Attacks and bombings in Paris in November, San Bernardino, Calif., in December and just last week in Jakarta, Indonesia, seem to show radical Islam on the march across the globe.

But this is a misconception, according to Capuchin Franciscan Friar the Rev. Scott Seethaler, one Seethaler hopes to dispel when he speaks Jan. 28 at St. Mary and St. Joseph Roman Catholic churches.

His presentation, “An Overview to Islam” at 11 a.m. at St. Mary of the Assumption Parish Hall, 821 St. Mary Road, Herman, and at 7 p.m. in St. Joseph Hall, 315 Stoney Hollow Road, Cabot, will touch on the life of Muhammad, define Islamic terms, give a brief history of the growth of Islam and talk about current challenges related to Islam.

Seethaler said, “I’ve been to Israel twice, I’ve been to Greece. I have been studying Islam now for almost 15 years.”

Seethaler, who lives at the St. Conrad Friary in Allison Park, said, “I have given this talk at least seven times.”

“It is important to understand. I give an overview of Islam from the Prophet to the present time, giving information on the life of Muhammad, explaining what words like the ‘Koran,’ ‘Islam’ and ‘Muslim’ mean, explaining the difference between Shiite and Sunni Muslims,” he said. “It’s very informational not sensational.”

“It’s information that people need to have. I talk about the spread of Islam and discuss briefly how this radicalization has occurred and is the root of ISIS,” he said.

The pastor of St. Mary and St. Joseph, the Rev. Ward Stakem, invited Seethaler to speak because they are longtime friends.

“We’ve known one another since high school. I was a freshman and he was a junior at St. Fidelis (High School Seminary in Herman),” said Stakem.

“I know he’s read and studied this subject. He’s not presenting himself as an expert in this matter,” said Stakem.

Stakem said his nearly 800 parishioners in Herman and 1,100 parishioners in Cabot had questions in light of recent history.

“I think there is a general concern about and a lack of understanding and information,” Stakem said.

“You hear so many different things from politicians and the news,” Stakem said.

Stakem continued, “He doesn’t take sides with anybody but tries to give a sense of where all this came from. And of course there is the connection of Christians living in those lands that other Christians are wondering about.”

Seethaler said of his audience, “First of all, I’d think I want them to take away knowledge.”

“Are there misconceptions out there? There would be, I think. When some enemies come from a certain country, then all Germans were suspect,” he said.

“Unfortunately with radicalization and refugees, the danger is to make every Muslim a terrorist, and that’s not the case,” Seethaler said.

“I hope my listeners take away good information so they can carry on good conversations and not generalize about all Muslims,” he said.

“They should find the information helpful in understanding Islam. In general, the more information we have about a thing, the less we are afraid,” Seethaler said.

“I have contacted a number of pastors asking if they were interested in having me talk,” he said, and it was at one such talk last year that Seethaler’s old friend Stakem saw him.

Stakem said, “He gave a talk in another parish on the same topic. He asked me if I thought it would be something the parishioners would be interested in. I thought it could be an informational experiment for our parishoners and I agreed to arrange it.”

Stakem said he was unsure of what the turnout would be like for the Jan. 28 talk.

“So much up here in our area depends on the weather, and we will just have to see. In other talks he was impressed in the numbers that came,” Stakem said.