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Not many people know why the Crusades began in the year 1095. The Seljuk Turks were preventing pilgrims from entering the Holy Land, and the pope urged Christians, especially the Knights, to lead a Crusade to win back access to the places where Christ had lived and died. Not only was visiting the Holy Land at stake, but Muslim armies had conquered not only all of the Middle East, North Africa and Spain, but had made inroads into France and Italy and would eventually spread even as far as Austria. The situation today is similar in many respects.
Today, in the name of Allah, ISIS has taken over parts of Syria and Iraq, threatens other areas in Libya, and spreads terrorism in France and elsewhere. They have to be resisted. While armed resistance is imperative, a different Crusade is what Christianity, Europe and all who love freedom should adopt—a worldwide Crusade of Prayer for the conversion of the twisted minds that see jihad as a monstrous annihilation of all opponents.
When I was a small boy in Jamaica, I once publicly recited a poem written by the British poet, Sir Henry Newbolt. One of its lines, relevant to the First World War, says, “...to honor, while you strike him down, the foe that comes with fearless eyes.” I suggest that Cardinal Dolan and other leaders declare a Crusade of Prayer for the terrorists, for the millions of displaced migrants and for the freedom and safety of the world, that God will have mercy on us and show us the way to resist this misguided scourge, with strength and united prayer.
Robert F. Patterson
Tarrytown
