Pope Francis Names 800 New Saints beheaded after refusing to convert to Islam in 1480

 
A list which includes 800 victims of an atrocity carried out by Ottoman soldiers in 1480.

Pope Francis's first canonization ceremony was a record-breaking one. The new pontiff named over 800 new saints on Sunday. That's already almost double the number of saints declared by Pope John Paul II, whose 480-odd canonizations were, at the time, more than those of all of his predecessors since 1588, combined. But the latest canonization bonanza is notable for another reason: most of the 800 new saints are 15th-century martyrs, who were approved as a group for sainthood by Francis's predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI. Given Pope Francis's previous public commitment to improving the Catholic church's relationship with Muslim communities worldwide, Benedict XVI's unfinished business put the new pontiff in a delicate position. The 813 "Martyrs of Otranto" were beheaded by Ottoman soldiers for refusing to convert to Islam. 


Pope Francis, who is also fighting against Benedict XVI's overall poor reputation among many in the Muslim community, tried to handle the potentially awkward moment by declining to mention "Islam" in his entire speech marking the canonizations. Instead, he emphasized the Christian faith of the martyrs, with a relatively toned-down nod to ending inter-religious violence: "Let us ask God to sustain those many Christians who, in these times and in many parts of the world, right now, still suffer violence, and give them the courage and fidelity to respond to evil with good,” he told the crowd in St. Peter's Square. 

The pope also canonized two women from Latin America, which seems to be a more fitting way for the first pope from the continent to kick off his tenure. Those two new saints are Laura of St. Catherine of Siena Montoya y Upegui (also the first saint from Columbia) and Maria Guadalupe Garcia Zavala of Mexico. Saints, as you might know, must have performed two miracles in the eyes of the church to qualify for the Catholic church's highest honor. 

They were beheaded in the southern Italian town of Otranto after refusing to convert to Islam.

Their names are unknown, apart from one man, Antonio Primaldo.

The Italian “Martyrs of Otranto” were executed after 20,000 Turkish soldiers invaded their town in south-eastern Italy.

There was no hint of any anti-Islamic sentiment in the homily that Pope Francis delivered before tens of thousands of worshippers gathered in St Peter’s Square, the BBC’s David Willey in Rome reports.

The Pope may refuse to acknowledge the source and the BBC may be quick to grasp for anti-Islamic straws, but history cannot be rewritten by the dhimmi.

The BBC sidebar notes:

Otranto 14 August 1480

• The `’Martyrs of Otranto” were 813 Italians beheaded for defying demands by Turkish invaders to renounce Christianity
• The Turks had been sent by Mohammed II, who had already captured the “second Rome” of Constantinople
• His fleet landed in Otranto, Italy’s easternmost city, and laid siege
• Its citizens held out for two weeks, allowing the King of Naples to muster his forces and prevent the fall of Rome

Blessed Antonio was a tailor in the city of Otranto, Italy, in the 1400s. In 1480 the city was invaded by Turkish Moslems, their 150 ships and 18,000 troops greatly outnumbering the 6,000 inhabitants of the town. The conquerors executed the elderly bishop, Archbishop Stephen Pendinelli, and took the women and children into slavery. They rounded up all the men between the ages of fifteen and fifty—some 800 men in all. The Ottoman captors threatened to kill all the men, but promised to grant their lives and the freedom of their women and children if the men would simply renounce Christ and become Muslim.

Blessed Antonio remained firm, and encouraged his fellow citizens to stand strong in their faith. “My brothers,” he said, “until today we have fought in defense of our homeland, to save our lives, and for our earthly governors. Now it is time for us to fight to save our souls for the Lord. And since he died on the cross for us, it is fitting that we should die for him, remaining firm and constant in the faith, and with this earthly death we will earn eternal life and the glory of martyrdom.”

Blessed Antonio was the first to be beheaded, followed by 799 others. Tradition holds that Blessed Antonio’s headless body remained standing and could not be knocked down by the Turkish soldiers. Only when the last of the men was slain did his body collapse of its own accord. One of the Muslims, seeing this miracle, was converted and professed his faith in Christianity—after which he was immediately impaled upon a scimitar by his own comrades-in-arms.

BBC 

As Islam Grows, U.S. Imams In Short Supply

As Islam Grows, U.S. Imams In Short Supply

by JOHN BURNETT

Islam in America is growing exponentially. From 2000 to 2010, the number of mosques in the United States jumped 74 percent.

Today, there are more than 2,100 American mosques but they have a challenge: There aren't enough imams, or spiritual leaders, to go around.

The Mid-Cities Mosque in Colleyville, Texas, has two modest minarets that distinguish it as a sacred building here in this sedate suburb between Fort Worth and Dallas. It's trimmed in green lights — the color of Islam. A Dallas Muslim Yellow Pages sits in a rack outside the doors.

Inside, maghrib prayers, after sunset, are commencing. A husky young imam dressed in a sand-colored tunic closes his eyes and leans into a microphone. A dozen men stand barefoot, elbow-to-elbow on a green carpet, in quietude.

The 200 mostly Pakistani-American members of this small Texas mosque are lucky to have a full-time, American-born imam. There's an acute imam shortage in America, the result of supply, and demand, says Nouman Ali Khan.

"I've had the opportunity to travel to maybe 150 mosques across the country. And the vast majority of them, actually, did not have a full-time imam," says Ali Khan, who heads Bayyinah, an Arabic-language institute in Dallas that educates future imams. "The ones that did are very happy to have them and the ones that didn't are constantly asking me when I go for a seminar, 'Hey, so you know anybody?'"

Separated geographically from the rest of Islam, he says American Muslims must find their own way, must invent their own traditions.

In Islamic countries, mosques and imams are supported by the state. Here in the U.S., they are private just like any church. Moreover, they are likely to serve as religious and community centers for their ethnically distinct congregation.

Indeed, American mosques are filled with Muslims from many different countries. And increasingly they're the spiritual home of native-born Muslims whose identities are completely American.

Some young Muslims feel alienated from the mosque and from religious culture altogether. So U.S. mosques not only need imams trained in classical Islam, but who possess good English skills and a thorough understanding of American culture.

"You may have a scholarly religious figure that can speak to the older congregation, but he's not able to connect as well with the youth," Ali Khan says. "And in a lot of the interviews, it's even sort of a primary concern how well can you connect with the young in our community."

The Islamic Association of Mid-Cities went without an imam for 15 months before it finally chose Yahya Jaekoma. He's a cherubic, 23-year-old of Thai and Afghan descent, who was born in San Diego.

"I was a sponsored skater at the age of 10 ... and after breaking my arm, my grandmother told me I [had] to put it off," Jaekoma explains. "So she sent me to a madrassa, which is an institute to study the Quran, at the age of 14."

By the time he was 18, Jaekoma had memorized the entire Quran and dedicated his life to religious study. But his time as a hip-hop skateboarder gives him a unique voice for the youth in his mosque.

"I tell them my life story," he says. "I tell them where I came from. I tell them what I've done."

The youth group at the Mid-Cities mosque includes Sijil Patel, a 16-year-old Pakistani-American who is thoroughly modern with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, crazy-colored sneakers, and a headscarf.

"By having someone that was born here, it's easier to relate to them, and it's easier for them to understand our view on what we're dealing with and, like, the difficulties we have with our faith in, like, such a modern environment," Patel says.

Some of those things include dating, sex, drugs, alcohol and profanity.

"We've been strictly taught in Islam that vulgar language is not allowed," Patel says. "I try my best to, like, not engage in that type of thing, and I've told my friends, too."

A recent survey by the Islamic Society of North America reports that only 44 percent of American imams are salaried and full-time. The rest are volunteer religious leaders. Four out of five imams here were born and educated outside the United States, mostly in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and India.

"I can count the number of institutions that prepare imams in the U.S. on three fingers," says Jihad Turk, president the Bayan Claremont Islamic graduate school in Southern California.

Turk estimates that his institution, Hartford Seminary in Connecticut, and Zaytuna College in the San Francisco Bay Area will, collectively, graduate fewer than 30 Koranic scholars this year.

This handful of newly minted American imams should have no trouble at all finding work.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2013/02/10/171629187/as-islam-grows-u-s-imams-in-short-supply