Pope 'sorry' for offence to Islam The Vatican said the Pope's remarks had been misinterpreted Pope Benedict XVI has said he is sorry that a speech in which he referred to Islam has offended Muslims. In a statement read out by a senior Vatican official, the Pope said he respected Islam and hoped Muslims would understand the true sense of his words. In Tuesday's speech the Pope quoted a 14th Century Christian emperor who said the Prophet Muhammad had brought the world only "evil and inhuman" things. The remarks prompted protests from Muslims around the world. The Holy Father is very sorry that some passages of his speech may have sounded offensive to the sensibilities of Muslim believers Tarcisio Bertone Vatican secretary of state Political and religious leaders in Muslim countries criticised the remarks and called for the pontiff to make a personal apology. The BBC's Christian Fraser in Rome says the speed with which the Vatican has reacted shows just how seriously they view the situation. Reading the statement, new Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone said the Pope's position on Islam was in line with Vatican teaching that the Church "esteems Muslims, who adore the only God". "The Holy Father is very sorry that some passages of his speech may have sounded offensive to the sensibilities of Muslim believers," the statement said. There will be concerns about whether to go ahead with the Pope's planned visit to Turkey, in light of the controversy over his safety, our correspondent says. Some commentators in Rome have suggested it may be useful for his lecture to be translated into Arabic, so that people can make their own judgement and see for themselves in what context the quote was made.
Wow, now I know that the pope is a wimp. If he thinks something is wrong with islam he should say so and not try to appease everyone.
At least he got his message out, many of us know how evil Islam is. And he raised some sort of awareness.
I think he really made a foolish remark. I am not a Muslim, but if I were one I would really be offended by that. I believe Jihad (Holy War) has a higher purpose and it's not as if the Catholics didn't spread the religion the same way..
I'm not a fan of Catholicism either, but who would you prefer? Them or some nutcases who like to bomb people?
maybe you should ask that question when the Catholic people were waging war and using religion as an excuse. Imagine doing nothing to them, then being forced to submit to their religion's whims. To ask that same question now would be unfair to the Muslim people because if you asked that question many years ago, then the answer would be not Catholicism.
Why? They were fighting back against muslims then. You do realize that's how/why the crusades started? Do we have to go back 900 years to find moral equivalence? Or is it possible to ask a group in modern time to conduct themselves like civilized people in our somewhat civilized world?
no, maybe you don't understand what I mean. for a country to be torn apart for 300+ years (I'm talking about my country, Philippines, of course) because of an unwanted (not wanted) religion is just too much. It is true, that maybe, the Muslim people (some of them) are extremist and resorts to extra-violent means but the same were done by the Catholic people too. Maybe a few hundred years ago, the means were as simple as fighting with ships, lance and swords, but considering that the technology then was much cruder, then we can consider that what they did then is the same as some extremists are doing now. Don't get me wrong. if the Crusades started because of other religion attacking the Catholics, then who is to say that the Muslims aren't feeling the same way too (attacked, abused and torn apart), and what they did wasn't just a retaliation?
that's true, Rick Michael. but if you are a Pope, and you know that there are millions of people who will hear what you have to say, then you have to be careful of what you say. I remember one time when I was blogging and I said a simple statement, saying "no to abortion" and I was swamped by comments from the feminist group, saying that every female has the right to her body. I had to create another thread just to explain that I value life and that's the only reason I said that statement and not because of anti-feminist views. I am an unpopular blogger but if a simple statement like that could spark some emotions to feminists, imagine what a pope could do.
The Crusades started when the pope in 1098 (I believe), made a public statement that for the sake of our faith we must drive back the invasion. The first 300 years of the Muslim religion saw the overtaking of nearly all of the middle east (which was mostly christian), northern africa, and parts of east europe. A lot of shit was going down, and hundreds of years of war would happen from then-on.
Muhammed's life was rather odd in ways, and while those statements would seem rather offensive (coming from the pope), I believe his rather loose apology is more than enough. We live in such a PC world, except when it comes to people whom are the suggested 'oppressor'.
I don't really see what good can come from insulting one of the major religions, when you are leader of another religion
I think as pope, he'll have a long line of offending people. I don't know a pope that hasn't offend someone. I think he'll note in the future, 'don't quote an historical quote', no matter your full context intention presented....because people will take it out of context.
Islam as a whole, was spread by the sword through barbaric conquests. I don't work with "maybe," I work with what is historically correct. There is no room for moral equivalence (trying to justify their actions today to something of years gone by). People didn't fight with words in those days. The crusades were an effort to fight back against muslim aggression, however, it has no bearing on the actions they have taken this week. The Pope simply quoted someone from years gone by. It doesn't call for violence, rage, aggression and generally acting like four year old girls when they don't get the doll they hoped for. Let them be responsible for their actions. For once