The American Spectator

He will demonstrate that the commands of Jesus Christ to love our enemies and pray for those who hate us, are not just empty platitudes. He will ask God: “Turn to Your way of love, those whose hearts and minds are consumed with hatred.”

THERE ARE THOSE who feel these words will — if possible — further inflame the world of radical Islam. Just this week, Hamas MP and cleric, Yunis Al-Astal, declared: “Very soon, Allah willing, Rome will be conquered, just like Constantinople was, as was prophesized by our Prophet Muhammad…This capital of theirs will be an advanced post for the Islamic conquests, which will spread through Europe in its entirety, and then will turn to the two Americas, and even Eastern Europe.”

Yet while Islamist hopes of stabling their horses in St. Peter’s Basilica persist, last month at the Easter Vigil there, the pope personally baptized Magdi Allam, an outspoken critic of both Muslim extremism and Islam itself, and welcomed him into the Catholic Church; much to the dismay of Islamists everywhere. Agree or disagree with President Bush on his military approach to the War on Terror, but this is a Pope who is truly battling evil with the “armor of God.”

Pope Benedict’s first encyclical was entitled, “God is Love,” while his second was “Saved By Hope.” Taken together and lived out in faith, can there be a better message to a nation where many are drowning in materialism, moral uncertainty and despair?