Controversy rages about Pope's comments on Islam

[Al-khiyal]

Pope Benedict has said he is "deeply sorry" for the angry reaction to his remarks on Islam and that the medieval text which he quoted from about jihad did not reflect his own opinion.

He told pilgrims, standing in heavy rain at his Castelgandolfo summer residence near Rome on Sunday, he was shocked by the reaction to his speech given at the University of Regensburg in Germany on Tuesday.

"I am deeply sorry for the reactions in some countries to a few passages of my address at the University of Regensburg, which were considered offensive to the sensibility of Muslims," he said.

"These in fact were a quotation from a medieval text, which do not in any way express my personal thought. I hope this serves to appease hearts and to clarify the true meaning of my address, which in its totality was and is an invitation to frank and sincere dialogue, with mutual respect."

The Vatican issued a statement on Saturday saying the pope hoped Muslims would understand the "true sense" of the words he used in the speech.

The statement, issued by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican secretary of state, said the pope was "extremely upset" that parts of his speech "were able to sound offensive to the sensibilities of Muslim believers".

Bertone added that the comments, which led to several protests, had been interpreted in a way "that does not at all correspond to his intentions".

"The pope is unequivocally in favour of dialogue between religions and cultures," he said.

Pope admits to shock and sorrow

[Al-khiyal]

The following is the official Vatican translation of Pope Benedict's words at his Sunday address clarifying his remarks about Islam:


"The pastoral visit which I recently made to Bavaria was a deep spiritual experience, bringing together personal memories linked to places well known to me and pastoral initiatives towards an effective proclamation of the gospel for today.

"I thank God for the interior joy which he made possible, and I am also grateful to all those who worked hard for the success of this pastoral visit. As is the custom, I will speak more of this during next Wednesday's general audience.

"At this time, I wish also to add that I am deeply sorry for the reactions in some countries to a few passages of my address at the University of Regensburg, which were considered offensive to the sensibilities of Muslims.

"These in fact were a quotation from a medieval text, which do not in any way express my personal thought.

"Yesterday, the cardinal secretary of state published a statement in this regard in which he explained the true meaning of my words.

"I hope that this serves to appease hearts and to clarify the true meaning of my address, which in its totality was and is an invitation to frank and sincere dialogue, with great mutual respect."

Full text of pope's remarks

[Al-khiyal]

An Italian nun has been shot dead in a hospital in the Somalian capital, Mogadishu, witnesses and medical workers say.

Gunmen entered the SOS Hospital in southern Mogadishu's Huriwa district and opened fire on the nun before escaping in the ensuing confusion, witnesses said.

The nun, believed to be in her 70s, was one of the longest-serving foreign members of the Catholic church in Somalia, officials told AFP news agency.

Unconfirmed reports said the nun's bodyguard had also been killed.

The killing came as anger has risen among members of the country's popular Islamist movement over comments made by Pope Benedict that were deemed insulting to Islam.

Italian nun shot dead in Somalia

[sania]

Most of the common people are extremely vulnerable to incitement and anger.

Already sentiments are inflamed due to various reasons.
It is clearly inappropriate, unbecoming and unnecessary for a head of a religion even to quote an old Christian king.

Anyway now that he has realised his folly and apologised, I hope things will pass by.

Here in India, almost every section of the people, cutting across religions and political parties have officially issued statements condemning the Pope's statement.

See, how an innoccuous comment can inflame the sentiments.

Remember my statement about Algeria & terrorism..?
This is very similar.

[Al-khiyal]

EVEN his critics agree that the Pope did not intend to cause offence to the world’s Muslims.

In quoting a work edited by the highly respected Lebanese-born scholar Theodore Khoury, he was trying to assert his academic credentials in the university where he once taught.

This speech, as its esoteric tone and content testifies, was an address by Professor Joseph Ratzinger, scholar, rather than by Benedict XVI, world religious leader. His mistake was his failure to distance himself from the emperor’s comments — surely inflammatory enough in their own time, but a thousand times more so when repeated today.

He can hardly complain that he has been taken out of context by thousands of enraged Muslims around the world when he is himself guilty of the same offence in regard to Manuel II Paleologus.

His address is undermined further by a serious error in regards to the Koran. “Sura 2,256 . . . is one of the suras of the early period, when Muhammad was still powerless and under threat.” In fact, this sura [Koranic chapter] is held by Muslim scholars to be from the middle period, around the 24th year of Muhammad’s prophethood in 624 or 625, when he was in Medina and in control of a state. Contrary to what the Pope said, this was written when Muhammad was in a position of strength, not weakness.

The Pope’s old sparring partner, Professor Hans Küng, a former colleague of his at Tübingen university, agrees that he did not intend to provoke Muslims. “He is very interested in dialogue with all religions. But this quotation and his whole approach to Islam in the lecture was very unfortunate.”

He found it incredible that the Pope quoted an emperor, a Christian adversary of Islam, who had set down the comments while in the middle of a battle, the siege of Constantinople in 1394 to 1402.

“If a Jewish person said such a thing about a Christian, we would also be offended,” said Professor Kung.

“He can of course quote what he wants, but he did this without saying the emperor was incorrect.

“This shows the limits of the theologian Joseph Ratzinger. He never studied the religions thoroughly and obviously has a unilateral view of Islam and the other religions.”

The Pope has a history of criticism of Islam. According to a leading Catholic, he believes that Islam cannot be reformed and is therefore incompatible with democracy.

Earlier this year, Father Joseph Fessio, provost of Ave Maria University in Naples and founder of the publishing house Ignatius Press, said that the Pope believed that reform of Islam was impossible “because it’s against the very nature of the Koran, as it’s understood by Muslims.”

Professor Kung said: “The Pope just was not aware of the implications of what he was saying.”

The tragedy of the episode is that the Pope was arguing against the idea that violence can be justified in any religion. He was making the case for the compatibility of reason with religion at a time when fundamentalism is gaining terrifying ground across the religious spectrum.

The irony is that the Islamic response illustrates how desperately the world needs to hear his message.

The Pope: Serious errors of both fact and judgment

[Al-khiyal]

IN THE fallout from the furore over the Pope’s remarks on Islam one issue above all is being debated in Rome: did he realise what the effect of his words would be, or is the pontiff an unworldly former theology professor who failed to grasp what impact an obscure reference in a scholarly address would have?

Only the Pope himself knows. But one answer emerging yesterday was that he is provoking a debate on the reasons for Islamic terrorism and the proper Western and Christian response — but lacks experienced media-savvy advisers who can warn him of the inflammatory effect some remarks might have.

In his Angelus address the pontiff made clear that in quoting a Byzantine emperor on Islam he was “in no way expressing my personal opinion”. On the other hand, as both cardinal and Pope, he has repeatedly expressed his alarm over the violent aspect of Islam, the way Islam is imposed as a culture on Muslim societies, and threats to the Christian values on which the West is founded.

“The key to Pope Benedict is that he writes all his speeches and homilies himself,” one Vatican-watcher said yesterday. John Paul II also drafted his own public remarks, but — especially in the latter half of his reign, as his health deteriorated — they were worked on by his closest advisers, including Joaquin Navarro-Valls, the astute Spanish journalist and Opus Dei member who headed his press operation.

However, Pope Benedict is only now assembling his own team. In his first year Benedict made few appointments apart from installing Monsignor William Levada, the former Archbishop of San Francisco, to replace himself as guardian of Vatican doctrine, and bringing in Father Georg Gaenswein, a fellow German, as his secretary. The three main figures in his top circle have only just taken office: Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, former Archbishop of Genoa, installed last Friday as Secretary of State (Prime Minister); Archbishop Dominique Mamberti of France, as Foreign Minister; and Father Federico Lombardi, head of the Vatican press office.

Of these Cardinal Bertone is the Vatican “heavyweight”. On Saturday it was he who moved to defuse the row, assuring Muslims that Benedict “sincerely regrets that certain passages of his address could have sounded offensive to the sensitivities of the Muslim faithful”.

The Pope will also turn to Archbishop Mamberti, who was born in Marakkesh in Morocco and previously served as a papal diplomat in Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan, Lebanon and Algeria. To some extent his appointment compensates for the absence from Rome of Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald of Britain, formerly the Vatican’s top expert on Islam and head of the Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue, who in February was dispatched as papal ambassador to Cairo.

In the end, though, the task of presenting the media image of Benedict to the world falls to Father Lombardi, who has the unenviable task of following in the footsteps of Dr Navarro-Valls, now retired. “This would never have happened if Navarro was still around” was a comment frequently heard in the Vatican last week.

It remains to be seen whether the new papal team will spot pitfalls. The Vatican was yesterday braced for Jewish reactions to a passage in the Pope’s Angelus address in which — having apologised to Muslims — he quoted from I Corinthians on the alleged role of Jews in the Crucifixion, an issue which in the past has aroused heated debate.

Did he realise what the effect of his words would be?

[Al-khiyal]

Pope says sorry, but has he really apologised?