Pope Benedict XVI has said he is sorry that a speech in which he referred to Islam has offended Muslims.
Here is why Muslims were Offended:
“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 emperor, after having expressed himself so forcefully, goes on to explain in detail the reasons why spreading the faith through violence is something unreasonable. Violence is incompatible with the nature of God and the nature of the soul. “God,” he says, “is not pleased by blood – and not acting reasonably is contrary to God’s nature. Faith is born of the soul, not the body. Whoever would lead someone to faith needs the ability to speak well and to reason properly, without violence and threats.”
-Pope Benedict XVI
Muslim reaction to Pope
PAKISTANI PRESIDENT PERVEZ MUSHARRAF
Our strategy must clearly oppose the sinister tendencies to associate terrorism with Islam and discrimination against Muslims, which are giving rise to an ominous alienation between the west and the world of Islam.
MALAYSIAN PRIME MINISTER ABDULLAH AHMAD BADAWI
The Pope must not take lightly the spread of outrage that has been created. The Vatican must now take full responsibility over the matter and carry out the necessary steps to rectify the mistake.
SAUDI GRAND MUFTI SHEIKH ABDUL AZIZ AL-SHEIKH
This is all a lie … Islam is far from terrorism and was spread only through the conviction of peoples who saw the good and justice of Islam.
EGYPTIAN FOREIGN MINISTER AHMED ABOUL GHEIT
This was a very unfortunate statement and it is a statement that shows that there is a lack of understanding of real Islam. And because of this we are hopeful that such statements and such positions would not be stated in order to not allow tension and distrust and recriminations to brew between the Muslim as well as the west.
PALESTINIAN PRIME MINISTER ISMAIL HANIYA
In the name of our Palestinian people… we express our condemnation of the statements of his Excellency the Pope, against Islam as a belief, Sharia, history, and a lifestyle.
DIN SYAMSUDDIN, HEAD OF MUHAMMADIYAH, INDONESIA’S SECOND LARGEST MUSLIM ORGANISATION
The Pope’s statements reflect his lack of wisdom. It is obvious from the statements that the Pope doesn’t have a correct understanding of Islam.
GRAND AYATOLLAH MOHAMMAD HUSSEIN FADLALLAH, SENIOR LEBANESE SHIA CLERIC
We do not accept the apology through Vatican channels… and ask him to offer a personal apology – not through his officials – to Muslims for this false reading
DR MUHAMMAD ABDUL BARI, MUSLIM COUNCIL OF BRITAIN
One would expect a religious leader such as the Pope to act and speak with responsibility and repudiate the Byzantine emperor’s views in the interests of truth and harmonious relations. Regrettably, the Pope did not do so and this has understandably caused a lot of dismay and hurt.
Subscribe in Reader
The fact that the Pope has apologised is good. But the fact also remains that he shouldn’t have said such a thing at all. What right does he have to say such things that offend other religions? He is the Pope not God. He speaks as though he is the best thing that has happened to christianity. I never liked him.I liked the his predecessor.He should learn religious tolerance. I aplogise also if my comment hurts any religious feelings, as none are directed at the religion but only meant for the Pope.
Where would anyone ever get the idea that Islam is a violent religion? I mean, it’s not as if Muslim terrorists are blowing up buildings, the mosques of opposing Muslic sects, killing civilians with suicide bombs, beheading people and putting the act on the Internet, dumping dead guys on the streets of Iraq, or anything like that. It’s not as if outrage and rioting is the immediate reaction of the “Muslim street” to any perceived slight…
Is it?
It should not make any difference if anybody makes comment for any religion .If you have faith in God you will not think about anything else ,Nobody can disturb you.
Pope and Islam – Pope Benedict XVI has said he is sorry
Pope Benedict XVI has said he is sorry
Yes Muslims can be violent, no doubt – just look at whats happening around the Muslim world. But, take a closer look and you’ll see the greater hidden violence of Christians and Jews murdering, pillaging, raping — all of which is on ‘media blackout’ — and it is this instigational violence by the Jews and Christians that is generating the Muslim violence – in the pursuit of power, wealth and lust.
Its time for all Muslims to get together and collectively work to evade such a myth from other religion peoples mind.This myth is created by non-other than by themselves. The word Jihad mean War of serenity or purity. Do Islam God said to fight war of serenity or purity offering pool of blood of innocent people. Think once before revolting to this comment, where there is fire there will be the smoke.
Without any clue of fire smoke will not emerge all of a sudden in air.
Because of the acts the name comes weather it is good or bad.
“Religion has no business to formulate social laws and insist on the difference between beings, because its aim and end is to obliterate all such fictions and monstrosities.”-Swami vivekananda
Pope’s Benedit revealed his true face behid his false mask by saying this religiously intolerent words, what was he thinking would happen by preaching this quote to his people?, is it that he wanted to prove Christianity is better? or he simply wanted to add fuel to already burining fire against Muslim world, I do not think any rational person at his position would even consider saying such a religiously intolerent word.
Yes – he was wrong in his statements. But an overreaction is just as bad. Muslims are not permitted to overreact. Furthermore, we are not permitted by the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad to remain angry with an individual or entity for more than three days. Even furthermore, we must give anyone – including the Pope – 77 excuses and the “benefit of the doubt”.
Islam wasn’t spread by the sword. This is fact. The Pope just didn’t know it. We can notch it up to “he was wrong” instead of “adding fuel”.
I think its terribly sad that at a time like this, such an incident had to occur. I can’t help but feel that the pope’s comments are now going to be used all across the world as evidence of western attitudes towards muslims and this ofcourse will be funneled into further rage amongst muslim youth and eventually more terrorism.
BENEDICT XVI REPUDIATES HIS NAMESAKE
The namesake of Pope Benedict XVI, Giacomo Della Chiesa, Benedict XV, served as Pope from 1914 to 1922. As a wartime Pontiff he followed a policy of strict neutrality. He did not condemn any of the warring countries engaged in World War I. Instead, he turned the Church’s attention to ministering to those innocents who suffered the wrath of war.
He tried to broker a peace; however, his attempts were frustrated by pro-Austrian sentiments held by many of members of the College of Cardinals. The entry of the United States and the Allies attitude that a peace could not be won until Germany had been defeated, thwarting Pope Benedict’s principal attempt to mediate a European peace.
By the end of WWI, the Papacy lacked the prestige of bygone eras; Benedict was excluded from peace negotiations. During the last years of his Pontificate he implemented the administrative modifications within the Church brought about by geopolitical changes of the Treaty of Versailles. During his Papacy official relations with France resumed, and a British representative to the Vatican was recognized, the first since the 17th Century.
Upon his succession to the Papacy, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger chose Benedict XV as his namesake. He aspires, through the example of his Papal role model, to dedicate his Pontificate to reconciliation.
Unfortunately, the current Pope Benedict, rather than being the Good Shepherd of Catholics, and moral guide for many others has squandered his spiritual influence.
His anti-Islam remarks last week delivered at Regensburg University did not promote a spirit of reconciliation and religious tolerance. On the contrary, the quote of a 14th-century Byzantine emperor, “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.” This, the Pope said, was contrary to God’s nature.
These remarks have been justly met with the religious uproar of the Islamic world and have ignited acts of violence aimed at Churches, caused the death of a nun and reports that the terrorist group al-Qaeda has vowed a war against “the worshippers of the cross.” This remark by Pope Benedict is the opposite message the Prelate delivered at a meeting of Christians and Muslims in Cologne soon after he assumed the Papacy. However, the Pontiff is wary of Islam as a global power and has encouraged moderates in their battle against radical Islam.
Moreover, Vatican insiders report six months into his Papacy and after his profession of moderation, the Pope called a two-day secret session on Islam. At this closed door meeting, the Pope told delegates that unlike Christianity, which distinguished (in Christ’s words) between “that which is God’s and that which is Caesar’s”, Islam sought to “integrate the laws of the Koran into all elements of social life”.
Whereas Jesus and the Gospels offered a model to follow, the Koran was imposed rigidly with “no distinction between civil and religious law”, he told the conference. Christianity could engage with Islam only as a “culture” and remind it to “respect human rights”, including the rights of Christian minorities in Muslim countries.
Remarks made last week were more in keeping with the secret session than the meeting of reconciliation held in Cologne.
Undoubtedly, the Pontiff knew his words would cause uproar in light of the furor over unflattering cartoons appearing in European newspapers of the Prophet Mohammed. Here, rather than a frontal assault, the Pope’s thinly veiled remarks a recount of a conversation on the truths of Christianity and Islam that took place between a 14th-century Byzantine Christian emperor, Manuel II Speleologist, and a Persian scholar, seemed to stray from the theme of Pope’s address “Reason & Faith in the West.” Newspapers throughout the Arab world have been critical of the Pope’s remarks characterizing it as “It was Provocative” a rather diminutive description based upon other pejorative reactions.
In another sign of a tougher policy toward Islam, Benedict abolished the Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue, creating a new body of outreach to Egypt and the Arab League.
This obviously obtuse remark delivered by a Prelate well schooled in doctrine, dogma and theology of the Church was no mere oversight. They were included in this Papal message to support a long held belief by this Pontiff. Benedict, as the former head of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, in Dominus lesus supported orthodoxy and doctrine of the Catholic faith claiming that other religions “objectively speaking…are in a gravely deficient situation in comparison with those who, in the Church, have the fullness of the means of salvation.” The document deeply offended other Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists and proved a setback to the ecumenism advocated by of the Second Vatican Council.
Similar Papal flaps may be unavoidable. The Pope’s newly appointed Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone was Benedict’s second in command at his former post. Bertone lacks diplomatic experience. He has explained his new role has helping to spread the spiritual mission of the Church which he says transcends politics and diplomacy. Some Vatican insiders see in Cardinal Bertone a man of action, but wonder if he will have enough patience to occupy himself with the nuances of international affairs
This “orthodox doctrine” of faith had caused a deep rift between western-Catholicism and Vatican conservatism on social issues. However, this return to pre-Vatican II orthodoxy demonstrates the Church’s modification of evangelical mission to a more Third World episcopate where convention and “superstition” are more readily acceptable. The role of this pre-Vatican II Catholicism has increased with the growth of the Opus Dei Movement. (For a more see my upcoming essay, Deserted Catholic.)
The Pope’s current remarks and past writing, wary of Islam rising to the level of a global power seem in keeping with a world view held by the Church since the late 11th Century with the Papacy of Urban II. While Pope Benedict’s remarks do not rise to the level of a Holy War against the “infidels” it does bear a resemblance to the cries of a millennium ago. Bellicose rhetoric aimed at the Islamic World, particularly among fundamentalist, is just another destructive step in a contemporary clash of civilizations.
Pope Benedict’s visit to Turkey in November may ignite another controversy since the Pontiff in 2004 opposed that country’s admission into the EU. A top leader in Turkey’s ruling Islamic party said the Pope was following in the footsteps of Hitler and Mussolini. These two horrific appellations and the ideologies of death they represent have been used to liberally in our contemporary discourse.
However, in keeping with the namesake of his Papacy, Pope Benedict XVI, should be a source of reconciliation not a cause of conflict. His remarks last week seriously endanger the Pontiff’s ability to be a source of neutrality and moral authority. By his actions he may be casting the Vatican into an insignificant role in world affairs at a time when Christ’s teachings of peace, love and tolerance are sorely needed.
The Pope’s statements reflect his lack of wisdom. It is obvious from the statements that the Pope doesn’t have a correct understanding of Islam.One would expect a religious leader such as the Pope to act and speak with responsibility and repudiate the Byzantine emperor’s views in the interests of truth and harmonious relations. Regrettably, the Pope did not do so and this has understandably caused a lot of dismay and hurt.
One would expect a religious leader such as the Pope to act and speak with responsibility and repudiate the Byzantine emperor’s views in the interests of truth and harmonious relations. Regrettably, the Pope did not do so and this has understandably caused a lot of dismay and hurt.The Pope’s statements reflect his lack of wisdom. It is obvious from the statements that the Pope doesn’t have a correct understanding of Islam.
Doesn’t anybody see that the violent reaction of Muslims to any characterization of Muslims as violent only confirms such suspicions? The quote was unfortunate, but the pope’s basic message was valid–Muslims need to calm down and behave rationally. I know that the violent behavior reflects a minority of Muslims, but such behavior can no longer be tolerated by the majority. As with the absurdly stupid reaction to the Danish cartoons–calling for the deaths of cartoonists?–this just makes Westerners more comfortable in their common perception of Islam as a religion of irrational, intolerant, violent maniacs. Please stop confirming these attitudes–be reasonable, stop the killing, and watch how the attitudes of the West change toward Islam.
How can the pope who is referred to as ‘infalliable’ by christians make a mistake? Clearly he has no understanding of Islam. He Just repeated what everyone else was saying. Then what makes him so special. Did he fail to understand that his words will upset the muslims. Isn’t he suppossed to be non-violent and non offensive to anybody. Okay maybe he was giving an example, but why did he choose Islam. Islam clearly Preaches Peace. How can he talk of something he never understood. Muslims cannot tolerate anything against Islam.Islam is the truth. Something you all will understand… on the Last Day…
sorry the word is ‘infallible’
Atif H.S…The pope just quoted somebody from an era long gone by, he does not harbor those opinions himself necessarily. I don’t think the pope was ‘violent’ towards muslims just by quoting something from the past.
I think its important for Muslims to not respond to the pope’s comments by means of violnece. If Islame preaches “peace”, then a peaceful resposne is what must be demonstrated. Not mindless violence and murders of nuns and church burnings.
Peace, one needs not to feed into ignorance. Why get upset with a remark? It only makes a situation worst, show and prove by righteous actions. The actions only proving them right. Religion breeds prejudice amongst people, and drive them to do emotional things that are contradictive of the principles one set forth. Christainity as been just as violent as islam through the spread of its religion. All muslims had to do was show that, stop letting them control you by emotions. Be a muslim which in correct terms a man of peace, or man with peace. Peace is the absence of confusion, you are showing the world that you are unstable. In France they drew a picture of mohammad and the muslim world went crazy for what? is muhammad Islam, or islam is the path to peace to god? I think people follow traditions instead of the law, or principles. This is why I detest religions because it keeps people enslaved, stagnant, and no progression at all. They are still wanting to be a christian of 2000, or a muslim 1400 years ago. Things have changed, so why hasn’t the religious order.
Peace, one needs not to feed into ignorance. Why get upset with a remark? It only makes a situation worst, show and prove by righteous actions. The actions only proving them right. Religion breeds prejudice amongst people, and drive them to do emotional things that are contradictive of the principles one set forth. Christainity as been just as violent as islam through the spread of its religion. All muslims had to do was show that, stop letting them control you by emotions. Be a muslim which in correct terms a man of peace, or man with peace. Peace is the absence of confusion, you are showing the world that you are unstable. In France they drew a picture of mohammad and the muslim world went crazy for what? is muhammad Islam, or islam is the path to peace to god? I think people follow traditions instead of the law, or principles. This is why I detest religions because it keeps people enslaved, stagnant, and no progression at all. They are still wanting to be a christian of 2000, or a muslim 1400 years ago. Things have changed, so why hasn’t the religious order?
If islam is not a violent religeon and promotes peace why are there no condemnations or criticisms of suicide bombers and those who are violent from muslim leaders? Surely thats the greatest hypocrisy in the muslim faith. If this sort of behaviour was clearly against the Muslim faith then muslim leaders would have worked to stamp it out or clearly distance themselves from it.