During Angelus address July 28, Pope Francis urged the international community to do more to protect migrants.

3 thoughts on “‘Father, why?’”
  1. This notion of religious similarities was again taken up in epistolary exchanges between Elizabeth I of England and Sultan Murad III.[16] In one correspondence, Murad entertained the notion that Islam and Protestantism had “much more in common than either did with Roman Catholicism, as both rejected the worship of idols”, and argued for an alliance between England and the Ottoman Empire.[17]

    In a 1574 letter to the “Members of the Lutheran sect in Flanders and Spain”, Murad III made considerable efforts to highlight the similarities between Islamic and Protestants principles. He wrote:

    As you, for your part, do not worship idols, you have banished the idols and portraits and “bells” from churches, and declared your faith by stating that God Almighty is one and Holy Jesus is His Prophet and Servant, and now, with heart and soul, are seeking and desirous of the true faith; but the faithless one they call Papa does not recognize his Creator as One, ascribing divinity to Holy Jesus (upon him be peace!), and worshiping idols and pictures which he has made with his own hands, thus casting doubt upon the oneness of God and instigating how many servants to that path of error.

    — 1574 letter of Murad III to the “Members of the Lutheran sect in Flanders and Spain”.[18]
    Such claims seem to have been politically inspired as well, with the Ottomans trying to establish religious common ground as a way to secure a political alliance.[18] Elizabeth I herself however made efforts to adjust her own religious rhetoric in order to minimize differences with the Ottomans and facilitate relations.[19] In her correspondence with Murad, she stresses the monotheism and the anti-idolatry of her religion, by uniquely describing herself as:

    Elizabeth, by the grace of the most mighty God, the three part and yet singular Creator of Heaven and Earth, Queen of England, France and Ireland, the most invincible and most mighty defender of the Christian faith against all the idolatry of those unworthy ones that live amongst Christians, and falsely profess the name of Christ

    — Letter of Elizabeth I to

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