In a column for the Boston Herald on Saturday, Raymond Flynn, former US ambassador to the Vatican, harshly criticized the complacency of Americans in the reported murder of Christians by radical Islamic terrorists in Iraq.

“Where is the moral outrage in America?” he asks. “Have we given up?”

The former mayor of Boston wrote, “Politicians are only concerned about raising money from powerful special interest groups to win the next election, while Hollywood and the media focus on appealing to a changing secular culture and not for standing up for what’s right.”

“The worst example of this betrayal is the reported slaughter of Christians in Iraq by radical Islamic terrorists, who are determined to kill all Christians and Jews in the world. I have been talking about this crisis since I returned home from the Vatican and the Middle East and Africa. But because I no longer hold public office, the media can ignore what I have to say. Contacts in the Catholic Church in the Middle East continue to inform me about what’s taking place, as do Vatican and U.S. State Department officials, intelligence officers and the CIA.”

Flynn says he has spoken out about the issue, but no one seems to care.

“Based on information from religious and political sources in Iraq, I wrote a letter to President Obama and other political leaders — including U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Bay State U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey — urging increased military action, but they have not responded. I have been speaking out about the killing and torture of Christians in Iraq, as have other concerned people. But not enough has been done. Our constant plea has been ignored in Washington.”

He concludes: “So where is the outrage, America? Where are the voices of justice?”

“This is genocide, and I’m afraid we will be judged harshly for our lack of political courage.”