" Rather than apologising for the church's bloody legacy against Muslims in the dark years of the Crusades and Reconquista, the Pope has chosen to twist the knife in the old wound. He has driven the gulf between the two faiths even wider. He has again pitted the cross against the crescent ~ Who is to convince Muslims now that the west is not waging a crusade against them, in an alliance between Bush and Benedict, between the powers of the temporal and the sacred ?:" Soumaya Ghannoushi is a researcher at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, specializing in medieval Christian literature on Islam.
Don't buy into the spin that Pope Benedict's recent remarks and quotes were an unfortunate mistake ~ they were anything but that and were, indeed, a repudiation of the two decade long bridge building efforts by John Paul II with the Muslim world.
Church experts have claimed that, far from having made a mistake, it is extremely unlikely that the Pope would have inflamed the feelings of so many Muslims without realising what he was doing.
In that regard, his actions regarding Muslim countries stand in sharp contrast to Pope John Paul II ~ who died last year.
Excerpt: "John Paul II, who died last year, was the first Pope to visit a mosque. He travelled to a number of predominantly Muslim countries and welcomed a string of Islamic religious and political leaders to the Vatican during his 27-year-long papacy...Pope Benedict, however, has indicated that he would not be following his predecessor's example. Politi said: "At his inaugural mass as Pope, Benedict XVI cut out any reference to a fraternal relationship" with Islam ... Last February, Benedict removed the president of the Vatican department for dialogue with Islam and merged it with the Vatican's culture ministry. Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald, one of the Church's most experienced hands at dialogue with Muslims, was sent to Cairo in what was widely seen a demotion."
Here is the short article from Thisislondon.co.uk which further builds on this theme ~
Pope Benedict XVI has been on the defensive over the past 24 hours, apologising for the misinterpretation of his speech, the violent reaction to it and has said that the words he quoted did not reflect his own opinion.
But today Church experts have claimed that, far from having made a mistake, it is extremely unlikely that the Pope would have inflamed the feelings of so many Muslims without realising what he was doing.
The Pope on Sunday said he was deeply sorry Muslims had been offended by his use of a mediaeval quotation on Islam and violence, but his words failed to quell the fury of some Islamic groups demanding a full apology.
In the speech, the Pope referred to criticism of the Prophet Mohammad by 14th century Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaeologus. The emperor said everything the Prophet Mohammad brought was evil "such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached".
Marco Politi, Vatican Expert at La Republicca newspaper, begs to differ. He wrote: "The debacle into which the Holy See has fallen after [the Pope's] speech at the University of Regensburg ... is much more than an accident of communication."
He went on to add that the speech had set back a quarter of a century of efforts by his predecessor John Paul II to improve ties with Islam: "The unhappy anti-Mohammed quotation, followed by the violent reaction of the Islamic world and the bitter indignation of moderate European Muslims, has brought violently to light the rupture completed by the Pope with the strategy conducted for more than two decades with success by John Paul II."
The Pope on Sunday said the quotation did not represent his personal views. But the use of the quotation at all was seen by some Muslims as deeply offensive and some Church experts warned of a breakdown in relations with Islam.
Allen L Roland is a practicing psychotherapist, author and lecturer who also shares a daily political and social commentary on his weblog and website allenroland.com He also guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on Conscious talk radio www.conscioustalk.net
I don't hear a peep from the christians in name only leadership of this country against a war of aggression based on lies and deceit. I barely hear a word from anyone, anywhere. The people of manifest destiny must feel that the razing of other nations for their resources and wealth, while killing innocents, through covert or overt operations since first settling in this land is their right over all of the world. WW II is the only exception that I can think of that Americans were really fighting evil. However, the large banks, corporations and military industrialists see opportunity in war and weapons of mass suffering and slaughter.
by
Jim Reinhart (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 60 comments)
on Wednesday, September 20, 2006 at 11:16:09 PM
Not too long ago the Catholic Church blamed the Jewish people for the death of Jesus. It took centuries for the Church to forgive the Jews or to apologize for blaming them for the death of Jesus Christ. Why did the Church carry on this blame game for so many years? And has the Church really truly forgiven the Jews (or forgiven themselves for falsely blaming the Jews?)
So now it appears that this Pope has decided it is time to find a new guilty party to blame for something and to call them evil. Why? Why not instead pay attention to the good that the Catholic Church can do in this politically-driven terrorist society rather than stirring up more trouble?
I suggest that the Pope look in the mirror first before calling anyone evil. What he called an "apology" is a lie before God.
by
C.K. White (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 17 comments)
on Thursday, September 21, 2006 at 7:33:54 AM
3 comments
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