In an interview with the National Catholic Register, the Archbishop of Mosul warned the European Parliament of “a force of darkness” in Europe which is “embodied in people who are far from God, far from humanity and far from everything that constitutes the essence of religion.”

He said that on recent trips to refugee camps in Turkey he has found “several thousand jihadists infiltrated into the hearts of families seeking to reach Europe.” Turkey is “keeping all these people knowing that it will open the doors when it wants to,” he stated. “The problem of migrants is not only humanitarian but also political. It is used for political purposes.”

He also talked about the recent jihadists attacks in France and other European countries. According to him, there are countries that “want to invade and destabilize the political and human rights system in Europe in general” and religion is being used for this purpose “because it is the easiest way to wrap political actions.” The aim of those engaged in this kind of violence is to destabilise Western countries on the security level so that Islam will indeed spread more easily, he explained.

Mikhael mentioned that when he grew up in Mosul, sharia was not really applied, and 90% of women did not wear a veil, he said, but now harmful ideologies are returning and spreading in a lot of schools, even as far as Europe.

“And we let them,” the archbishop complained. “These fanatical networks could not flourish if the different European countries enforced the laws.”

He agreed that the rejection by most European societies of their Christian roots accentuates the problem.

“Europe has made a mistake in cutting itself off from its spiritual and cultural roots because it has weakened it. “A tree without roots to nourish it,” he said, “will necessarily dry up.”

Source: Aleteia.org