Tanzanian bishops' head warns of growing threat from militant Islamists
27 May, 2013 - The head of the Tanzanian bishops' conference has warned of a growing
threat from militant Islamists and urged police and government to act more forcefully
against violence and intimidation. "The recent campaigns can't be seen as isolated
or separate," Bishop Tarcisius Ngalalekumtwa of Iringa, Tanzania, told Catholic News
Service (CNS) in a phone interview May 23. "Christian-Muslim relations have always
been cordial here, which is why we're astonished by the latest violence. We conclude
it must reflect interference from outside," he said. The bishop told CNS that Catholics
were confident they could "get through the time of trouble" and were "united in prayer
and conversation" with other threatened Christian denominations. He said he believed
recent violence was intended to "put into effect" a 1989 Islamist "Abuja Declaration,"
which called for making all Africa Muslim. "Ordinary Muslims have nothing against
the Christian religion and Catholic faith -- the only ones who do are fundamentalists,
pressed and influenced from outside," said Bishop Ngalalekumtwa, who has headed Tanzania's
Iringa Diocese since 1992. (Source: CNS)