This year I have written the Christmas Greeting from the best possible place, the Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem. I came to Palestine in response to the distress call of Christian Arabs who are suffering the war with Israel and the marginalization of their own Muslim brothers. Living many days amongst them made me think, and like every year, this reflection I share with all of you.
Are Muslims the culprits of Europe’s serious social problems?
Guilty, never, if at all, opportunists in a sick Europe who digs its own grave.
The Muslims are not guilty of our moral degradation, of our relativism accomplice with the worst, of our decadence and loss of values sacrificed on the altar of the vulgar, of the hedonism and of the superficiality.
Let us not blame the Muslims, faithful to their religion, for having turned our backs on ours, for despising the effort and sacrifice of our previous generations, for renouncing to our faith and embracing the nothingness as an alternative. We have opted for selfishness in our social policies, and Europe dies from old age and with no children in the parks. The worst thing about not believing in God is that you can believe in anything, and here the Muslims are way ahead of us; they are very clear that anything is not acceptable or any other God.
Sitting on the floor at the foot of the manger where Jesus was born, I thought:
Will the Muslim presence help us to reencounter with our essence and our God?
If so, welcome to our Muslim brothers.
Merry Christmas where everyone is invited to our table, without exclusion, without hatred or guilt, for the day of the birth of the Lord is time for forgiveness and humility.
Armando Menéndez Suárez
