Posted on 09/17/2006 5:49:41 PM PDT by RightOnTheLeftCoast
'Remarks Not My Views'
Updated: 18:52, Sunday September 17, 2006
The Pope has appeared in public to say the remarks he made about Islam which sparked fury across the Muslim world did not in any way reflect his personal views.
Benedict XVI had been under pressure to make a personal apology following a controversial speech he made in Germany on Tuesday.
In the Somalian capital Mogadishu an Italian nun was attacked and killed by gunmen. Sources said there was a very high possibility the incident was linked to the speech.
The Pope told a crowd at his summer retreat at Castle Gandolfo, ltaly, he was "very upset and sorry" his remarks had caused such a reaction.
"This was a citation from a medieval text which doesn't express in any way whatsoever my personal opinion," he said.
He said the speech had been an "invitation to... frank and sincere dialogue".
In it, he referred to criticism of the Prophet Mohammed by a 14th-century Byzantine emperor.
The passage said everything Mohammed brought was evil "such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached".
Using the terms "jihad" and "holy war", the Pope said violence was "incompatible with the nature of God".
Protests in Pakistan Initially Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood said the apology was sufficient.
"We consider that the new statements represent a retreat from what went before. We can consider them a sufficient apology, even if we had wanted the Pope to outline his ideas and vision of Islam," said deputy leader Mohammed Habib.
However, later the brotherhood appeared to change its mind and said the Pope had not made a "clear" apology.
The Muslim Council of Britain welcomed the Pope's explanation.
A spokesman said: "We very much welcome the Pope's statement in which he made it clear that his own views do not in any way accord with those of the 14th century emperor.
"This is a very important clarification that we had been seeking. Had this caveat been included in the Pope's original speech it may have prevented this controversy in the first place."
Demonstrations by Muslims around the world saw effigies of the Pope burned and threw doubt over the his planned visit to Turkey in November, with the country's Prime Minister insisting the comments must be withdrawn.
It was also revealed the national security level in Italy had been stepped up in the wake of threats to the pontiff from Islamic groups.
The ones that killed the nun gave their opinion.
The total outrage over her murder has not yet begun....I predict a nun killer will hang soon.
ping
So our leaders cannot criticize Islam publicly and now they cannot even quote other people in history who were criticizing Islam ? Screw that. We have Free Speech in the West. We can criticize anyone we want for any reason we want. It is perhaps enlightening however to note the similarity in the response of Islamic Fascists to criticism and the response of the Clinton Fascists to recent criticism (Path to 911). It is obvious now that both Islamic Fascists and their Progressive Fascists brethren are both against free speech. Another common negative character trait is found within the Unholy Alliance.
The pope should be glad his story did not have cartoons... he would REALLY be reeling now...
Of course, if he said anything remotely like that, the Muzzies would go nuts, so maybe it's better we don't go there.
News flash - the Pope did NOT apologize. He said he was sorry for the "reaction" of the Muslims...he never apologized for what he SAID, which is quite different.
It sounds a little like when person A says person B is stupid, person B says I want an apology. Person A says, okay, I'm sorry you're stupid.
On other threads it was said that these were the Pope's comments, not that he was quoting another.
That caused my confusion.
You won't see any from the craven cowards and pervert-loving mainstream Christian leaders. They are worthless for anything except attacking the US and decency. My own denomination included.
'"This was a citation from a medieval text which doesn't express in any way whatsoever my personal opinion," he said.'
These hypersensitive idiots.
Reminds me of every thing you say in front of liberals could condemn you, no matter if you were just quoting someone else.
So much for frank and sincere dialog w/ murders.
That's outrageous. How dare you say all Catholics are cowards.
You should take that back.
You're correct.
Both Moslems and FReepers misunderstood the actual speech.
Then they both misunderstood his reply to the angry mob.
The Pope didn't "cave"; he didn't really apologize. Which in this case, is fine with me!
A true commentary on how the Catholic Church has become the home of pedophiles and weinys when it comes to spreading God's words.
You are really out of touch with the English language.
Ooops, you just caved.
That caused my confusion.
yeah, I also made the mistake of belieiving the initial reports on what his speech was about, before reading the actual text. "Let that be a lesson to me ;) Never EVER take any MSM reporting at face value...thee is always, ALWAYS a hidden agenda"
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