Excuse for another riot?
Here we go again. It is being reported that the Islamic world is getting increasingly enraged by some comments Pope Benedict made in an academic address this week in Germany.
Pope Benedict XVI came under a hail of criticism from the Islamic world Friday for comments he made earlier in the week regarding the Prophet Mohammed and the Muslim faith, in some cities provoking street protests.
 He had quoted a Byzantine emperor, Manuel II Paleologus on the difference between Christianity and Islam, and quoted the Qu’ron as forbidding compulsion in religion. Here’s a bit of what he said.
From the Christian perspective, the Pontiff continued, any attempt to use religious faith as justification for violent attacks is impossible. “Violence is is incompatible with the nature of God and the nature of the soul,†he said.
Attempting to convert someone by the use of violence is also an absurdity to Christians, the Pope continued, because the use of violence is an attempt to compel someone, rather than reason with him, and that approach is foreign to the God of the Bible. The Pope noted that “not to act in accordance with reason is contrary to God’s nature.â€
But his words are being exaggerated and distorted. CNN reports:
A Vatican statement said Benedict was not trying offend Muslims with his remarks.
“It was certainly not the intention of the Holy Father to … offend the sensibilities of Muslim faithful,” said Federico Lombardi, the Vatican press officer.
But offense was taken as Islamic groups and governments from across the globe weighed in.
Offense was taken by certain Islamic groups and governments, and they are the ones stoking the flames of anger, as they did over the Danish editorial cartoons. Were the Muslim faithful really offended, or told to be?
This is breaking across the world press, and the Arab mosques, at the moment. CNN just put this out:
The Muslim world’s scathing reaction to Pope Benedict’s comments on Islam is the biggest challenge to face the pontiff yet and raises concerns over his security, diplomatic and Church sources said on Friday.
The media have a big responsibility to report this story accurately, with good thorough information on Pope Benedict and his writings and teachings. They will either be complicit in this rising tension, or helpful in defusing it and revealing who’s really behind it.
Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone begins as the new Vatican Secretary of State today. What a way to begin.