Prince says killing for faith is blasphemy

The Prince of Wales said this week that killing in the name of faith is blasphemy and warned that online videos of executions by Islamic extremists take the world back “into the dark ages”, writes Abigail Frymann Rouch.

Speaking to Chaldean Catholics in west London on Tuesday, the Prince of Wales said: “We hear much at present about ‘the duty of care’. Then, ladies and gentlemen, I am bound to ask, whether there is not a duty of care towards the victims of violence and their families who, like you, are daily distraught by the graphic transmission of violent images of their loved ones?”

He also suggested that someone of faith who persecuted someone of another faith brought dishonour on the faith of the persecutor, and that to kill “in the name of faith is nothing less than a blasphemy”.

The prince visited the Holy Family Church in Acton, west London, which is home to the only Chaldean Catholic congregation in the United Kingdom. He spoke to Iraqi parishioners who had lost their family homes and possessions to Islamic State jihadists.

In recent months, the prince has spoken out with increasing concern about the plight of Christians in the Middle East.