{"id":8280,"date":"2026-06-11T18:29:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T17:29:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/soerenkern.com\/web\/?p=8280"},"modified":"2026-06-22T18:44:53","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T17:44:53","slug":"the-vicar-of-christ-is-doing-islams-pr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/soerenkern.com\/web\/2026\/06\/11\/the-vicar-of-christ-is-doing-islams-pr\/","title":{"rendered":"Pope Leo Urges Spain to Embrace Multicultural Coexistence with Islam"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Pope Leo XIV began an official visit to Spain by urging Spaniards to embrace multicultural coexistence with Islam and stop \u201cfanning the flames of polarization\u201d over mass migration from the Muslim world.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Pope Leo Urges Spain to Embrace Multicultural Coexistence with Islam<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Soeren Kern | Ideological Defense Institute<\/a> | June 11, 2026<\/p>\n

Pope Leo XIV began an official visit to Spain (June 6\u201312) by urging Spaniards to embrace multicultural coexistence with Islam and stop \u201cfanning the flames of polarization\u201d over mass migration from the Muslim world. He said that Christians and Muslims can live together as friends and proceeded to present medieval Spain\u2014which was occupied by Islamic invaders for nearly 800 years\u2014as an interfaith utopia that led to advancements in astronomy, medicine, and science.<\/p>\n

The Pope declared<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cYour own history suggests that a culture of encounter, not confrontation, is what fosters stability and prosperity\u2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe presence of Islam on the Iberian Peninsula, for example, constituted a long-standing political, cultural, and religious reality. During that period, there was not only confrontation, but also an attempt to create a space for contact, conversation and dialogue on the meaning of truth among Christians, Muslims and Jews.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cAt the School of Translators enhanced by Alfonso X (the Wise), experts from all three religions collaborated on translating the texts of the rich Arabic, Greek and Hebrew heritage, contributing to the dissemination of texts such as those of the philosophers Averroes (1126\u20131198) and Maimonides (1138\u20131204), among others.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe cities of C\u00f3rdoba and Toledo, in particular, became centers of dialogue between languages, religions and knowledge. This is the truth told by European cities: their historical stratification, the fabric of solidarity that has shaped their differences over the centuries, transforming inevitable conflicts into new beginnings.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Pope\u2019s remarks were greeted with significant pushback by Spanish historians, theologians, and lay Catholics. They accused him of misrepresenting Spain\u2019s history by repeating the false claims of progressive historians that life on the Iberian Peninsula (modern-day Spain and Portugal) during its eight-century-long occupation by Muslims was a paragon of religious tolerance and harmony.<\/p>\n

A Brief Religious History of Spain<\/strong><\/p>\n

Before examining the Pope\u2019s comments in greater detail, some historical context may be helpful. Spain is one of the oldest Christian nations in the world. The Apostle Paul, writing in Romans 15:24-28, twice expressed a desire to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ in Spain, the farthest western edge of the Roman world.<\/p>\n

Historians debate whether Paul ever made it to Spain, but Christianity did spread across the Iberian Peninsula after the Edict of Milan (AD 313), which granted Christians legal protection to practice their faith in every part of the Roman Empire. Christianity became entrenched in Spain after the Edict of Thessalonica (AD 380) established Nicene Christianity as the official state religion of the Roman Empire.<\/p>\n

In AD 711, less than a century after the birth of Islam, the Moors (North African, Arab and Berber Muslims), serving the Umayyad caliphs of Damascus, invaded the Iberian Peninsula, parts of which remained occupied by Muslims for nearly 800 years. Under Islamic rule, this territory was known in Arabic as al-Andalus<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The centuries-long Reconquista<\/em> (reconquest) to liberate the Iberian Peninsula from Moorish occupation began with the Battle of Covadonga (AD 718\u2013722), when a nobleman named Pelayo defeated the Moors in northern Spain and established the Christian Kingdom of Asturias. He is considered by many to be the \u201cfounder of Spain\u201d and the \u201cfirst king of Spain.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Reconquista<\/em> continued for another 770 years; the Islamic era in Spain did not end until 1492, when the Catholic Monarchs\u2014King Ferdinand II or Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile\u2014successfully conquered the Emirate of Granada, the last Moorish stronghold on the Iberian Peninsula, and reunified Spain under Christian rule.<\/p>\n

Life in Muslim Spain<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Pope\u2019s idealized portrayal of life in Spain for Jews and Christians under Muslim occupation does not jibe with historical reality. Islamic Spain was ruled by Muslim theocrats and was marked by the marginalization and repression of Jews and Christians in all areas of life.<\/p>\n

Historians estimate that the total population of the Iberian Peninsula before AD 711 was approximately five million. The initial number of Moorish invaders numbered around 10,000 men, but continuous migration from North Africa and the Middle East over the following centuries increased to the extent that Muslims eventually became the majority in Spain.<\/p>\n

The new Islamic social structure in medieval Spain (al-Andalus<\/em>) divided the population between Muslims (umma<\/em>), and non-Muslims (Jews and Christians), who were the \u201cprotected people\u201d (dhimmis<\/em>). The dhimmis<\/em>, although legally protected, were second-class citizens required to pay a special tax (jizya<\/em>) and accept religious and cultural repression in all aspects of life. Because they could never have equal status with Muslims, the jizya<\/em> incentivized nominal Jews and Christians to convert to Islam.<\/p>\n

Pope Leo\u2019s assertion that life in al-Andalus was marked by peaceful coexistence is untrue. The reality, according to historians, is that the Arab Muslim invaders subjected Jews and Christians\u2014the so-called People of the Book (the Bible)\u2014to an existence of institutionalized prohibitions and violence.<\/p>\n

Some Christians were able to preserve their religion, but sought to imitate Arab customs so much that they became known as the Mozarabs (those who claim to be Arabs or Arabized). Mozarabs adopted the Arabic language and approximately 50 percent of them converted to Islam by AD 950 due to Muslim social pressure.<\/p>\n

In his landmark book, The Myth of the Andalusian Paradise<\/a>, historian Dar\u00edo Fern\u00e1ndez-Morera documents the \u201cbrutality,\u201d \u201cbrute force,\u201d and \u201cruthless methods\u201d with which the Muslims subjugated the Jewish and Catholic populations of Spain. He shows how Muslims systematically sacked Catholic cities and towns, demolished their churches, confiscated their property, enslaved them, and increased their taxes \u201cto finance the embellishment of al-Andalus.\u201d He further documents imprisonments, forced exiles, assassinations, and racial prejudice by Muslims against Jews and Christians. He adds<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe existence of a Muslim kingdom in Medieval Spain where different races and religions lived harmoniously in multicultural tolerance is one of today\u2019s most widespread myths. University professors teach it. Journalists repeat it. Tourists visiting the Alhambra accept it. It has reached the editorial pages of the Wall Street Journal<\/em>, which sings the virtues of the \u201cpan-confessional humanism\u201d of Andalusian Spain (July 18, 2003). The Economist<\/em> echoes the belief: \u201cMuslim rulers of the past were far more tolerant of people of other faiths than were Catholic ones [November 15, 2001]\u2026. The problem with this belief is that it is historically unfounded, a myth. The fascinating cultural achievements of Islamic Spain cannot obscure the fact that it was never an example of peaceful convivencia<\/em>.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Pope Leo\u2019s False History Lesson<\/strong><\/p>\n

In his speech, the Pope cited four examples of peaceful coexistence between Muslims, Jews, and Christians in medieval Spain: Averroes and Maimonides, and C\u00f3rdoba and Toledo. Each of these examples contradict the claim that Islamic Spain was a beacon of peaceful coexistence. Let\u2019s examine them in chronological order.<\/p>\n