By Debbie Schlussel

Muslims aren’t the only ones into hijacking. The Pope did his own hijacking over the weekend as he pandered to Muslims and tried to stick yet another needle in the eye of Israel. The Pope hijacked the memory of two Arabic nuns who fought off Muslims and Islam, lying and claiming they actually “reached out” to Muslims.

Over the weekend, Pope Francis went a step further in pandering to Catholicism’s sworn enemies in the Middle East. After first recognizing the terrorist state of Palestine, Francis canonized two Arab nuns, both of whom he claimed were “Palestinians.” In fact, for most of the time both of them were alive, there was no Palestine and as much as there was, it was JEWISH Palestine.

But even worse is the fact that these nuns faced likely death in fighting off the Muslims in what is now the Palestinian Authority, and yet the Pope omitted this fact. Even worse than that, one of the nuns is described as having “fellowship” with the Muslim world–the same world she courageously fought when it tried to forcibly convert her under threat of death.

None of this was mentioned, as the Pope hijacked her memory for the sake of pandering to the Muslim state of Palestine he now recognizes–the state where few Catholics are left as they’ve been murdered, raped, tortured, or otherwise forced to flee.

During Sunday Mass, the Pope canonized nuns Mariam Baouardy and Marie-Alphonsine Ghattas, and Vatican officials referred to the two nuns as “Palestinian.” They were not. Sister Mariam Baouardy died in 1878 and Sister Marie-Alponsine Ghattas died in 1927, long before any of the current day “Palestinians” and their ancestors even lived in the area (most “Palestinians” are from nomadic Arab families who cannot document they were ever in the area before 1948 when Israel became a state). Neither of them would fare well in the current HAMASastan in Gaza or in Yasser Arafat’s legacy Palestinian Authority.

Sister Mariam Baouardy (also spelled, Mariam Bawardy) was born in 1846 in what is now Galilee in Northern Israel. At the time, it was considered the Southern Syrian portion of the Ottoman Empire. This area has never ever been considered part of the Palestinian State, and it is well outside the Green Line. That the Vatican and the Pope call this Palestine says that the Vatican and the Pope don’t believe in Israel’s right to exist in any way shape or form. Baouardy’s parents were Syrian and Lebanese Greek Catholics, and she was raised in Alexandria, Egypt. She was in no way, shape, or form “Palestinian,” and the Vatican is simply lying about her when it calls her a “Palestinian.”

Sister Baouardy was an extremely courageous woman. She fought off attempts by Muslims to forcibly convert her to Islam and attempts by her parents to forcibly marry her at age 13 to her uncle’s brother-in-law. Her uncle severely beat her because of her refusal to wed and choice to become a nun. She dedicated her life to the poor and was known as a saintly woman.

The event in Baouardy’s life for which she is most known is the incident in which a Muslim servant tried to get her to convert to Islam. She refused, and he slit her throat with a knife, dumping her body in an alley.

In her isolation from her uncle’s family, she turned to a Muslim servant to have him deliver her letter to Nazareth. For his part, the young man encouraged Mariam to reveal her personal troubles. He became outraged at her uncle’s treatment of her and played upon the mind and feelings of the young girl. He introduced conversion to Islam as a remedy to Mariam’s problems. His words and actions focused young Mariam directly upon her Christianity. However, she soon realized the young man’s true intentions, and this caused her to draw back. She denied his advances and loudly proclaimed her faith in the Church of Jesus. “Muslim, no, never! I am a daughter of the Catholic Church, and I hope by the grace of God to persevere until death in my religion, which is the only true one.” Her so-called protector, furious at being rejected by this young Christian, became violent. Eyes flashing with hatred he lost control and kicked her to the floor. He then drew his sword and slashed her throat. Thinking her dead, he dumped her bloody body in a nearby dark alley.

But she miraculously recovered from this experience after a nun found her, picked her up, and stitched up her throat wound, nursing her back to health. This is considered one of the two miracles that made her eligible to be canonized.

Given Sister Baouardy’s life story, it is incredible–an incredible lie–that Pope Francis praised Baouardy as “having been ‘a means of encounter and fellowship with the Muslim world.‘” Well, it was definitely an encounter with the Muslim world. But, no, Pope Francis, Sister Baouardy was a literal example that there is no fellowship with the Muslim world. Not even close. That’s why Christians are less than 2% of the remaining Palestinian population.

Much less is known about the life of Sister Marie-Alphonsine Ghattas. But we know that Baouardy’s big event in life was near-death from a murderous Muslim trying to convert her. And we know that today’s Palestinian Authority is a “state” in which neither nun would be welcome. We know that it is an Islamic state governed by Islamic law a/k/a sharia. We know that Catholics and other Christians are regularly murdered and chased out in the name of Islam with the full cooperation of this new “state” now recognized by the Pope.

It is an abomination that the Pope uses the good, saintly name of Sister Mariam Baouardy–who nearly gave her life because she refused to convert to Islam–to recognize and promote an Islamic state that is the modern-day proxy of her attacker.

If you are Catholic, you should be as disgusted by this big fat lie as I am.

So, when the Pope calls Palestinian terrorist-in-chief Mahmoud Abbas “an angel of peace,” ask yourself if he’d be saying the same thing about Sister Baouardy’s Muslim assailant.

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By the way, it should be noted that many of the Palestinians in attendance at St. Peter’s Square for this propaganda event on Sunday were not Catholic. They were Muslims riding this BS all the way to the next jihad. And, sadly, Israel sent a pandering rep to watch Vatican Nero play his fiddle.

The canonization was celebrated in the Holy Land as well as by Palestinians in Rome. Bassam Abbas, a Palestinian-born doctor who has lived in Italy for 35 years, traveled from Civitavecchia, northwest of Rome, for the event with his wife and three children. They are Muslim, but their children go to a Catholic school.

“We are proud of this event,” Abbas said outside St. Peter’s Square as he waved a giant Palestinian flag. “We want peace for Palestine, peace which transcends religion.”

In addition to the Palestinian delegation on hand for the Mass, Israel sent a delegation headed by its ambassador to the Holy See, while France, Italy and Jordan also sent official delegations.