Editorials & Opinion On Muslim Reaction To Pope
Posted by Munir Umrani on September 19, 2006
John L. Allen Jr., Vatican correspondent for The National Catholic Reporter, contends in a September 19, 2006 opinion piece in The New York Times that, “Seen in context, Pope Benedict XVI’s citation last week of a 14th-century Byzantine emperor who claimed that the Prophet Muhammad brought “things only evil and inhuman” to the world was not intended as an anti-Islamic broadside. The pope’s real target in his lecture at the University of Regensburg, in Germany, was not Islam but the West, especially its tendency to separate reason and faith. He also denounced religious violence, hardly a crusader’s sentiment.”
If the pope’s real target was the west, he missed it by a wide margin. Even some of those he may have intended to reach seem to think he was aiming at Muslims.
For more, please see “A Challenge, Not a Crusade.” May require registration.
Outrage and understanding — The Toronto Star, Canada
The Pope wimps out — BuzzMachine, United States
Radical Islamists are the ones who insult Islam, not the Pope — Eric Mendoza
Dionne: Pope’s remarks on Islam troubling for church, West — Houston Chronicle, United States
A pope’s predicament — Khaleej Times, United Arab Emirates
Pope’s comments threaten dialogue — Chicago Tribune, United States
Should Vatican aides have warned the Pope? — Telegraph.co.uk, United Kingdom
Return to the dark ages — Guardian Unlimited, United Kingdom
Clashing civilisations on the banks of the Bosphorus — Financial Times, United Kingdom
An insufficient apology — Guardian Unlimited, United Kingdom
Critical time for our Pope — Manila Standard Today, Philippines
Lost in translation — The Age, Australia
The Pope, the Crusades, and the Muslims — Dr. David Yeagley’s Online Journal
Editor’s Note: This post can also be found at The Diplomatic Times Review, one of my other blogs.
