secular person is able to dialogue, but the fanatical secular person has a closed ideological vision which rejects comparison with others, and reasons on the basis of prejudice, and fails to consider actual truths. Especially on moral issues these circles want to silence the Catholic Church, often without even listening to her positions. This has led to the paradox that the Catholic Church, accused for years of being closed to comparison suffers discrimination on the part of the very people who claim to be open to dialogue. The present day challenge which derives from immigration, open frontiers and multicultural and multi-religious societies presuppose instead a great capacity for dialogue and listening to others”.
“I would challenge anyone who is prejudiced with regard to the Catholic Church to come and see what it means to live in a truly confessional regime: it will make them appreciate and value freedom of speech for everyone including the Pope which exists in the west” the missionary concludes. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 17 January righe 18 parole 227)