Exquisite clarity

Sandro Magister has long been my favorite Vatican watcher and analyst. So it’s no surprise that his website, Chiesa, has the best account I’ve seen on Pope Benedict’s address at Regensburg.

If you want to know more about Pope Benedict’s deep interest in engaging Islam and the issues of the religions, Sandro has a whole dossier of articles. Like this one:

Benedict XVI is probably one of the few figures to have profoundly understood the ambiguity in which contemporary Islam is being debated and its struggle to find a place in modern society. At the same time, he is proposing a way for Islam to work toward coexistence globally and with religions, based not on religious dialogue, but on dialogue between cultures and civilizations based on rationality and on a vision of man and human nature which comes before any ideology or religion.

Or this one, on the Pope’s upcoming trip to Turkey on November 30, the feast of St. Andrew, when he will meet with ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I:

But on that trip, which includes stops in Ankara and Ephesus in addition to Istanbul, Benedict XVI will also encounter Islam, and Turkish Islam in particular.

Secular, mainstream news media are reporting worldwide that the Pope’s trip to Turkey may now be in jeopardy. They are basing that on the emotional uproar being stoked in the Middle East over wild accusations against the Pope, by people who don’t even know what he said about Islam.

Last year, Benedict told a group of German representatives of Islam in Cologne that the integration of cultures depends on civil rights and religious freedom.

“You guide Muslim believers and train them in the Islamic faith. Teaching is the vehicle through which ideas and convictions are transmitted. Words are highly influential in the education of the mind. You, therefore, have a great responsibility for the formation of the younger generation. As Christians and Muslims, we must face together the many challenges of our time.”

Benedict has been all about truth and clarity, love and respect for human dignity. How are the Muslims in today’s headlines, and the media writing them, doing in terms of using highly influential words responsibly?