The controversial anti-Islam statements of Pope
Benedict XVI of the Roman
Catholic Church raised questions once again about Western Christian institutions’
relationship with the U.S.
administration (Ākhir Sā‘a, September 20,
2006).
There were several
reports, during the tenure of the late Pope John Paul II, about the CIA’s
control over the selection of the
Catholic head now that the pontiff’s statements lend legitimacy to George W.
Bush’s talk about "Islamic
fascism" (Ākhir Sā‘a, September 20,
2006).
The relationship between the
U.S. and the Vatican appeared clearly during the late pope’s
pivotal role in eliminating communism from
Eastern Europe, starting with his own country, Poland, and the official
Vatican recognition offered to the
state of Israel (Ākhir Sā‘a, September 20,
2006).
Kamāl Habīb, a
researcher specialized in Islamist groups’ affairs, said the
pope’s statements affirm that the Vatican has
entered the US-led battle against Islam on the grounds that the
latter has become the next enemy following
the collapse of communism (Ākhir Sā‘a,
September 20, 2006).
Relations
between the Vatican and the World Council of Churches (WCC) [http://www.wcc-
coe.org] on one hand and Western
intelligence agencies on the other hand are widely known. Relationships started
after the turn of the
20th century with British intelligence, then German and finally the CIA which,
after the end of
World War II, started to select the pope indirectly so that he would go along with the US
administration’s
agenda, said Habīb (Ākhir Sā‘a, September 20, 2006)
[Editor: this is
conspiracy thinking for which there is no evidence].
Habīb explained that the
selection of
Benedict XVI is aimed at enhancing the Americans’ anti-Islam campaign within their war on terror
[Editor:
aimed? Nonsense]. Also, that Benedict belongs to a Catholic generation brought up on ideas of religious
revival, returning to the Torah as the Old Testament and vindicating the Jews from killing Jesus Christ
(Ākhir Sā‘a, September 20, 2006).
The most serious thing about
Benedict’s statements is that they give Muslim extremists the legitimacy they need for their activities. In
this atmosphere al-Qā‘ida and other violence-oriented groups could easily attract young
devout
Muslims and convince them to participate in acts of violence, said Habīb (Ākhir
Sā‘a, September 20, 2006) [Editor: true, but Habīb’s claims that the selection of
this
pope was an American influenced political choice and that he is an American tool add to anti-Christian
feelings].
In his controversial theological lecture the pope relied on debates conducted by German
Professor
‘Ādil Theodore Khourī, who is of Lebanese origin, a lecturer at the catholic
theological
college in the University of Münster [Editor: see link http://www.uni-muenster.de/en] and the
chairman of an
interfaith dialogue committee that works specially on Muslim-Christian understanding. The
pope cited the quotation
from the Byzantine emperor from Khourī’s 7th debate (October,
September 24,
2006).
The pope has quoted Byzantine emperor Manuel II as saying that everything
brought about by Muhammad
was evil and inhumane (October, September 24, 2006) [Editor: the Arabic
text is based on the English
mistranslation of the lecture that was given in German. The quote speaks about
‘bad’ not ‘evil’ things. For further
analysis see AWR week 29, 2006, article 2]
Benedict deliberately
chose this quotation to indicate the
difference between "spreading the faith through scientific reason and
dialogue," which he believes is a Western
Christian heritage, and "spreading religion through the power of
the sword with no reason or logic involved," which
he believes is an Eastern Islamic heritage
(October, September 24, 2006).
The pope, though a
specialized philosopher, did not take heed
that he was actually citing a very improper conversation in which a
Byzantine emperor insulted a Muslim
Persian and attacked the faith he embraced and the prophet he respected
(October, September 24,
2006).
Although Pope Benedict XVI did not offer any official apology to
Muslims over his offensive
remarks against Islam, U.S President George W. Bush said the pope was true in his
apologies (al-
Jumhourīya, September 22, 2006).
So far the Vatican has settled for statements
by senior
officials in which they affirmed that the pope’s words were widely misunderstood in the Muslim
world. The
pope himself later said that what he mentioned in the lecture does not express his personal beliefs and
that
Muslims’ anger was the result of a misunderstanding (al-Jumhourīya, September 22,
2006).
The pope, after all, was crystal clear in his lecture: he quoted words from an ancient
manuscript in
which a Byzantine emperor said that the prophet of Islam brought nothing but evil and inhumane
things (al-
Jumhourīya, September 22, 2006). [Editor: the Arabic text is based on the English
mistranslation of the
lecture that was given in German. The quote speaks about ‘bad’ not ‘evil’ things. For
further analysis see AWR week
29, 2006, article 2]
In an interview with al-Ahrām al-
‘Arabī published on
September 23, 2006, Islamic thinker Muhammad Salīm al-
‘Awwa described the pope’s statements
as "foolish silly talk."
The pope has actually
ushered in a new era of ill relations between Catholics and
Muslims after he destroyed a dialogue that has
continued for about 50 years in the Vatican headquarters and other
European and Arab capitals, added al-
‘Awwa (al-Ahrām al-‘Arabī,
September 23, 2006).
In an article in
al-Usbou‘, September 25, 2006, Hamdī Ahmad
wonders why the pope selected certain
quotations from an emperor who had never studied the language of the
Qur’ān nor the history, philosophy
or civilization of Islam from which the West has taken much towards
the fields of algebra, mathematics,
astronomy, medicine and chemistry.
Perhaps the pope has grown so old
that he has became unable to
choose his words and to observe courtesy when he spoke to a nation of billions of
Muslims, jeered Ahmad
(al-Usbou‘, September 25, 2006).
It would be better for the pope and
for Muslims
too if he profoundly studied Christianity and its philosophy, which promotes the message of humanity,
endearment and peace. Only then the pope would become Benedict XVI of the Vatican, not Benedict of the White
House
(al-Usbou‘, September 25, 2006).
In an interview with al-
Usbou‘
newspaper of September 25, 2006, Pope Shenouda III, the Patriarch of the See of Saint
Mark, said the statements
from the Roman Catholic pope were unacceptable because Islam in the first place
was not spread through the power of
the sword.
Pope Shenouda said Orthodox Christians do not agree
with the Catholics’ vindication of the
Jews of the killing of Jesus, adding that Orthodoxy does not deem
Islam to be a threat to Christianity (al-
Usbou‘, September 25, 2006).
The pope’s
allegations that Islam is not a religion of
reason and that it does not respect the mind actually indicates
flagrant ignorance and ill intentions because the
Qur’ān in numerous places orders Muslims to use
their minds and to contemplate God’s
creation, writes Dr. Ahmad ‘Umar Hāshim, former
president of the Azhar University and member of
the Islamic Research Academy, in an article in Al-
Akhbār, September 22, 2006.
Hāshim
cites the Qur’ān as reading "Behold! In the
creation of the heavens and the earth, and the
alternation of night and day, there are indeed signs for men
of understanding, men who celebrate the praises of
God, standing, sitting, and lying down on their sides,
and contemplate the (wonders of) creation in the heavens and
the earth (with the thought): "our Lord! Not
for naught hast thou created (all) this! Glory to thee! Give us
salvation from the penalty of the fire" [The
Glorious Qur’ān by ‘Abd Allah Yousuf
‘Alī, Chapter 3, Al ‘Imrān
(The Family of ‘Imrān), Verses
190-191] (al-Akhbār, September 22,
2006).
‘Alī al-Sammān, the
chairman of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs’
dialogue committee, said Pope Benedict’s statements
would encumber the dialogue, particularly with the
Catholic Church, adding that Muslims’ problem is now not
with all Christians but only with the Vatican pope
and the Roman Catholic Church (al-Ahrām, September
24, 2006).
