He would also be certifiably insane.
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.
lol...the ...(sorry you're offended, that is) is what I asked the mod to put in the title.
Except he did not apologize, nor should he.
At least make something similar to an effort when reading an article before posting.
It's apparent (to everyone) you've glanced at the headline and decided to post w/o being prepared.
" don't think he apologized for making his comment...he said (reportly) he was sorry muslims were offended."
No matter what he apologized/didn't apologize for, it's *still* a back-pedal, IMO...
Once - just once - I'd like to see someone make a statement (right or wrong) and then stick to his/her guns when the inevitable "YAWP"* rises...
END THE TYRANNY OF THE "OFFENDED"!!!!!!!
*"YAWP" -- a wonderful word coined by Allen Drury to describe the reflexive caterwauling of the mindless intelligentsia and its Media sycophants.....
So, if he does not apologize for quoting a previous Pope when he said that Islam spread its religion by violence, the Muslims will use violence in the streets to get him to take it back, as if he was the one who said it.
I think the Pope has brilliantly illustrated the propensity of Islam to use violence to seek redress f their petty and contrived grievances.
Islam, look to your own house to find peace.
This smells like fresh UK bullsh*t to me.
Why should the Pope apologize for telling the truth?
I think that is EXACTLY what the Pope intended to do. To demonstrate to teh world how stupid muslims are.
Do not say anything bad about islam or they will show their true colors and riot like barbarians.
The religion of peace and understanding????
I gotchya
Be disappointed then, what can I say. But I don't share your disappointment because I don't see where is comes from.
He would also be certifiably insane.
http://www.theindiancatholic.com/newsread.asp?nid=3443
This article is deceiving (no shock). He did not apologize nor retract what he had said. He is simply saying that he is sorry they've taken offense.
We should all apologize for the satanic religion of death! Apologize for not ending it sooner that "IS" TM BIlly Jeff !
Amen to that, darks!
Keep in mind that, to my knowledge, the Pope hasn't released a statement nor has the new secretary of state on his behalf.
He has not apologized
I don't see an apology in your link either.
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