Who Directs The popes speeches?

[freesoulhope]

I Forgive the Pope for what he said, but its cuased alot of problems which makes it very hard for people to be Catholic.
WE already have the inquisition being used against us, the last thing we need is errorouness speeches that costs lives.

Surley the people who directed the Pope to make such speeches, new that there might be terrible conceqeunces considering the currunt poilitical and socail situation, and the wars being waged in the name of God and Christianity.

Being a black man, i know what its like when the rest of society alienates you for being of a particuler colour or belief. My freind said that all muslimsshould be Bombed. This is the kind of ignorance that is being fueled by speeches that are not relevent to are time.

Please dont take this as an attack, i am only expressing my concern, and i hope that incidents like these are avoided in the future.

Peace And God bless.

 

[LRThunder]

The problem is not what the pope said, but the reaction to the speech. In fact, I think the reaction is based on chosen parts of what he said, not based on everything he said.

 

[thistle]

I Forgive the Pope for what he said, but its cuased alot of problems which makes it very hard for people to be Catholic.
WE already have the inquisition being used against us, the last thing we need is errorouness speeches that costs lives.

Surley the people who directed the Pope to make such speeches, new that there might be terrible conceqeunces considering the currunt poilitical and socail situation, and the wars being waged in the name of God and Christianity.

Being a black man, i know what its like when the rest of society alienates you for being of a particuler colour or belief. My freind said that all muslimsshould be Bombed. This is the kind of ignorance that is being fueled by speeches that are not relevent to are time.

Please dont take this as an attack, i am only expressing my concern, and i hope that incidents like these are avoided in the future.

Peace And God bless.

Why would the Pope need forgiveness? He neither did nor said anything wrong. The furore is simply the ultra sensitivity of certain Muslims and the extremists jumping in to stir up all this hatred. Frankly the entire blame lies at the feet of the muslim extremists.

 

[freesoulhope]

The problem is not what the pope said, but the reaction to the speech. In fact, I think the reaction is based on chosen parts of what he said, not based on everything he said.

Then why did the Pope apoligise? If its just a matter of people wrongly twisting words out of context, then why did he then Go on to say that what he had said, did not express his “personal veiws”.

Its a blunder, and error, that he has regognised and respectfully apoligised for. Its a case of something being said at the wrong time.

This is not to excuse those who firebombed a church, and beat up a Nun. My anger is that, it is something that could have been avoided, and this is what is upsetting. It didnt have to happen, and it happened because of careless thinking.

If you know that the woods is full of wolves that love meat and love tearing people apart with their jaws, you dont go in to those woods carring a rack of meat to tempt such evil.

Thank you for your reply. God bless.

 

[LRThunder]

Then why did the Pope apoligise? If its just a matter of people wrongly twisting words out of context, then why did he then Go on to say that what he had said, did not express his “personal veiws”.

Its a blunder, and error, that he has regognised and respectfully apoligised for. Its a case of something being said at the wrong time.

This is not to excuse those who firebombed a church, and beat up a Nun. My anger is that, it is something that could have been avoided, and this is what is upsetting. It didnt have to happen, and it happened because of careless thinking.

If you know that the woods is full of wolves that love meat and love tearing people apart with there jaws, you dont going in to those woods carring a rack of meat to tempt such evil.

Thank you for your reply. God bless.

My understanding is that he wasn’t apologizing for his remarks themselves, but rather for the reaction to the remarks…that he regretted that so many took his words out of context.

 

[Church_Militant]

WHOA!

Did you bother to even read the text of what His Holiness said?

Vatican Statement on Pope’s Words About Islam
“A Clear and Radical Rejection of the Religious Motivation for Violence”

VATICAN CITY, SEPT. 15, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Here is the press statement released Thursday by Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi concerning the interpretation of certain passages of the Holy Father’s address at the University of Regensburg.

Concerning the reaction of Muslim leaders to certain passages of the Holy Father’s address at the University of Regensburg, it should be noted that what the Holy Father has at heart – and which emerges from an attentive reading of the text – is a clear and radical rejection of the religious motivation for violence.

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.

Quite the contrary, what emerges clearly from the Holy Father’s discourses is a warning, addressed to Western culture, to avoid “the contempt for God and the cynicism that considers mockery of the sacred to be an exercise of freedom” (homily, Sept. 10). A just consideration of the religious dimension is, in fact, an essential premise for fruitful dialogue with the great cultures and religions of the world.

And indeed, in concluding his address in Regensburg, Benedict XVI affirmed how “the world’s profoundly religious cultures see this exclusion of the divine from the universality of reason as an attack on their most profound convictions. A reason which is deaf to the divine and which relegates religion to the realm of subcultures is incapable of entering into the dialogue of cultures.”

What is clear then, is the Holy Father’s desire to cultivate an attitude of respect and dialogue toward other religions and cultures, including, of course, Islam.

[Original text: Italian; translation issued by the Holy See]
ZE06091507

You are pretty far outta line my friend. Forgive the Pope, indeed!

I think that His Holiness stated it right and frankly it shows more courage and integrity than the vast majority of non-Muslim religious leaders in the world.

The fact that Muslims took offense doesn’t bother me very much because I get real tired of them chanting death to my country (and yours BTW!) and dancing in the streets every time some act of Islamic terror takes the lives of innocents. It’s wretched…and thats me being nice about it.

The whole call is for Muslims do begin to dialog with the rest of the world and knock off the violence, which is something that any rational person can readily agree with.

In the seventh conversation (“diálesis” – controversy) edited by professor Khoury, the emperor touches on the theme of the jihad (holy war). The emperor must have known that sura 2:256 reads: “There is no compulsion in religion.” It is one of the suras of the early period, when Mohammed was still powerless and under [threat]. But naturally the emperor also knew the instructions, developed later and recorded in the Koran, concerning holy war.

Without descending to details, such as the difference in treatment accorded to those who have the “Book” and the “infidels,” he turns to his interlocutor somewhat brusquely with the central question on the relationship between religion and violence in general, in these words: “Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.”

The emperor goes on to explain in detail the reasons why spreading the faith through violence is something unreasonable. Violence is incompatible with the nature of God and the nature of the soul. “God is not pleased by blood, and not acting reasonably (“syn logo”) is contrary to God’s nature. Faith is born of the soul, not the body. Whoever would lead someone to faith needs the ability to speak well and to reason properly, without violence and threats… To convince a reasonable soul, one does not need a strong arm, or weapons of any kind, or any other means of threatening a person with death…”

The decisive statement in this argument against violent conversion is this: Not to act in accordance with reason is contrary to God’s nature. The editor, Theodore Khoury, observes: For the emperor, as a Byzantine shaped by Greek philosophy, this statement is self-evident. But for Muslim teaching, God is absolutely transcendent. His will is not bound up with any of our categories, even that of rationality.

You have nothing to forgive His Holiness for.

 

[Darrel]

The Popes words are not the problem. The problem, is that the whole world feels like it needs to tippy toe around Islam to prevent upsetting them. They openly call us satanic and thats fine. The Pope tells an obvious and common sense truth and it’s the worst offense imaginable. To answer the OP’s original question. God directs the Popes speaches. If it were up to me, the Pope would come right out and call Muhammed a false prophet and invite the entire Islamic world to accept the validity of Christ as God the son and not a mere prophet.

-D

 

[Church_Militant]

Then why did the Pope apoligise? If its just a matter of people wrongly twisting words out of context, then why did he then Go on to say that what he had said, did not express his “personal veiws”.

Its a blunder, and error, that he has regognised and respectfully apoligised for. Its a case of something being said at the wrong time.

This is not to excuse those who firebombed a church, and beat up a Nun

. My anger is that, it is something that could have been avoided, and this is what is upsetting. It didnt have to happen, and it happened because of careless thinking.

If you know that the woods is full of wolves that love meat and love tearing people apart with there jaws, you dont go in to those woods carring a rack of meat to tempt such evil.

Thank you for your reply. God bless.Get your facts straight… they shot and murdered a nun.

You’re spouting bunkum. Read the text…since obviously you haven’t or you wouldn’t have gone off half-cocked like this.

As for His Holiness’ apology…it takes a great man of courage and integrity to apologize when he’s right in order to minimize the suffering of others. God knows, a great many civil leaders could take a lesson from him.

Moreover…having actually read the text, I agree with Thistle who said,

the entire blame lies at the feet of the muslim extremists.

Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum,

 

[freesoulhope]

Thank you to all those who have “kindly” opened my eyes to the facts.

I often feel like my faith is being attacked. And people are allways bringing up gallieo and the inquisition. I feel a bit bullied in my faith, and sometimes feel guilty and embarrased for being a Catholic, leaving me unable to defend it. I havent many freinds with a deep religious faith.

My freind who is an atheist told me that the Pope had said things that have alienated muslims causing the horrific attacks on members of the Catholic faith.

I apoligise, if i have wrongly accused the Pope. In future i will study exactly what has been said before getting upset, and flying of the handle.

God bless and peace.

 

[Contarini]

I Forgive the Pope for what he said, but its cuased alot of problems which makes it very hard for people to be Catholic.

Have you actually read the speech? I think it was brilliant and right on target. It makes me want to be Catholic, not the reverse!

My one criticism would be that the Pope should have spoken more explicitly of Christian use of violence in the past. But his remarks about Islam were moderate and fair. The Islamic response eliminates any doubts I might have had of this!

WE already have the inquisition being used against us, the last thing we need is errorouness speeches that costs lives.

Then point out the error in what the Pope said. The Pope invited Muslims (and everyone else) to a dialogue based on the conviction that reason is an expression of God’s nature. He pointed out elements in Islamic tradition that deny this and teach that God is somehow totally beyond reason. If he was wrong, Muslims should show him that he was wrong by rational argument, either pointing out his erroneous interpretation of the Islamic thinkers he’s referring to or proving that these thinkers are not truly representative. That they respond by violence is not his fault.

Surley the people who directed the Pope to make such speeches, new that there might be terrible conceqeunces considering the currunt poilitical and socail situation, and the wars being waged in the name of God and Christianity.

I don’t know what wars are being waged in the name of Christianity right now. I know there are some Baptist guerrillas in India, but other than that. . . .

Christianity has been guilty of plenty of violence in the past, and Christian indifference to or support of secular violence today is reprehensible. But right now it is Muslims who are engaging in widespread religious violence. To blame the Pope for trying to engage the causes of this violence rationally is a classic case of blaming the victim.

Being a black man, i know what its like when the rest of society alienates you for being of a particuler colour or belief.

With all due respect, I don’t think colour and faith can be equated. Religion cannot be treated as immune from criticism–this isn’t good for any religion. Christianity has been able to purify itself from much of its past violence largely because of the breakup of religious monopoly in Europe and the fact that no Christian body is immune from criticism. Some Catholics do try to make this move, at least in the U.S., but it’s a bogus one (claiming that whenever their Church is criticized they’re being the victims of something analogous to racism). The Pope made a rational critique of an element in Islamic thought. By no stretch of the imagination is this in any way analogous to racial prejudice.

My freind said that all muslimsshould be Bombed.

And that’s reprehensible. But who is actually doing the bombing? Isn’t that far more reprehensible?

This is the kind of ignorance that is being fueled by speeches that are not relevent to are time.

Can’t you see that the Muslim reaction to the Pope’s speech shows just how relevant it is? If the Pope’s speech were irrelevant, there would have been no violent reaction to it.

How can you defend your logic here? You seem to be arguing like this:

1. The Pope said Muslims are violent
2. Muslims reacted violently
3. Therefore, the Pope’s remark were false or erroneous or both, or
4. The Pope’s remarks caused Muslim violence

If you tell me, “You should get some psychological help, because I notice that you hit people whenever they criticize you,” and I respond by punching you in the nose, haven’t I just proven how badly in need of help I am?

Edwin

 

[freesoulhope]

If you tell me, “You should get some psychological help, because I notice that you hit people whenever they criticize you,” and I respond by punching you in the nose, haven’t I just proven how badly in need of help I am?

Edwin

I love you to. God bless.

 

[ComradeAndrei]

I often feel like my faith is being attacked. And people are allways bringing up gallieo and the inquisition. I feel a bit bullied in my faith, and sometimes feel guilty and embarrased for being a Catholic, leaving me unable to defend it. I havent many freinds with a deep religious faith.

Well, that is what you signed up for. Jesus said that if the world has hated me (and it did) that it will hate you (us) too. Men went to the lions in defense of the Faith, I consider the lame “attacks” of secular pseudo-intellectuals to be nothing but something to laugh about.

My freind who is an atheist told me that the Pope had said things that have alienated muslims causing the horrific attacks on members of the Catholic faith.

Well, your friend doesn’t know jack about world issues then. The Pope said things that he is certainly entitled to say and were very spot on. Some Muslims took “offense” to it because they are irrational brutes and decided to blow stuff up and kill people. Many many more decided to protest and burn the pope in effigy.

I often wonder if anyone ever works over there, it always seems like they waste the day protesting one thing or another.

 

[Gilbert_Keith]

freesoulhope

My freind who is an atheist told me that the Pope had said things that have alienated muslims causing the horrific attacks on members of the Catholic faith.
**
I’m not at all surprised at your friend’s reaction. Atheists on the whole should be glad to find any excuse to attack Benedict as leader of the Catholic Church.

In these forums some of them have attacked Pius XII for *not *excommunicating Hitler for his violence!

 

[Eliza10]

…I often feel like my faith is being attacked. And people are allways bringing up gallieo and the inquisition. I feel a bit bullied in my faith, and sometimes feel guilty and embarrased for being a Catholic, leaving me unable to defend it. I havent many freinds with a deep religious faith…

The enemies of the church are many and can be overwhelmingly powerful. You can feel so alone sometimes! But Our Lord gave us seemingly simple things - a wafer of “bread” (Himself), “water” (holy water) and plastic “beads” (rosary) - and these “weak” things make that “strong” proud devil flee like a ninny.

Remember, “if God is for us, who can be against us?” You will gain strength in that trial of being alone, when that is your fate. Jesus knew it would look impossible for us at times, but assured us that gates of hell would not prevail against His Church. So be encouraged.

Meanwhile, all those questions and accusations have great answers - and some who hurl them are intrigued with answers such as they have never heard before. Each of those things you mentioned have answers of engaging truth that will make you feel so awed and blessed that you are Catholic. And great place to start finding those answers is here on this forum!

 

[Contarini]

Then why did the Pope apoligise? If its just a matter of people wrongly twisting words out of context, then why did he then Go on to say that what he had said, did not express his “personal veiws”.

That’s not what he said. He said that the quote from the Byzantine Emperor (that Islam has brought nothing positive into the world) did not express his personal views. His point was that Christians see reason as an analogous participation in the mind of God, and that some elements in Islamic thought don’t do this, which may lead to acts of violence (since God is seen as arbitrary Will). It was a valid point and he has not retracted or apologized for it in any way.

Edwin

 

[scylla]

If you tell me, “You should get some psychological help, because I notice that you hit people whenever they criticize you,” and I respond by punching you in the nose, haven’t I just proven how badly in need of help I am?

Edwin

Excellent point, I am going to use this.

Unfortunately people are going to suffer as Muslim anger lashes out. Thank God someone has made an open challenge for peace in such a public way.

Now if only some of the news wouldn’t be so ambiguous about it and really portray it as it is, a challenge for all faiths to behave peacefully.

In Christ
Scylla

 

[TimOliv]

I stand with Peter

 

[BJRumph]

Anyone who believes that the current wars and troubles are about Christianity versus Islam have already conceeded their mind to the muslim’s.

Calling America a “Christian” country is only a degree more apt than calling revolutionary France “Christian”. Its an absurd assertion, regardless of weather you support GW or not, to insist he is a religious leader, leading a theocratic nation to a war against Islam for religious reasons. Pure fantasy created by the supposedly maligned and mischaracterized innocent muslims.

Ironic, that; they blast us for being godless infidels on one hand, while insisting we are “oppressing” them based upon our “Christian” faith. Just more blind doublespeak to enrage all parties, to the end that they win out of attrition.

Strange how they are gearing up with violence as a response to the Pope’s speech which decried the use of violence in the name of God because of a forced misperception that he maligned Muhammad. Too wrapped up in trying to assert their power over the world to realize that their handling of this episode only reinforces the “stereotype” that muslims are irrational brutes that resort to force at any pretext. The speed of the resolution of Pakistan’s parlimentary condemnation only serves to* prove the very image that they insist is false*.

There is no possibility for a supposedly enlightened, intelligent, civilized, rational, and peaceful people, as the muslims would have us believe, to misunderstand the intent or even content of what the Pope had to say, unless there is a deliberate intent to do so.

It also irked me that the article run by Catholic.org printed without answer the false historical assertion of a muslim that it was Pope Urban II who “invented” the concept of Holy War (ask yourself; why was he contemplating “inventing” the crusades? Any history book should be revealing…). Grrrr.

 

[BJRumph]

That said, we need to work on escaping the emotionally driven violence that is being generated on the issue. Weather it is the ludicrous claims of radical islamisits, media moguls like M.Moore, or even conservative “bomb them all” representatives; its all a rash degeneration of all of our civilizations that can be avoided.

Yes, unlike some who preferr rational/emotional fighting to physical, we must all prepare an adequate and effective defense; but as Christians, we must assert ourselves into that defense and assure that undue measures are not permitted. Nor that we, in doing our part in ensuring peace, do not demonize all our enemies, but rather follow Christ’s, and the Church’s, teachings that we must Love our enemies, and seek to heal the rift.

That this process will require us to reevaluate our foreign policy actions, hopefully in an honest manner, is not a bad thing, even if it becomes painful. No war, even the one looming ahead, is completely one-sided, even if our personal motivations concerning it are. We cannot expect others to repent if we won’t examine our own conciences as well.

Thank God He gave us a Pope who, if anyone would bother listening to, could help us stop the escalating disintegration of our civilization, and lead us back to the unity we are all called to share in Christ.

 

[Caesar]

I love that lecture. It is now one of my favorites