[Lurker]

I'll take the Pope seriously on this when he stands up to the Saudis and demans that they allow the building of a Catholic Church and a Synagogue in downtown Riyadh.

By the way I may have missed it but can you share the Vaticans position on the Ground Zero Mosque?

L

[SIRTRIS]

Careful with that logic! Next muslims will demand mosque be built in Vatican City.

[JerseyRepub]

The Vatican does not need to take a position on the Ground Zero Mosque. And I’m sure if it did, it’s position would be similar to the Koran burning issue.

And for you taking the Pope seriously, the Church has reached out to the Saudis to help build a church in Saudi Arabia.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article3571835.ece

Also, there are many churches in Middle-east. I spent a good amount of time in Dubai, Kuwait and Bahrain and attend several churches, which incidentally were first built in the 70s. With the exception of Saudi Arabia, ALL arab countries have and allow all kinds of churches.

I don’t mean to sound like an apologist for the Saudis, but since they consider Saudi Arabia the home of Islam, building a church in Saudi Arabia is akin to building a mosque in the Vatican - not going to happen and rightly so.

I know it’s fashionably in some sections of Freeperland to constantly spew anti-Catholic bigotry, but a little research always helps...

[Patriotic1]

Actually, there are discussions going on about more religious freedom in islamic countries, but you wouldn’t know that unless you read the ‘orthodox’ (loyal to the Church) Catholic press.

That said, what on earth do you expect the Council to say? “Yes - burn those korans!!”? Of course religious leaders will condemn it.

And I take such things under advisement and am free to reject any such ideas coming from “the Vatican”. As other posters have pointed out, the Council speaks only for itself.

I am a loyal and devout Catholic and stand by the burning of the Koran as freedom of expression falling in the same category as Piss Christ and Dung Madonna, as well as the burning of the flag. I despise those things, but understand in a free society such things can and will occur.

Now as to the actual act under discussion (the burning of the koran), I am actually quite uncaring. I certainly don’t value the book or its message whatsoever!

[Mrs. Don-o]

Pope baptizes famous Muslim convert

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1990056/posts

I, personally, think Pope Benedict has the right idea.

That whole FR thread, above, is worth reading.

Read also what he said at Regensburg (January 2006), asking whether Islam was closed-off to reason and thus prone to violence. I'm sure you remember that in the aftermath of the Regensburg lecture,

• At least five churches were firebombed by Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.
• Churches were set afire or sprayed with gunfire in Nablus
• Al-Qaeda and the Mujahideen Shura Council threatened in a joint statement: "you and the West are doomed... the only thing acceptable is a conversion (to Islam) or (being killed by) the sword. ... God enable us to slit their throats..."
• İsleri Baskanlısı (Presidency of Religious Affairs), the state body that organizes Muslim worship in Turkey, asked the authorities to arrest Pope Benedict XVI for "insulting" Islam and the Prophet Muhammad.
• Outside Westminster Cathedral, on 18 September2006, around a hundred protestors held banners which included calls for the Pope's execution, "Pope go to Hell" and "Jesus is the slave of Allah", "Islam will conquer Rome," and "May Allah curse the Pope."
• The Lashkar-e-Taiba in Pakistan has issued a fatwa asking the Muslim community to kill Pope Benedict for his "blasphemous statement" about Mohammad.
• Two Somali gunmen shot and killed a 65 year-old Italian nun, Sister Leonella Scogbati, working at the Austrian-run children's hospital in the city of Mogadishu. Sheikh Mukhtar Robow, member of the Islamic Courts Union, said the murder of the nun was "a reprisal for the Pope's remarks on Islam".In Iraq, Christian crosses and effigies of Pope Benedict were burned in Basra.
• A Baghdad-based group, Kataab Ashbal Al Islam Al Salafi (Islamic Salafist Boy Scout Battalions threatened to kill all Christians in Iraq if the Pope does not apologize to Muhammad within three days. Christian Leaders in Iraq asked their parishioners not to leave their homes, after two Christians were stabbed and killed in Baghdad
• The Iraqi militia Jaish al-Mujahedin (Holy Warriors' Army) announced its intention to "destroy their cross in the heart of Rome… and to hit the Vatican."
• Islamists kidnapped priest Paulos Iskander and demanded his church condemn the pope's recent comments about Islam and pay a $350,000 ransom. Three days later, in Mosul, he was beheaded.

So, Lurker, you don't "take the Pope seriously"?

Some people do.

[Niuhuru]

The Muzlims are lucky we aren’t burning them.

[John Leland 1789]

Why, Bibles have never been destroyed in the Saudi Kingdom! /sarc