VaticanNews portal (December 23, 2025) reports on the burning of a Christmas tree at Jenin’s Church of the Holy Redeemer by “alleged radicalized young Muslims,” quoting Mr. Adolfo Tito Yllana (“Apostolic Delegate”) condemning the act while promoting interfaith “brotherhood.” The article frames the incident through naturalistic “hope” and “joy” disconnected from the supernatural realities of Christian martyrdom, omitting the systemic Islamic persecution of Christians in Palestine.
Naturalistic Reduction of Persecution to Mere “Vandalism”
The article’s description of the arson as “vandalism” constitutes a grave minimization of religious persecution. Canon Law (1917) defines sacrilege as “the violation or irreverent treatment of a sacred thing” (Canon 2325), while Pius XI’s Quas Primas declares that “the rebellion of individuals and states against the authority of Christ has produced deplorable consequences” (1925). By avoiding the term “sacrilege,” the conciliar sect betrays its doctrinal bankruptcy. The report’s silence on Qur’anic verses commanding Muslims to “fight those who do not believe in Allah” (9:29) reveals deliberate obfuscation of theological causes behind anti-Christian violence.
False Ecumenism Replaces Catholic Fortitude
Mr. Yllana’s statement that “we are supposed to live as brothers here” directly contradicts the Syllabus of Errors condemning the notion that “Protestantism is nothing more than another form of the same true Christian religion” (Proposition 18). Worse still, his extension of this “brotherhood” to Muslims constitutes apostasy against Pius XI’s teaching that “the Church cannot approve of… false opinions which… consider all religions alike” (Mortalium Animos, 1928). The article’s celebration of Muslims “joining” Christmas celebrations ignores the Islamic denial of Christ’s divinity – a blasphemy requiring condemnation, not syncretist applause.
Naturalized “Hope” Denies the Kingship of Christ
The portal’s portrayal of “hope” as “the air we breathe” reduces Christian virtue to naturalistic sentimentality. Contrast this with Pius XI’s encyclical instituting Christ the King: “When once men recognize… the royal prerogatives of Christ… it will be possible to heal the wounds from which society suffers” (Quas Primas). By omitting the necessity of societal submission to Christ’s reign, the article promotes the very secularism condemned in Proposition 55 of the Syllabus: “The Church ought to be separated from the State, and the State from the Church.”
Omission of Martyrdom Theology Exposes Modernist Agenda
Nowhere does the article mention the traditional teaching that persecution brings spiritual fruit. St. Augustine’s maxim “The blood of martyrs is the seed of Christians” (Sermo 304) is replaced with Yllana’s therapeutic call to “pray for those who perpetrated this act.” This echoes the modernist error condemned in St. Pius X’s Lamentabili: “Revelation was merely man’s self-awareness of his relationship to God” (Proposition 20). Authentic Catholic response would demand public restitution, conversion of persecutors, and governmental protection – not interfaith platitudes.
Structural Complicity in Christian Eradication
The report’s failure to note that Jenin’s Christian population has plummeted from 4,000 in 1967 to under 200 today reveals the conciliar sect’s collusion in Islamization. As Muslim mobs burned the tree, Bethlehem’s “Christian” mayor (a Muslim) attended the replacement ceremony – a detail omitted by VaticanNews. This follows the pattern of Lamentabili‘s condemned proposition: “In the early Church there was no concept of a Christian sinner whom the Church absolves with its authority” (Proposition 46). True shepherds would excommunicate collaborators, not photograph them beside replacement trees.
The Vatican portal’s narrative constitutes spiritual treason against Palestine’s remaining faithful. By replacing the Cross with a burned pine tree as their Advent symbol, conciliar officials manifest what Pius IX denounced: “The cult of man is substituted for the cult of God” (Allocution Maxima Quidem, 1862). Until they demand Muslim leaders publicly repent for permitting anti-Christian violence, their “condemnations” remain empty theater aiding the persecutors they pretend to decry.
Source:
Apostolic Delegate to Jerusalem and Palestine: Christians don't lose hope (vaticannews.va)
Date: 23.12.2025