Did the Pope bow down to pressure?

[T1Catholic]

I supported the Holy Father all the way when he made his now infamous comments. But with all the pressure and his multiple apologies and now his comment that he has deep and profound respect for Islam ( news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060925/ts_nm/pope_islam_dc_5 ), I can’t help but feel he’s kind of bowed down to all the pressure to be politically correct. Am I getting something wrong?

 

[Darrel]

He never retracted his comments. Now he is embracing the people he offended in love. If he said “I’m sorry for offending you and of course your religion was spread peacefully by a valid prophet”, then I would have a problem. He’s doing the right thing in his position. The other choice would be to be as blunt as me which would start a giant Islamic killing spree of Catholics.

-D

 

[KathleenElsie]

He never retracted his comments. Now he is embracing the people he offended in love. If he said “I’m sorry for offending you and of course your religion was spread peacefully by a valid prophet”, then I would have a problem. He’s doing the right thing in his position. The other choice would be to be as blunt as me which would start a giant Islamic killing spree of Catholics.

-D

Our Pope is standing firm. The news said that with this meeting he did not back off. He might have offended the diplomats further when he said that since we allow Mosques they need to reciprocate with the acceptance of Christian Churches et.

 

[Richardols]

I can’t help but feel he’s kind of bowed down to all the pressure to be politically correct. Am I getting something wrong?

I believe that he realizes that he wasn’t as discrete and tactful as he should have been - the example from an obscure Eastern emperor was a poor one to have used - and he wants to clarify what he actually meant. He is not at all hostile to Islam nor to Moslems.

 

[Darrel]

Our Pope is standing firm. The news said that with this meeting he did not back off. He might have offended the diplomats further when he said that since we allow Mosques they need to reciprocate with the acceptance of Christian Churches et.

I was not aware that he said that about accepting Christian Churches. Thats great to hear. I agree that he is standing firm. I also think he is measuring his severity to prevent further acts of violence, which is wise. I think he understands that the whole world tippy toes around Islam for fear of it’s violence. Maybe this crisis will be the start of that changing in the world.

-D

 

[bones_IV]

Check this out.

“What Pope Benedict said in Regensburg is obnoxious to many radical elements in the East and the West, whether it’s African or Asian, European or American. Why? The Pope dared to give the warning to Western Culture (or that which today passes for “Culture”) to avoid “the contempt for God and the cynicism that considers mockery of the Sacred to be an exercise of freedom.” Whatever human actions are held up for praise and are disconnected from God will lead only to violence and death. It was true 2,000 years ago and it’s true today. How can Christianity engage the East or the West if Reason, which is from God is first jettisoned?”

live365.com/stations/sfcr?site

 

[T1Catholic]

Ok I feel better after reading your posts. And I’m thrilled to know he talked about Christians in Muslim countries.

 

[uncleauberon]

For Pope Benedict this whole thing is helping separate the wheat from the chaff.

The comment was obscure and perahaps not politically savvy, but it certainly helped shine a psot light on those Muslims that will talk with the Pope and those that will be radically violent.

So for the Catholics and the Muslims that are on the fence - take a good look at who is and is not wiling to talk.

 

[Deacon2006]

We must understand that this Pope and others have maintained a distance between Muslims and Islam. Islam is a flawed religion that is full of errors, contradicitions, and woeful violence. Muslims for the most part are peaceful seeking to enter Heaven.

God Bless

 

[Eden]

I think that his speech in Regensburg was a calculated move, one that came about through prayer and contemplation. I think he took a “leap of faith”, you could say, by linking violence to Islam with this obscure quote.

It is a subject that all of our Western leaders seem too timid to address - the historical relationship between Islam and violence.

I don’t think he could have predicted the outcome of his speech, but I think he has apologized for the offense Muslims felt (as in, sorry the truth hurts) as a Christian should do.

But I believe he has also pulled back a bit for the security of Christians around the world. I’m sure it is a heavy weight on his shoulders to consider that his speech may have been the impetus for the Somali gunmen to execute Sr. Leonella.

In the end, I think it is a brilliant move to have invited Muslim leaders for dialogue following all of the violence. How could they have rejected the invitation for dialogue and still maintain that Islam is peaceful? They kind of got backed into a corner. I hope the dialogue proves fruitful. We can only pray.

 

[gilliam]

We must understand that this Pope and others have maintained a distance between Muslims and Islam. Islam is a flawed religion that is full of errors, contradicitions, and woeful violence. Muslims for the most part are peaceful seeking to enter Heaven.

God Bless

Nearly all the other envoys left without speaking to reporters. The embassies of Egypt and Turkey said their ambassadors would have no comment. The Iranian, Indonesian, Lebanese and Libyan embassies did not answer their phones.

It’s interesting that the quotes showing approval of the Pope’s speech were from the Iraqi and the Italian. They are free to speak. What about the others? And what would they say if they could speak? Because one of the main thrusts of the Pope’s words was reciprocity in allowing religious freedom, and in the goal of ending religious intolerance.

Islam is a supersessionist religion. It prohibits proselytizing by other religions, and the punishment for Moslem apostates is still death. Those facts are not consistent with the Pope’s words about religious freedom, try though we might to believe otherwise

neo-neocon.blogspot.com/2006/09/parsing-popes-words-having-dialogue.html

 

[Siena]

I think that his speech in Regensburg was a calculated move…
It is a subject that all of our Western leaders seem too timid to address - the historical relationship between Islam and violence…
In the end, I think it is a brilliant move to have invited Muslim leaders for dialogue following all of the violence. …

Exactly- ***If the pope had invited the muslim representatives of the majority islamic nations to a discussion in the Vatican about faith and violence 3 weeks ago, who would have come???

---

As it stands, I read that all the nations with a muslim majority (excluding Sudan) sent a representative. On 3 days notice!
I think the Holy Father made a bold move designed to get the attention of the muslim AS WELL AS the western world (knowing full well the spin the media would put on it).

In the course of 2 weeks, the Holy Father, (who had been reduced by the media to an old man, smiling for photos, and Vatican fashion statements ) has placed himself and the Catholic Church in the world spotlight. For this moment, what he has to say MATTERS, and speak he will. He is the only authority figure in the western world who has the moral legitimacy (as well as the cahonas) to confront islam as a RELIGION instead of a political movement.

 

[gilliam]

Exactly- If the pope had invited the muslim representatives of the majority islamic nations to a discussion in the Vatican about faith and violence 3 weeks ago, who would have come???

Is the Pope really that smart?

Maybe

 

[Steadfast_love]

His speach primaraly touted the glory of Christian Reason and disclosed our secret sauce: Greek Reason. I presume that to Moderate Muslim ears, this begs the question: Why not revert Islam to Greek Reason and try for another Islamic Golden Age?

His apology for the reaction to, but not the truth of, his speach only serves to underscore his strengths. People expect him to argue like a bulldog but don’t notice him sneaking / spreading his teachings like leven.

 

[Richardols]

It’s interesting that the quotes showing approval of the Pope’s speech were from the Iraqi and the Italian. They are free to speak. What about the others?

As they were government officials, it’s probable that they were ordered not to make any statements until they consulted with their governments.

Even US diplomats go to meetings with other diplomats and will refuse to comment on the proceedings. We know that US diplomats are free to speak, but it can be different in diplomacy.

 

[estesbob]

For Pope Benedict this whole thing is helping separate the wheat from the chaff.

The comment was obscure and perahaps not politically savvy, but it certainly helped shine a psot light on those Muslims that will talk with the Pope and those that will be radically violent.

So for the Catholics and the Muslims that are on the fence - take a good look at who is and is not wiling to talk.

I hope we NEVER have a Pope who is more concerned with being politically savy than speaking the TRUTH

 

[nearing80]

I think that his speech in Regensburg was a calculated move, one that came about through prayer and contemplation.

In the end, I think it is a brilliant move to have invited Muslim leaders for dialogue following all of the violence. How could they have rejected the invitation for dialogue and still maintain that Islam is peaceful? They kind of got backed into a corner. I hope the dialogue proves fruitful. We can only pray.

I look at as the pope addressing a class in a German University. His reference appeared to state that Faith cannot be brought about by the sword using a 600 year old reference. Is the man looked at gimlet eyed everytime he speaks to find something others find objectionable? Would the Vatican send a member to spy on what goes on in a Mosque? This whole thing is blown out of proportion as is most anything inferring that Islam is not perfect.

 

[contemplative]

Did the Pope bow down to pressure?

No but…
After watching a rebroadcast of EWTN’s The World Over…it appears that the US Bishops buckled.

I understand the US Bishops website has since changed it’s original response to Pope Benedict’s speech.

 

[JimR-OCDS]

The Pope could’ve said what he wanted to get across without using the inflamatory text that he used.

A nun died because of his words. Churches were burned and Christians living in hostile Islamic areas of the world, had to go into hiding.

If the Pope’s intent was to get a reaction, he did so recklessly and at the cost of other’s lives.

 

[Elzee]

No but…
After watching a rebroadcast of EWTN’s The World Over…it appears that the US Bishops buckled.

I understand the US Bishops website has since changed it’s original response to Pope Benedict’s speech.

How so … on both counts? I didn’t see their original response.