If you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna get a little religious on you for a minute. Sirkowski, if you’re reading this, avert your eyes.

Matthew 25:37-45
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’ Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.’”

“‘For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’”

“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’”

Now, this story is presented a little more fire-and-brimstone-y than my Quaker self usually appreciates, but sometimes my fellow Christians need a little spiritual warfare before the Love Thy Neighbor message really sinks in.

Malkin’s still not getting it.

Paul Belien at The Brussels Journal reports on the march of dhimmitude in Belgium.

Belien says:

The Belgian Bishops have opened their churches to illegal immigrants in order to pressurize the Belgian authorities to allow the immigrants to stay in the country…

The Muslim squatters hold Islamic prayer services in the church. The altar has been moved and the statue of Our Lady covered by a cloth to hide her from the eyes of the Muslim believers…

The squatters are living in the churches. “Church occupations” by illegal immigrants have been going on for a number of years in Belgium. They are not really “occupations” because the Bishops condone the actions and actively support them. Chris Gillibrand visited a number of Brussels churches to take these pictures.

Oh, the nerve of these bishops.

Luke 10:33-35
But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins[e] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

“But Auguste,” you say, as you so often do, “these squatters are not mugging victims! They are illegal immigrants! In the country illegally! They have broken the law! And, did we not mention, they are Muslims!”

And, as so often when you argue with me, you are wrong.

Refugees whose permission to stay in Belgium has expired have occupied at least five Catholic churches hoping to pressure the government to regularize their status.

About 100 Afghans occupied the Church of Ste. Croix in Ixelles March 31, saying they feared for their lives if they were forced to return to Afghanistan. They occupied the church without the parish priest’s permission but seemed well organized and receiving help from Belgium supporters.

As night approached, the priest asked them to move to another parish building where they continued their protests in a single room, sleeping on mattresses on the floor. They have toilets and sinks, but no showers or tubs for bathing.

A supporter of the Afghans, Edith Mercier told NCR that it is as if the parish priest moved the refugees to a “stable.” She said she is not a parishioner of the Church of Ste. Croix. As 65 of the refugees began a hunger strike April 6, local media quoted a government spokesman saying immigration officials would review the Afghans’ requests on a case-by-case basis.

The church in this story is not specified but I have the feeling it’s the specific story Belien is referring to:

It is unclear how many asylum seekers will be allowed to stay in Belgium and how many will be forcefully repatriated, as Iran has refused to accept the return of Iranian refugees.

Asylum seekers who want to press their claim to a legal status in Belgium have occupied 11 churches across the country.

In a church community centre in Brussels, dozens of Iranian asylum seekers gathered to protest at the government’s plans to tighten asylum procedures.

They claim that the Belgian government has increased its demands to repatriate immigrants and asylum seekers back to their mother countries.

However Iran has refused to accept the return of Iranian refugees and therefore they are caught in a form of political no-man’s land.

Illegal immigrants? I suppose, in the same way that Cuban refugees are illegal immigrants.

Matthew 2:13-15

When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed [until Herod’s death]…

As for the use of a Catholic Church for Muslim worship, the overall Christian umbrella is absolutely packed to the gills with churches which allow their facilities to be used for interfaith programs. I know of buildings locally which are primarily Christian churches but also rent or donate their space to groups representing other religions. I don’t know what the specific overall Catholic stance on this is, but it seems to me that the protection of the weakest among us - refugees certainly qualify - ought to override the concern that the wrong kind of prayer or the wrong iconography is taking place within the wrong four walls.