All your apologies are belong to us
"Fadlallah, one of the world's top Shia Muslim clerics, said: "We demand that [the Pope] apologise personally"
Pope Benedict XVI was last night facing angry demands from Muslims that he apologise for a speech in which he appeared to condemn the concept of jihad as "unreasonable" and quoted a medieval ruler who said Muhammad's innovations were "evil and inhuman".Protests swept across the Islamic world and the furore threatened a scheduled visit by the Pope to Turkey.
The Vatican spokesman, Federico Lombardi, told Vatican Radio: "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."
Father Miguel Ayuso Guixot, the head of the Vatican's Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies, told the Guardian he feared the Pope's words had been "misinterpreted". He added: "The Pope has worked tirelessly for inter-religious and inter-cultural dialogue and for tolerance."
In Turkey, however, where the Pope is due to visit in November, the deputy leader of the ruling party said Benedict had "a dark mentality that comes from the darkness of the middle ages". Salih Kapusuz added: "He is going down in history in the same category as leaders such as Hitler and Mussolini."
Representatives of the two million Turks in Germany, where the comments were made, also expressed deep annoyance. The head of the Turkish community, Kenan Kolat, said they were "very dangerous" and liable to misunderstanding.
JIHAD IS THE PEAK OF ISLAM
Continue reading "All your apologies are belong to us" »
- Pope's Baptism Of Muslim Is "triumphalist Tool"
No, Peter North is a "triumphalist tool". A Papal baptism the day before Easter is Catholicism being Catholic. From the BBC (with thanks to Bayan): A Muslim scholar involved in high-level dialogue with the Vatican has denounced the Pope's baptism...
- From Vatican Reporter:
At least one writer for Catholic press out of the Vatican is now saying that Pope Benedict XVI has no intention of backing down from his call for dialogue. This after another Vatican insider reportedly said that the Pope's reference to a dialogue...
-
"ANKARA, Turkey - A Turkish lawmaker said Pope Benedict XVI would go down in history "in the same category as leaders such as Hitler and Mussolini" for remarks he made about Islam. Meanwhile, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry summoned the Vatican's...
- Cair Advances Crusade Against Pope
America, CAIR wants to dhimmitize your pope. He may not be my religious leader, my "pope" but I love him just the same. I was, understandably, disappointed in his position in the Israel/Islamic war. It was a mistake to dismiss Hezb'Allah's blood...
- Add One More
Turkish Lawmaker Compares Pope to Hitler... ANKARA, Turkey (AP) - Turkey's ruling Islamic-rooted party joined a wave of criticism of Pope Benedict XVI on Friday, accusing him of trying to revive the spirit of the Crusades with remarks he made about...