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The following is the full statement by Vatican
Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone on Pope Benedict XVI's
response to Muslim anger over a speech he gave in Germany Tuesday.
"Given the reaction in Muslim quarters to
certain passages of the Holy Father's address at the University of
Regensburg, and the clarifications and explanations already presented
through the Director of the Holy See Press Office, I would like to add
the following:
The position of the Pope concerning Islam is
unequivocally that expressed by the conciliar document Nostra Aetate:
"The Church regards with esteem also the Muslims. They adore the
one God, living and subsisting in Himself; merciful and all-powerful,
the Creator of heaven and earth, Who has spoken to men; they take
pains to submit wholeheartedly to even His inscrutable decrees, just
as Abraham, with whom the faith of Islam takes pleasure in linking
itself, submitted to God. Though they do not acknowledge Jesus as God,
they revere Him as a prophet. They also honor Mary, His virgin Mother;
at times they even call on her with devotion. In addition, they await
the day of judgment when God will render their deserts to all those
who have been raised up from the dead. Finally, they value the moral
life and worship God especially through prayer, almsgiving and
fasting" (no. 3).
The Pope's option in favor of inter-religious and
inter-cultural dialogue is equally unequivocal. In his meeting with
representatives of Muslim communities in Cologne, Germany, on 20
August 2005, he said that such dialogue between Christians and Muslims
"cannot be reduced to an optional extra," adding: "The
lessons of the past must help us to avoid repeating the same mistakes.
We must seek paths of reconciliation and learn to live with respect
for each other's identity".
As for the opinion of the Byzantine emperor Manuel
II Paleologus which he quoted during his Regensburg talk, the Holy
Father did not mean, nor does he mean, to make that opinion his own in
any way. He simply used it as a means to undertake - in an academic
context, and as is evident from a complete and attentive reading of
the text - certain reflections on the theme of the relationship
between religion and violence in general, and to conclude with a clear
and radical rejection of the religious motivation for violence, from
whatever side it may come. On this point, it is worth recalling what
Benedict XVI himself recently affirmed in his commemorative Message
for the 20th anniversary of the Inter-religious Meeting of Prayer for
Peace, initiated by his predecessor John Paul II at Assisi in October
1986: " ... demonstrations of violence cannot be attributed to
religion as such but to the cultural limitations with which it is
lived and develops in time. ... In fact, attestations of the close
bond that exists between the relationship with God and the ethics of
love are recorded in all great religious traditions".
The Holy Father thus sincerely regrets that certain
passages of his address could have sounded offensive to the
sensitivities of the Muslim faithful, and should have been interpreted
in a manner that in no way corresponds to his intentions. Indeed it
was he who, before the religious fervor of Muslim believers, warned
secularized Western culture to guard against "the contempt for
God and the cynicism that considers mockery of the sacred to be an
exercise of freedom".
In reiterating his respect and esteem for those who
profess Islam, he hopes they will be helped to understand the correct
meaning of his words so that, quickly surmounting this present uneasy
moment, witness to the "Creator of heaven and earth, Who has
spoken to men" may be reinforced, and collaboration may intensify
"to promote together for the benefit of all mankind social
justice and moral welfare, as well as peace and freedom" (Nostra
Aetate no. 3).
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