Meanwhile, not surprisingly, there have been violent reactions from the poor in the Muslim world along with the repeated calls for calm. Some uninformed people in the west still claim Islamic leaders haven't emphatically condemned violence, despite the repeated fatwas from leaders all over the Muslim world.
washingtonpost.com
Pope Benedict XVI said yesterday that he is "deeply sorry" about the reaction in some countries to a recent speech in which he quoted a 14th-century Byzantine emperor as saying that the prophet Muhammad brought "only evil and inhuman" things to the world.
The pope said that the quotation from Manuel II Palaeologus does not reflect his personal views, and that his speech last Tuesday at Germany's University of Regensburg was intended to invite inter-religious dialogue "with great mutual respect." Benedict's brief statement was the third attempt by Vatican officials in as many days to cool the reaction to his speech, which escalated from diplomatic protests to violence over the weekend.
On Saturday, Palestinian Muslims threw firebombs and sprayed bullets at five churches in the West Bank and Gaza. Yesterday they torched a 170-year-old church in the West Bank town of Tul Karem and partly burned a smaller church in the village of Tubas. In Somalia, an Italian nun and her bodyguard were fatally shot, but it was not immediately clear whether that attack was related to the pope's speech.
The Vatican has gradually ratcheted up its efforts to explain the speech, beginning with a statement Friday by Federico Lombardi, head of the Vatican press office. It said that the pope's remarks were meant as "a clear and radical rejection of the religious motivation for violence."
On Saturday, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the pope's new secretary of state, said that the church "esteems" Muslims and that Benedict "sincerely regrets" that the address was "interpreted in a manner that in no way corresponds to his intentions."
Still, this error is unforgivable in the sense of the pope's leadership is so powerful, he must be more careful, have all of his words repeatedly reviewed before uttering them. Many more will suffer for his grievous error. Let's just hope that most get his intended message of dialogue. Unfortunately, his words defeated his purpose.
1 comment:
I think the Pope was only wrong about one thing the dialog with the Muslim extremists is not possible. People who are unable to talk and can only destroy property, feel hate and kill in the name of religion are hardly able to behave like humans in a civilized world.
As for inciting to crusades, I can tell you...seen these beasts destroying Christian churches could move quite a few to start doing the same with their mosques and their hate filled lot. I always felt sorry for the Palestinians until they starting attacking us. They should be walking on fours to match their brains.
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