|
|
"I am deeply sorry for the
reactions in some countries to a few passages of my address,"
said the pope. (Reuters)
|
CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy —
Trying to calm Muslim anger, Pope Benedict XVI
said on Sunday, September 17, that he was
"deeply sorry" for outrage triggered
across the Muslim world by controversial
quotes in a recent lecture, asserting that the
quotes do not reflect his views about Islam.
"I am deeply sorry for
the reactions in some countries to a few
passages of my address ... which were
considered offensive to the sensibility of
Muslims," the pontiff said during the
traditional Angelus blessing from his summer
residence at Castel Gandolfo outside Rome,
reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
He stressed that the
passages he quoted during a speech at
Regensburg University Tuesday "do not in
any way express my personal thought."
Benedict had quoted
criticism of Islam and Prophet Muhammad (peace
and blessings be upon him) by 14th century
Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaeologus, who
wrote that everything Muhammad brought was
evil and inhuman, "such as his command to
spread by the sword the faith he
preached."
"I hope that this
serves to appease hearts and to clarify the
true meaning of my address, which in its
totality was and is an invitation to frank and
sincere dialogue, with great mutual
respect," the pope said Sunday.
Vatican's Secretary of
State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone insisted on
Saturday, September 16, that the pope's words
had been misinterpreted.
The pope's lecture had
sparked widespread condemnation from Muslim
leaders across the world, amid massive
protests reminiscent of those that erupted
after a Danish newspaper printed cartoons that
lampooned Prophet Muhammad.
The Angelus blessing marked
the pontiff's first public appearance since
the controversy.
Welcomed
|
|
"We would hope that the pope
explains his personal opinions on Islam" in the future, said
Habib.
|
The pope's new comments
were immediately welcomed by Muslims in
Germany and India.
"We welcome the
apology tendered by the Pope Benedict,"
Maulana Khalid Rashid, a member of the
powerful All India Muslim Personal Law Board,
told AFP in Lucknow, the provincial capital of
India's most populous state of Uttar Pradesh.
"The apology will
foster better relations between the Muslims
and the Christians all over the world,"
said Rashid, imam of Lucknow's main Eidgah
mosque.
Lucknow, a seat of Islamic
learning in India, was one of several cities
that witnessed protests against the pope's
lecture.
In Germany, the Central
Council of Muslims also welcomed the pope's
expression of sorrow.
"The statement was, in
our view, the important step towards calming
the unrest off the past days in many parts of
the world," the council said in a
statement.
The council, the most
representative Muslim body in Germany, called
on others to follow the pope's example and try
to ease tensions.
"We call on Muslims,
intellectuals and responsible politicians
around the world to calm tensions further
following the pope's conciliatory words."
Good Step
Egypt's opposition Muslim
Brotherhood said Sunday that the Pope's new
remarks were a "good step".
"We consider today's
statement by the pope a retraction of what he
said last week," the group's deputy
leader Mohammed Habib told AFP.
"It represents a good
step towards an apology," he added.
"We would hope that
the pope explains his personal opinions on
Islam" in the future, said Habib.
He added that his group,
which has impressively captured 88 seats in
last year's parliamentary elections, would
welcome any further clarification by the
pontiff on the speech.
The pontiff had been under
mounting pressure to issue a personal apology
after his speech.
Meanwhile, Turkish and
Vatican officials ruled out Sunday cancelling
the pope's planned trip to mainly Muslim
Turkey in November.
"I hope that (the
trip) will take place," Bertone was
quoted by ANSA news agency as saying.
"For the time being there is no reason
why it should not."
In Ankara, Turkish Foreign
Minister Abdullah Gul also said Sunday that
the pope's visit would go ahead as planned.
"A change is out of
the question for us right now."
