GEICO CAVEMAN
Posted on 09/16/2006 5:25:37 AM PDT by Dark Skies
The Pope has apologised to the world's Muslim community after making comments about the history of Islam, according to media reports.
He said he hoped the speech had not been taken as being intentionally offensive and insisted that the Vatican was "strongly upset" by the Islamic world's reaction, the BBC reports.
Delivering a speech on Tuesday at a university in his homeland of Germany, Pope Benedict XVI quoted criticisms of the Prophet Muhammad made by 14th century Byzantine emperor, Manuel II Palaeologus, who claimed that the Islamic prophet had brought "things only evil and inhuman" on the world, "such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached".
The Pope made a point of saying "I quote" during his speech in order to distance himself from the sentiment, but his comments have attracted widespread criticism from leading Muslims.
Their demands that the pontiff apologises for his speech, which explored the relationship between violence and faith, appear to have been met today.
Commentators claim that the Pope's planned visit to the mainly Islamic country of Turkey in November is now in jeopardy.
In the Gaza Strip, several thousand Palestinians took to the streets in protest at the Pope's comments, while Pakistan's national assembly unanimously passed a resolution calling on the pontiff to retract his statement.
Meanwhile, Pakistan's president Pervez Musharraf warned that "sinister tendencies" to associate terrorism with Muslims were helping to fuel a sense of alienation between the west and Islam.
"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," said Mr Musharraf, addressing the Non-Aligned Movement's summit in Cuba.
The Pope's comments have also sparked outrage in the UK, where the Muslim Council of Britain had urged the head of the Catholic church to "urgently clarify" his comments, which the organisation said had caused "dismay and hurt" to Muslims.
Meanwhile, the first Muslim woman to enter the House of Lords has said that UK politicians must put pressure on the Pope to apologise for the "disappointment and hurt" caused by his remarks.
Speaking on Radio 4, Labour peer Baroness Uddin said: "I am worried about the current climate which licenses this type of irresponsible analysis of religion. If he did not mean it he should not have said it."
Urging Muslims to "show reverence and reflection" in their response to the Pope's comments, she added: "What I do not want is any effigy burning here or any irrational discussion. Already the environment is such that demonising Islam has become acceptable. We have got to be thoughtful in our responses."
However, German chancellor Angela Merkel has defended the pontiff, stressing that critics had misunderstood the aim of his speech.
"It was an invitation to dialogue between religions," said Ms Merkel, in an article published in the Bild newspaper today.
"What Benedict XVI emphasised was a decisive and uncompromising renunciation of all forms of violence in the name of religion," she stressed.
The Vatican has attempted to quell discontent over the Pope's comments by insisting that he was attempting to put across a "clear and radical rejection of the religious motivation for violence".
"It was certainly not the intention of the Holy Father to undertake a comprehensive study of the jihad and of Muslim ideas on the subject, still less to offend the sensibilities of Muslim faithful," Vatican press office director Federico Lombardi said.
No, his spokesman says it wwas not his intention to offend muslims.
Dammit. That was a mistake.
READ THE DARN ARTICLE
That's the way I read it. He hasn't and IMO will not issue a retraction because it was a "quote" and it was the truth.
Doesn't sound like an apology to me....
I'm sorry for their reaction too, It's a damn shame they are barbarians that can't grasp the concept of debate and civilization.
I'm not sorry for the fact that I believe they are at dangerous and a threat to all of humanity.
see post #13
READ THE ARTICLE PLEASE.
ROME (Reuters) - Pope Benedict told Muslims on Saturday he was sorry they had found his speech on Islam offensive, expressing his respect for their faith and hoping they would understand the "true sense" of his words.
He is saying what was said is true, he is sorry they are offended.
Damn, dude. He said it and it's the truth, so now he should own it. Instead, he crumbles like an Oreo cookie as soon as the islamics start whining.
READ THE ARTICLE. THERE IS NO APOLOGY.
"It was certainly not the intention of the Holy Father to undertake a comprehensive study of the jihad and of Muslim ideas on the subject, still less to offend the sensibilities of Muslim faithful," Vatican press office director Federico Lombardi said."
Backpedaling.
there is no apology.
Shazaam! I've never made the association. I better start reading more carefully. /sarc
GEICO CAVEMAN
He did not. The article is misleading.
I think we need a personal note after the title. People are misunderstanding the story.
I HAVE read it. It's an attempt to quell violence. With these radicals, they don't have to have a real reason. He is back tracking. You have no idea how disappointed I am. What a wuss.
It's the equivalent of a husband saying to his wife "I'm sorry you're offended because I said you look fat in that dress."
Hardly. Where did he say he's sorry. Or that what he siad was untrue?
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