One horrible episode was the 1204 sacking of Constantinople. It is impossible to imagine anything but a gross indifference to the true objective of the Crusade driving the Franks' behavior. Was an apology ever offered by the Vatican to the Orthodox?
There also was the mass reprisal of the civilians (Jews and Muslim) in Jerusalem in 1099, following a siege. Was that a violation of the contemporary rules of war? Was the Pope's apology exclusive to the Jews and "Christian doctrines"? Was that one needed? Is another, specifically to the Muslim, needed?
Your comments are welcome. If I may ask, let us refrain to the references to the recent confrontation with Islam in the War on Terror, as wholly irrelevant.
For your bumping consideration.
Catholic contrition ping.
"Was an apology ever offered by the Vatican to the Orthodox?"
Oh yes, a very gracious and humble apology from +JPII himself which was accepted in the manner it was given.
2) With all due respect, the Crusades cannot be separated from the current "War on Terrorism", because the enemy of Western Civilisation is the same mohammedans.
Arab Muslims gained control of Egypt and the Holy Land in the late 7th Century. The next 400 years of Arab control saw a flourish of learning and research that contrasted sharply with Dark Age Europe. Many European nobles sent their sons to learn in places such as Cairo, Cordova and Baghdad. The Arabs permitted pilgrimages because they were good for the economy (medieval tourism). Things changed in the 11th century as the world of Islam experienced its first fundamentalist movement. Secular oriented caliphs were overthrown and replaced by fundamentalist regimes who squashed any learning that was not of the Koran. Universities were closed and libraries were burned along with their books (including the one in Cordova, then the largest in Europe). The Seljick Turks (not Ottoman), who were staunch supporters of Islamic fundamentalism captured Baghdad, and, by 1090, Jerusalem as well. Immediately, the permissive attitude of the Arab rulers was replaced by strict enforcement of Islamic laws. Christians and Jews became persecuted and pilgrims became martyrs.
On top of this, the growing power of the Turks could not be checked by Byzantine armies. Fearing the worst, the Emperor in Constantinople appealed to Rome and Western Europe. Pope Urban II, seeing this as an opportunity to heal the schism of 1054, protect Christian Europe from Muslim Turks, and relieve the sufferring of the faithful in the Holy Land responded by calling for a Crusade in 1096. The Franks (France, Holy Roman Empire, England) and Vikings (Scandinavia, Normandy and Sicily) set out across Europe, joined with the Byzantine Greek Army and together captured Jerusalem in 1099. This in and of itself is one of the greatest military feats of Western history.
So, should the Vatican apologize for lauching the Crusades? Only when Muslims apologize for systematically eradicating Christianity from the Middle East and North Africa.
How about we finish the current one, then apologize for the last five or so.
a) any reason to offer apologies to any other religions or sovereign states and
b) if the answer to a) is "yes", whether they have ever done so?
There may well have been examples of Crusader excesses in an otherwise worthy cause. However, I'd be interested to hear if the gentleman quoted in the article considers that there is any shred of responsibility on the Islamic side.
Not just for this episode but also for other Islamic "excursions" such as the Moorish invasion of Spain.
Maybe I have not been paying attention but I see little evidence that self-reproach is a major feature of the Islamic faith.
You can't really apologize for something that you, directly, didn't do. You can express how wrong it is to 'force' your views on another person. That people tried to 'force' their views on other people in the past, is a regrettable and wrong thing to do. I think you could say that much. I will say that much.
See what kissing the Qu'ran gets you?
Only if they apologize for the doctrine of offensive jihad against infidels outside of the House of Islam and promise to return all lands of the Byzantine Empire to Christian rule. And anyways, I thought the Pope already apologized for the wrongs committed during the Crusades at the millennium.
I am waiting for an apology for all the homo-heretical bishops that have been foisted upon us
To this day we are bearing the cost
When Byzantium Africa lost
To the barefooted caliphs
We have a special malice
Soon once more the Suez will be crossed
For a long time Pope Urban the Second
Danger to Christian pilgrims had reckoned
So he declared, -- it looks
We must fight the Seljuks
Once Alexius Comnenus beckoned
If you think you can rule Outremer
Most egregiously then you would err
Thus Pope Gregory said
Frederick he ordered dead
Templars’ kingdom was a sad affair
