Pope Benedict XVI offends Muslims

Dakstang · 09-16-2006, 06:10 PM

This comes from foxnews.com

Vatican Stops Short of Apology as Muslim Leaders Decry Comments

Saturday, September 16, 2006

VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI "sincerely regrets" offending Muslims with his reference to an obscure medieval text that characterizes some of the teachings of Islam's founder as "evil and inhuman," the Vatican said Saturday.

But the statement stopped short of the apology demanded by Islamic leaders around the globe, and anger among Muslims remained intense. Palestinians attacked five churches in the West Bank and Gaza over the pope's remarks Tuesday in a speech to university professors in his native Germany.

In a broader talk rejecting any religious motivation for violence, Benedict cited the words of a Byzantine emperor who characterized some of the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad as "evil and inhuman," particularly "his command to spread by the sword the faith."

The pontiff didn't endorse that description, but he didn't question it, and his words set off a firestorm of protests across the Muslim world.

The new Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, said the pope's position on Islam is unmistakably in line with Vatican teaching that says the church "esteems" Muslims.

Benedict "thus sincerely regrets that certain passages of his address could have sounded offensive to the sensitivities of the Muslim faithful and should have been interpreted in a manner that in no way corresponds to his intentions," Bertone said in a statement.

He noted that earlier during his German trip, Benedict warned "secularized Western culture" against holding contempt for any religion or believers.

Bertone said the pontiff sought in his university speech to condemn all religious motivation for violence, "from whatever side it may come." But the pope's words only seemed to fan rage.

Bertone's statement, released Saturday by the Vatican press office, failed to satisfy critics, although British Muslim leaders said it was a welcome step.

Mohammed Bishr, a senior Muslim Brotherhood member in Egypt, said the statement "was not an apology" but a "pretext that the pope was quoting somebody else as saying so and so."

"We need the pope to admit the big mistake he has committed and then agree on apologizing, because we will not accept others to apologize on his behalf," Bishr said.

There was no indication whether the pope would do so. His first public appearance since his return from Germany was set for Sunday, when Benedict planned to greet the faithful at Castel Gandolfo, the papal summer residence in the Alban Hills near Rome.

Morocco recalled its ambassador to the Vatican on Saturday to protest the pope's "offensive" remarks, and Afghanistan's parliament and Foreign Ministry demanded the pope apologize.

Turkey cast some doubt on whether Benedict could proceed with a planned visit in November in what would be the pontiff's first trip to a Muslim nation.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan insisted the pope apologize to the Muslim world, saying he had spoken "not like a man of religion but like a usual politician."

Asked if Muslim anger would affect the pope's trip to Istanbul, where he hopes to meet with Orthodox leaders headquartered there, Erdogan replied, "I wouldn't know."

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, spiritual leader of the world's 200 million Orthodox Christians, issued a statement saying he was "deeply" saddened by the tensions sparked by the pope's comments.

"We have to show the determination and care not to hurt one another and avoid situations where we may hurt each others' beliefs," the Istanbul-based Patriarchate said.

In West Bank attacks on four churches, Palestinians used guns, firebombs and lighter fluid, leaving church doors charred and walls scorched by flames and pocked with bullet holes. Nobody was reported injured. Two Catholic churches, an Anglican one and a Greek Orthodox one were hit. A Greek Orthodox church was also attacked in Gaza City.

A group calling itself "Lions of Monotheism" told The Associated Press by phone that the attacks were a protest of the pope's remarks on Islam.

During his speech, Benedict stressed that he was quoting words of a Byzantine emperor and did not comment directly on the "evil and inhuman" assessment. On Saturday, Bertone said that "the Holy Father did not mean, nor does he mean, to make that opinion his own in any way."

Benedict quoted from a book recounting a conversation between 14th century Byzantine Christian Emperor Manuel Paleologos II and an educated Persian on the truths of Christianity and Islam.

"The emperor comes to speak about the issue of jihad, holy war," the pope said. "He said, I quote, 'Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."'

The grand sheik of Cairo's Al-Azhar Mosque, the Sunni Arab world's most powerful institution, condemned the pope's remarks as "reflecting ignorance."

Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, whose Southeast Asian nation has a large Muslim population, demanded that Benedict retract his remarks and not "take lightly the spread of outrage that has been created."

In a first reaction from a top Christian leader, the head of Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Church criticized the pope. "Any remarks which offend Islam and Muslims are against the teachings of Christ," Coptic Pope Shenouda III was quoted as telling the pro-government newspaper Al-Ahram.

The Shiite Muslim militant group Hezbollah and Lebanon's top Sunni Muslim religious authority also denounced the pope's comments.

British Muslims sought to calm the situation, praising the Vatican statement on behalf of the pope.

"We welcome his apology and we hope now we can work together and build bridges. At the same time we would condemn all forms of violent demonstration," Muhammad Umar, chairman of Britain's Ramadhan Foundation, a youth organization, told Sky News.

But Muhammad Abdul Bari, general-secretary of the Muslim Council of Britain, said the pontiff needed to repudiate the emperor's views he quoted to restore relations between Muslims and the Roman Catholic Church.

In India, Cardinal Telesphore Toppo, who is president of the Indian Catholic Bishops Conference, said the Christian community in that country must face Muslim protests over the pope's speech "with Christian courage and prayer because truth needs no other defense," according to AsiaNews, a Vatican-affiliated news agency.
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Ha ha ha......We are outraged that you say that the Muslim religion promotes violence......therefore we will attack Catholic churches......ridiculous.

I am just waiting for some of the Muslim protesters to blame this on America. They always find a way to blame stuff on us that has nothing to do with us.

Mr. Kennedy · 09-16-2006, 08:43 PM

The Pope shouldn't apologize. It's true that Mohammed and the Koran tell them to use violence to spread the religion.

Spinoff360 · 09-17-2006, 02:37 AM

They get mad over a comic so this is probably enough for them to want to start a massive war.
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Inogenius · 09-17-2006, 03:10 PM

The best thing that could ever happen to the world would be a suicide bomber trying to hit the Vatican. It'd outrage the world, and would be the first time that'd you would see the world really come together and fight as one.

Dakstang · 09-17-2006, 04:01 PM

This comes from foxnews.com

Pope Says He's 'Deeply Sorry' for Reaction to Islam Speech

Sunday, September 17, 2006

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy â€” Pope Benedict XVI said Sunday that he was "deeply sorry" about the angry reaction to his recent remarks about Islam, which he said came from a text that did not reflect his personal opinion.

Despite the statement, protests and violence persisted across the Muslim world, with churches set ablaze in the West Bank and a hard-line Iranian cleric saying the pope was united with President Bush to "repeat the Crusades."

An Italian nun also was gunned down in a Somali hospital where she worked, and the Vatican expressed concern that the attack was related to the outrage over the pope's remarks.

Benedict sparked the controversy when, in a speech Tuesday to university professors during a pilgrimage to his native Germany, he cited the words of a Byzantine emperor who characterized some of the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad, Islam's founder, as "evil and inhuman."

On Sunday, he stressed the words "were in fact a quotation from a medieval text which do not in any way express my personal thought."

"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 sensibility of Muslims," the pope told pilgrims at his summer palace outside Rome.

Security was higher than usual at the palace, with police patting down many pilgrims and confiscating umbrellas with metal tips and bottles of liquids. Sharpshooters kept watch from a balcony and other officers, dressed like tourists, monitored the crowd with video cameras.

Police headquarters across Italy also were ordered to raise security at potential Catholic targets. At the Vatican, though, no additional security measures could be seen as tourists strolled across St. Peter's Square.

Muslim leaders in the Mideast gave mixed reactions to the pontiff's statement Sunday.

The leader of Egypt's largest Islamic political group, the Muslim Brotherhood, said that "while anger over the pope's remarks is necessary, it shouldn't last for long."

"While he is the head of the Catholic Church in the world, many Europeans are not following (the church) so what he said won't influence them. Our relations with Christians should remain good, civilized and cooperative," Mohammed Mahdi Akef told The Associated Press.

However, the former deputy of Cairo's Al-Azhar Mosque, the Sunni Arab world's most powerful institution, told Al-Arabiya TV the explanation was "not enough."

"He should apologize because he insulted the beliefs of Islam. He must apologize in a frank way and say he made a mistake," Mahmoud Ashour said.

Mohammed al-Nujeimi, a professor at the Institute of Judicial and Islamic Studies in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, also criticized the pope's statement.

"The pope does not want to apologize. He is evading apology and what he said today is a repetition of his previous statement," he told Al-Arabiya TV.

The Vatican had released a statement Saturday saying the pope "sincerely regrets" that Muslims were offended, but stopped short of apologizing.

In his speech on Tuesday, Benedict quoted from a book recounting a conversation between 14th century Byzantine Christian Emperor Manuel Paleologos II and an educated Persian on the truths of Christianity and Islam.

"The emperor comes to speak about the issue of jihad, holy war," the pope said. "He said, I quote, 'Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."'

The remarks continued to spark protests and violence across the Muslim world on Sunday.

The Italian nun, who was not immediately identified, was shot in the back at S.O.S. Hospital in the Somali capital of Mogadishu by two gunmen, said Mohamed Yusuf, a doctor at the facility. The nun's bodyguard and a hospital worker were also killed, doctors said.

Nobody claimed of responsibility for the attack. The Vatican's spokesman indicated the shooting could be related to the uproar over the pope's remarks.

"Let's hope that it will be an isolated fact," the Rev. Federico Lombardi was quoted as saying by the Italian news agency ANSA. The Vatican is "following with concern the consequences of this wave of hate, hoping that it does not lead to grave consequences for the church in the world."

In the West Bank, two churches were set on fire. One attack destroyed the interior of a 170-year-old church in the town of Tulkarem; the other partially burned a church in Tubas, Christian officials said. Neither church is Catholic.

Palestinian Muslims hurled firebombs and opened fire at five churches in the West Bank and Gaza Strip Saturday, sparking concerns of a rift between Palestinian Muslims and Christians.

Hundreds of Iranians also demonstrated against the pope in cities across Iran. In Qom, the religious capital of Iran's 70 million Shiite Muslims, hardline cleric Ahmad Khatami said the pope and Bush were "united in order to repeat the Crusades."

Elsewhere, the pope's statement Sunday appeared to be easing tensions.

Turkey's foreign minister said the pope was still expected to visit in November in what would be his first trip to a Muslim nation. "From our point of view, there is no change," Abdullah Gul told reporters before departing for a trip to the United States.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had cast doubt on the trip Saturday amid angry reactions from many leaders in Turkey's staunchly secular government.

However, some in Turkey rejected the pope's explanation on Sunday. State Minister Mehmet Aydin said he seemed to be saying he was sorry for the outrage but not the remarks themselves.

"You either have to say this 'I'm sorry' in a proper way or not say it at all," he told reporters in Istanbul. "Are you sorry for saying such a thing or because of its consequences?"

Dakstang · 09-17-2006, 04:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dakstang
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Hundreds of Iranians also demonstrated against the pope in cities across Iran. In Qom, the religious capital of Iran's 70 million Shiite Muslims, hardline cleric Ahmad Khatami said the pope and Bush were "united in order to repeat the Crusades."

I told you all that they would make up a way to blame this on the U.S. :tired:

Miakal · 09-18-2006, 08:36 PM

Well, it's pretty much impossible for Muslims not to be angry at Catholics after the Crusades and bringing this up, to people all ready to fight, is pretty stupid.

It's great how god causes more deaths and violence than anything else could ever do yet people still can't see the "light" right before them.

Dakstang · 09-18-2006, 10:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Miakal
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Well, it's pretty much impossible for Muslims not to be angry at Catholics after the Crusades and bringing this up, to people all ready to fight, is pretty stupid.

It's great how god causes more deaths and violence than anything else could ever do yet people still can't see the "light" right before them.

Islam is very different than Christianity and should not even be compared to it.

Slim · 09-18-2006, 11:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Miakal
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It's great how god causes more deaths and violence than anything else could ever do yet people still can't see the "light" right before them.

I don't even know what to say. Just dumb all around.

Mr. Kennedy · 09-18-2006, 11:18 PM

He is right though, think about how many people have been killed in the name of "God", ever hear of something called the Crusades? Countless people killed in the name of Christianity.

Pope Benedict XVI offends Muslims

This is a discussion on Pope Benedict XVI offends Muslims within the General Discussion forums, part of the Non Wrestling Forums category; This comes from foxnews.com Vatican Stops Short of Apology as Muslim Leaders Decry Comments Saturday, September 16, 2006 VATICAN CITY ...