Did Pope Benedict's meeting with Muslim envoys today help smooth over the tensions and violence in the Islamic world that came after he quoted a portion of what they considered to be an insulting text during a LECTURE?
Not really.
Some Muslims have responded positively.
CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy (AP) -- Pope Benedict XVI told Muslim diplomats Monday that Christians and Muslims must work together to guard against intolerance and violence as he sought to soothe anger over his recent remarks about Islam.
The pontiff also quoted from his predecessor, John Paul II, who had close relations with the Muslim world, calling for "reciprocity in all fields," including religious freedom. Benedict spoke in French to diplomats from 21 countries and the Arab League in his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo near Rome.
...Benedict's five-minute speech on Monday touched on religion and violence only briefly. He said that Christians and Muslims "must learn to work together ... to guard against all forms of intolerance and to oppose all manifestations of violence."
After his speech, in a salon in the papal palace in the Alban Hills, Benedict greeted each envoy one by one. He clasped their hands warmly and chatted for a few moments with each of the diplomats.
Iraq's ambassador to the Holy See said Benedict's address to the envoys should end the anger over the university address.
"The Holy Father stated his profound respect for Islam. This is what we were expecting," Iraqi envoy Albert Edward Ismail Yelda said as he left the 30 minute meeting. "It is now time to put what happened behind and build bridges."
...Benedict said he invited the diplomats to "strengthen the bonds of friendship" between both sides, but he did not offer any analysis of the controversial passage, which came in a speech exploring faith and reason.
Benedict said dialogue between Christians and Muslims "cannot be reduced to an optional extra. It is, in fact, a vital necessity on which in large measure our future depends," he said, quoting from a speech he gave to Muslims in Germany in 2005.
Benedict also cited John Paul II as saying "respect and dialogue require reciprocity in all spheres," particularly religious freedom. This is a major issue for the Vatican in Saudi Arabia and several other countries where non-Muslims cannot worship openly.
...Benedict gave "a very clear, very intelligent speech," said Mohamed Nour Dachan, an Italian of Syrian origin who heads the Union of Islamic Communities, or UCOII, one of the more radical Italian Muslim groups. "In a few words, the dialogue goes on. The dialogue is a priority for both Muslims and Christians."
Other Muslims are not so willing to have an open dialogue.
They are not buying into the reciprocity notion.
CAIRO -- Egypt's opposition Muslim Brotherhood said Monday that Pope Benedict XVI's meeting with Muslim envoys to the Vatican was another way of avoiding an apology.
"This is another attempt to avoid the issue of apology," Mohammed Habib, a senior member of the Islamist group, told AFP.
..."When we asked for an apology, we asked for a clear and honest one. We asked for an academic discussion" to discuss the speech, Habib said.
"When you quote something like that, you must analyse it and either show objection or agreement with these comments," he said.
These Muslims aren't the only ones dissatisfied with the Pope's remarks today.
Media libs are still criticizing the Pope as well.
Tony Barber writes:
[I]n his latest speech, the 79-year-old pope made a pointed reference to what the Vatican sees as discrimination against Christians in Saudi Arabia and other Islamic states where they are denied full freedom of worship or suffer repression.
Benedict quoted a speech given in Morocco by John Paul II, his predecessor, in which the late pope said: "Respect and dialogue demand reciprocity in all fields, above all in relation to fundamental freedoms, and most especially religious liberty."
Benedict's remarks, in front of an audience of envoys from about 20 Muslim countries, served as a reminder that although he has sought to make amends for his speech in Germany, he will not shy from talking frankly when necessary about Islam.
Since his election as Pope in April 2005, Benedict has altered the tone of Vatican policy on Islam, subtly distancing the Church from the path set by John Paul, who created history by becoming the first pope in 2,000 years of Christianity to enter a mosque.
Benedict has proved tougher on the issue of "reciprocity" – the Church's demand that Islamic states should grant the same rights and freedoms to Christians as Muslims receive in countries with a Christian heritage.
Last February Benedict removed Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald, the Vatican's most prominent advocate of good relations with the Islamic world and a John Paul appointee, as president of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue.
What does "reciprocity" mean?
1. given or felt by each toward the other; mutual.
2. given, performed, felt, etc., in return.
3. corresponding; matching; complementary; equivalent.
Some Muslims and clueless libs like Eleanor Clift and those of her ilk aren't comfortable with reciprocity. They don't think in terms of a two-way street being part of good relations between the faiths.
The onus for good relations is placed solely on the Catholic Church. Concessions must be made by the Pope.
Militant Muslims can execute a nun in cold blood, yet Pope Benedict is condemned and no apology is good enough.
Imagine. He's asking for RECIPROCAL civility and respect. How inappropriate!
Why is it that the Muslims' massive protests, as well as threats and acts of violence against the Pope and Catholics, must be tolerated, or at least understood by non-Muslims?
At the same time, the Muslims making these demands refuse to tolerate or attempt to understand non-Muslims. It's ludicrous.
First, violence is intolerable. Firebombing Christian churches and murdering a Catholic nun is unexceptable. Period.
Second, the Pope should not be expected to surrender his belief in religious liberty and freedom from religiously motivated violence.
Pope Benedict should not be criticized for supposedly being "tougher" than Pope John Paul II on reciprocity.
How do you think Pope John Paul would have reacted to radical Islam's religious intolerance as manifested in the world today?
I suspect he would have held as firm as he did on communism.
The claim that Pope Benedict is taking a different course than the one charted by Pope John Paul is a ruse, a misinformation campaign by the lib media.
Pope Benedict will not, and should not, bend to appease radical Islam. There is no middle ground when it comes to the atrocities that militant Muslims have committed in the name of God.
They are morally abhorrent. Case closed.
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