The Benedict Blog - On the Pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Osama Bin Laden challenges Pope Benedict in latest missive

The New York Police Department says it has been working closely with the Secret Service to provide the highest level of protection possible:

Pope Benedict XVI has been mentioned in a new Osama bin Laden message. The pontiff is due to speak next month at the United Nations, pray at the World Trade Center site and celebrate Mass in Yankee Stadium.
Bin Laden says the pope has played a large role in a "new Crusade" against Islam.
In an audio message posted Wednesday on a Web site bin Laden condemns the Danish publication of drawings he calls insulting to the Prophet Muhammad. He warns Europeans of a "severe" reaction to come.

Back in December 2007, Al Qaeda expressed its dismay at the prospect of the Pope seeking to "dialogue" with Islam in a spirit of peace (Zenit News. December 18, 2007):

Al-Qaida is worried by Benedict XVI's efforts to dialogue with Muslims, says a Vatican spokesman.
Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi affirmed this today when commenting on a one-hour 37-minute video from al-Qaida's second-in-command, who criticized Benedict XVI's Nov. 6 meeting with Saudi Arabian King Abdallah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.
The video from Ayman al-Zawahri was posted Sunday on the Internet. The al-Qaida leader said the Pope's meeting with King Abdallah, the first ever between a Pontiff and a Saudi monarch, was offensive to Islam and Muslims.

Update

Vatican dismisses bin Laden's charges of pope's anti-Islam campaign, by John Thavis. Catholic News Service:
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Vatican spokesman dismissed Osama bin Laden's accusations of an anti-Islam campaign by Pope Benedict XVI, noting the pope's efforts to dialogue with Muslims.
Bin Laden, citing the controversy over cartoons ridiculing the prophet Mohammed, said the pope was part of a "new crusade" against Islam.
"The content of the accusations makes no sense," Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, told Catholic News Service March 20.
"But these kinds of allegations are not new," Father Lombardi added. The Vatican responded to similar accusations by al-Qaida's deputy leader, Ayman al-Zawahri, last December.
The Vatican spokesman said it was not surprising for bin Laden to name the pope among his many "perceived enemies," but said the more moderate Muslim world knows the pope's commitment to good interreligious relations.

[Crossposted to Benedict in America]

Labels: Islam

Monday, October 29, 2007

Pope Benedict Responds to Muslim Invitation to Dialogue

Pope invites senior Muslims to Vatican meeting AFP Nov. 29, 2007:

VATICAN CITY (AFP) — Pope Benedict XVI invited a delegation of senior Muslim personalities, who signed an appeal for greater dialogue between religions, to a meeting at the Vatican, according to a letter released Thursday.
The pope praised the "positive spirit" behind the October 11 message signed by 138 top Muslims from around the world and sent to Christian leaders, said Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone in the letter sent in Pope Benedict's name.
The pope wanted to meet a representative group of the signatories at the Vatican, he added in the letter sent to Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad bin Talal, head of the Institute for Islamic Thought in Amman.
"The Pope has asked me to convey his gratitude to Your Royal Highness and to all who signed the letter," Bertone wrote.
"He also wishes to express his deep appreciation for this gesture, for the positive spirit which inspired the text and for the call for a common commitment to promoting peace in the world.
"Without ignoring or downplaying our differences as Christians and Muslims, we can and therefore should look to what unites us, namely, belief in the one God, the provident Creator and universal Judge who at the end of time will deal with each person according to his or her actions. We are all called to commit ourselves totally to him and to obey his sacred will."
The letter said the pope "was particularly impressed by the attention given in the letter to the twofold commandment to love God and one's neighbour." [...]
Bertone said that with a view to encouraging the "praiseworthy initiative" from the Muslim leaders, "His Holiness would be most willing to receive Your Royal Highness and a restricted group of signatories of the open letter, chosen by you.
"At the same time, a working meeting could be organized between your delegation and the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, with the cooperation of some specialized Pontifical Institutes (such as the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies and the Pontifical Gregorian University)."

Related

Rocco Palmo posts the full text of the letter from the Pope to the 138 Muslim leaders.
Pope invites Muslim scholars to meet with him, dialogue council, by Cindy Wooden. Catholic News Service. Nov. 29, 2007.
Vatican: Pope expresses "deep appreciation" for Muslim letter ADN Kronos Int'l. Nov. 29, 2007.

Discussion of this topic on Against The Grain:

Further Responses to "A Common Word" 11/29/07
Fr. Christian Troll: Response to "A Common Word" 10/28/07
"A Common Word" and Christian-Muslim Dialogue 10/27/07;
Readings in Islam: "Islam, Fundamentalism, and the Betrayal of Tradition" 7/2/07.
Fr. Samir Khalil, SJ: Articles & Interviews 4/29/07
Pope Benedict, Islam and the Prospect of Reform 4/23/07

Labels: Islam

Thursday, November 30, 2006

Pope Benedict XVI's Apostolic Journey to Turkey Nov. 28 - Dec. 1, 2006

Ecumenical Patriarchate | EWTN Coverage | Weekly Schedule (Vatican) | Vatican Radio

[This post will be updated regularly throughout the coming week (Tuesday 28th - Friday 1st) as we chronicle Pope Benedict XVI's apostolic journey. Please bookmark and pass along if interested. God bless! - Christopher]

November 28, 2006 - Arrival; Visit to the Ataturk Mausoleum; Meeting with the Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Ali Bardakoglu, Chief of Turkey's Religious Affairs Directories;
November 29, 2006 - Eucharistic celebration before the Shrine of Meryem Ana Eva in Ephesus; Moment of prayer at the Patriarchal Church of St. George and private meeting with H.H. Bartholomew I;
November 30, 2006 - Divine Liturgy at the Patriarchal Church of St. George -- Feast of Saint Andrew the Apostle, Patron Saint of the Church of Constantinople; Visit to the Museum of Saint Sofia and the Grand Umayyad Mosque ["Blue Mosque"]; Moment of prayer in the Armenian Apostolic Cathedral and meeting with H.B. Patriarch Mesrob II

Prayer of Protection for Pope Benedict XVI - Heavenly Father, from whom every family in heaven on earth takes its name, we humbly ask that you sustain inspire, and protect your servant, Pope Benedict XVI, as he goes on pilgrimage to Turkey — a land to which St. Paul brought the Gospel of your Son; a land where once the Mother of your Son, the Seat of Wisdom, dwelt; a land where faith in your Son’s true divinity was definitively professed. Bless our Holy Father, who comes as a messenger of truth and love to all people of faith and good will dwelling in this land so rich in history. In the power of the Holy Spirit, may this visit of the Holy Father bring about deeper ties of understanding, cooperation, and peace among Roman Catholics, the Orthodox, and those who profess Islam. May the prayers and events of these historic days greatly contribute both to greater accord among those who worship you, the living and true God, and also to peace in our world so often torn apart by war and sectarian violence

We also ask, O Heavenly Father, that you watch over and protect Pope Benedict and entrust him to the loving care of Mary, under the title of Our Lady of Fatima, a title cherished both by Catholics and Muslims. Through her prayers and maternal love, may Pope Benedict be kept safe from all harm as he prays, bears witness to the Gospel, and invites all peoples to a dialogue of faith, reason, and love. We make our prayer through Christ, our Lord. Amen. (Prayer composed by Bishop William E. Lori)

Catholic / Orthodox Commentary

John Allen Jr.'s Daily Column - National Catholic Reporter. Veteran papal journalist John Allen will be in Turkey with the Pope this week. According to Allen, "Some 3,000 journalists will be on hand to chronicle the four-day trip." Check out his blog for some on-the-spot reporting.
Amy Welborn's Amy Welborn's Open Book.
Thomas Peters' American Papist;
Gerald Augustinus' Closed Cafeteria;
Teresa Polk's Blog by the Sea.
Pope & Patriarch - "a diverse group of Catholic and Orthodox Christians who came together with a shared vision of rapprochement between the two great Churches." (Members include Inside the Vatican's Dr. Robert Moynihan and convert to orthodoxy Joshua S. Treviño.
Robert Duncan, News Editor for the online news aggregator SperoForum and Catholic blogger at Santificarnos, informs me that they've got a ton of coverage planned for the historic visit of Pope Benedict to Turkey, and have launched a mini-site for great reading -- Links galore!

Istanbul Local Time
TurkishPress.com
Zaman
Turkish Daily News
Zenit News Network
Catholic News Agency
Yahoo News / Photos

Background Articles (November 27th, 2006)

For an extensive roundup prior to 11/27/06, see Anticipating Pope Benedict's Papal Visit to Turkey - Supplementary articles, news and commentary. The Benedict Blog Nov. 24th-26th, 2006.

"Talking Turkey" - Dr. Michael Liccione offers "an imaginary office-hours dialogue at a Catholic university between a student I shall call 'Alethia' and my professorial alter ego" on the many facets of Benedict's visit.
Turkey’s Catholics, Orthodox pray for pope’s arrival, by Mavi Zambak. AsiaNews.it:
Ankara (AsiaNews) – Responding to the appeal of Benedict XVI, tonight all Catholic communities in Turkey will hold prayer vigils to accompany and welcome the pope throughout his trip to Turkey. Yesterday, after recital of the Angelus, the pontiff asked the faithful to accompany him in prayer so that “this pilgrimage may bear all the fruits that God desires” . . .
Interview with Fr. Tom Michel on Benedict's Turkey visit w. John Allen, Jr. National Catholic Reporter Nov 27, 2006 07:25am.
Benedict XVI's Journey to Turkey "Gesture of Love" Zenit News. Nov. 28, 2006 - Interview with Father Giovanni Cereti, Catholic theologian and lecturer of ecumenical theology:
The Church of Christ is a communion, and fraternal relations between Christians and churches are an essential expression of this communion, which already unites us to God in virtue of the common faith and one baptism.
After a long period during which, due to external difficulties, these visits could not be undertaken, the Second Vatican Council established a new starting point and the exchange of visits between local churches of the West and the East has become very frequent.
Among all these visits, most significant in fact are those carried out between the two most important sees of Christianity . . .

~ Intinerary of Pope Benedict's Apostolic Journey ~

Presentation of the Missal for Benedict XVI's Trip to Turkey - the Introduction to the missal that Benedict XVI will follow during his apostolic journey to Turkey (Tuesday - Friday). It was prepared by Archbishop Piero Marini, master of the liturgical celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff.

ITALY

Tuesday, 28 November

Fiumicino (Rome)

09.00 Departure from Leonardo Da Vinci International Airport of Rome/Fiumicino to Ankara

TURKEY

Ankara
(Capital of Turkey) [Wikipedia Guide]

13.00 - Arrival at Esembog(a International Airport
Visit to the Atatürk Mausoleum:
. . .the Pope travelled by car to the Mausoleum of Ataturk some 45 kilometers from the city. Built between 1944 and 1953, it holds the earthly remains of Mustafa Kemal "Ataturk" (Father of the Turks), founder and first president of the Turkish Republic (1923-1938). Within the building, which resembles a Greek temple and is reached by a flight of steps, the walls are covered in green marble and the ceiling decorated with gold mosaics. The cenotaph to Ataturk is made from a single block of marble weighing 40 tonnes. . . ." [Source: Kath.net]
And from Zenit News:
Benedict XVI placed a floral wreath next to the monument and then signed the visitor's book and wrote in English: "In this land, a meeting point of different religions and cultures and a bridge between Asia and Europe, I gladly make my own the words of the founder of the Turkish Republic: 'Peace at Home, Peace in the World.'"
Welcome ceremony and courtesy visit to the President of the Republic
Meeting with the Prime Minister (Recep Tayyip Erdogan). From BBC News' profile of the VP (Turkey's charismatic pro-Islamic leader Nov. 4 2002):
His background and commitment to Islamic values also appeal to most of the devout Muslim Turks who have been alienated by the state.
But his pro-Islamist sympathies earned him a conviction in 1998 for inciting religious hatred.
He had publicly read an Islamic poem including the lines: "The mosques are our barracks, the domes our helmets, the minarets our bayonets and the faithful our soldiers..."
He was sentenced to 10 months in jail, but was freed after four. [...]
Mr Erdogan has disavowed the hardline Islamic views of his past and is trying to recast himself as a pro-Western conservative. He does not insist on leaving Turkey's Nato and says the country's membership of the European Union is a necessary and useful step.
Turkish online newspaper Zaman later milked the meeting for all its worth:
"I told the pope that Islam was a religion of peace and tolerance and he shared the same ideas," Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a press briefing after meeting Pope Benedict XVI at Ankara airport. . . .
Saying that the government did its best to welcome the pontiff in a hospitable manner, Erdogan expressed his wishes that the visit would be fruitful for world peace. Asked about the pope's attitude on Turkey's EU membership, Erdogan replied: "I said that I expected his support on membership and the pope responded, ’We are not politicians but would like Turkey to join the EU.’"
[NOTE: Zaman's lead story features a photo of the Holy Father's meeting with Ali Bardakoglu].
Benedict XVI's address to Ali Bardakoglu, Chief of Turkey's Religious Affairs Directories - The meeting was attended by representatives of the Muslim community, among whom were the grand muftis of Ankara and Istanbul, as well as cardinals and bishops who are part of the papal entourage. [Zenit News 11/28/06]:
I have set out upon my visit to Turkey with the same sentiments as those expressed by my predecessor Blessed John XXIII, when he came here as Archbishop Giuseppe Roncalli, to fulfill the office of Papal Representative in Istanbul: "I am fond of the Turks, to whom the Lord has sent me … I love the Turks, I appreciate the natural qualities of these people who have their own place reserved in the march of civilization" (Journal of a Soul, pp. 228, 233-4).
For my own part, I also wish to highlight the qualities of the Turkish population. Here I make my own the words of my immediate predecessor, Pope John Paul II of blessed memory, who said on the occasion of his visit in 1979: "I wonder if it is not urgent, precisely today when Christians and Muslims have entered a new period of history, to recognize and develop the spiritual bonds that unite us, in order to preserve and promote together, for the benefit of all men, 'peace, liberty, social justice and moral values'" (Address to the Catholic Community in Ankara, 28 November 1979). . . .
Pope urges leaders to renounce violence, by Victor L. Simpson (Associated Press 11/28/06)
Seeking to ease anger over his perceived criticism of Islam, Benedict met with Ali Bardakoglu, who heads religious affairs in Turkey, warmly grasping hands. Benedict sat nearby as the Muslim cleric defended his religion.
"The so-called conviction that the sword is used to expand Islam in the world and growing Islamophobia hurts all Muslims," Bardakoglu said.
The comment appeared to be a reference to Benedict's remarks in a speech in September when he quoted a 14th-century Christian emperor who characterized the Prophet Muhammad's teachings as "evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by thy sword the faith he preached."
The Vatican described the cleric's speech as "positive, respectful and non-polemical," applauding what the church sees as efforts for a true dialogue between faiths.
Meeting with the Diplomatic Corps - Pope Benedict XVI's Address of the Holy Father with the Diplomatic Corps of Ankara - Apostolic Nunciature of Ankara. Tuesday, 28 November 2006.

Coverage / Commentary

Speaking to the journalists accompanying him on his flight, the Pope affirmed that his visit to Turkey "is not political but pastoral", and that its aim is "dialogue and the shared commitment to peace." Vatican Information Service 11/28/06.
Turkey: Pope Arrives With Reform Challenge For Islam, by Jeffrey Donovan. Radio Free Europe 11/28/06.
Turkey: Young People Comment On Pope’s Historic Visit, by Elif Yildiz Arli and Jeffrey Donovan. Radio Free Europe. 11/28/06.
Vatican OK with Turkey joining the EU, officials say Nov 26, 2006 08:42am CST; Pope wants Turkey to enter Europe, PM says Nov 28, 2006 06:48am CST. -- Two related reports from John Allen Jr. A change of opinion from then-Cardinal Ratzinger, who in August 2004 disagreed with Turkey's bid for the EU.
Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, the Vatican's secretary for relations with states, has clarified that the Vatican has no official position on Turkey's entry to the European Union (Zenit News 11/26/06):
In response to a question by a journalist in the Catholic newspaper Avvenire, Archbishop Mamberti clarified that "the Holy See has not expressed an 'official' position on this question."
"Obviously, it follows the question with great interest and sees that the debate which has been taking place for some time and the positions for and against Turkey's admission to the European Union manifest that what is at stake is very important," said the 54-year-old Vatican official.
"Of course the Holy See believes that, in case of adherence, the country must respond to all the political criteria established by the Copenhagen Summit of December 2002," he added.
With specific reference to religious liberty, the prelate specified that Ankara must respect the conditions established by the decision of the Council of Europe, on Jan. 23, 2006, on the principles, priorities and conditions contained in the Accession Partnership with Turkey.
On papal plane, Benedict stresses brotherhood, dialogue, and ‘healthy secularism’, by John Allen, Jr. National Catholic Reporter 11/28/06.
Pope calls for Christian-Muslim dialogue CNN.com 11/28/06.
Pope preaches brotherhood on Turkey trip, by Brian Murphy. Associated Press. 11/28/06 04:59am.
On day one, Benedict adopts 'soft tone' in Turkey, by John Allen, Jr. National Catholic Reporter Nov 28, 2006 11:58am:
In what seemed almost a deliberate counter-point to his infamous quotation from a 14th century Byzantine emperor at the University of Regensburg, Benedict this time cited an 11th century pope, Gregory VII, who said to a Muslim prince in 1076 that Christians and Muslims owe charity to one another “because we believe in one God, albeit in a different manner, and because we praise him and worship him every day as the Creator and Ruler of the world.”
Benedict was careful when referring to God to use constructions such as “the Almighty” and “Merciful,” respecting Muslim sensitivities.
To date, his Turkish hosts have reciprocated the upbeat tone. To date, no one has explicitly referred to Benedict’s Regensburg address, though Lombardi told reporters that he thought he heard echoes of some Muslim reaction to the speech, especially in terms of the relationship between Islam and reason, in Bardakoglu’s remarks to the pope.
Yet in his later address to the diplomatic corps in Turkey, Benedict returned to the two themes which have formed the core of his message to Muslims: the need to reject terrorism, and the need for “reciprocity,” meaning religious freedom.
In Turkey, Benedict XVI Becomes a Defender of Freedom, by Sandro Magister. www.Chiesa 11/28/06.

Wednesday, 29 November

Ephesus
[Ephesus: An on-line Panoramic Virtual Tour]

Eucharistic celebration before the Shrine of Meryem Ana Evì in Ephesus - Homily of the Holy Father - Mass

Coverage & Commentary

Pope Says Mass in One of Turkey's Most-Revered Christian Sites, by Sabina Castelfranco. Voice of Americas 11/29/06:
Many had gathered at the restored stone "House of Mary" sanctuary in the morning, waiting for the pope to arrive. They waved palm leaves and Turkish flags and sang hymns.
The pope appeared in good spirits. He smiled at the crowd that clapped and shouted out his name. In his homily, the pontiff prayed for peace in the world and, in particular, in the Holy Land. . . .
Benedict is the third pope to make the pilgrimage to the "House of Mary." Paul VI visited in 1967 and John Paul II came here in 1979.
Every year, tens of thousands of Christians and Muslims visit the "House of Mary" where, according to legend, the mother of Jesus lived the last years of her life. It is here that Saint John the Apostle is believed to have brought the Virgin Mary to care for her, after the death of her son, Jesus.
The site was discovered in 1891 by archeologists, who based their search on writings by the German nun, Anne Catherine Emmerich.
Where Mary Is Believed to Have Lived Zenit News. 11/29/06. "From the first centuries, numerous Christian authors from the East and West mentioned John's and the Blessed Virgin's stay in this city, in which were located the headquarters of the first of the seven Churches mentioned in the Book of Revelation. But, how was it determined that this was the house of Jesus' Mother?"
A Mass at the House of Mary, by Owen Matthews. Newsweek 11/29/06.
In Ephesus, Supreme Pontiff becomes a simple country pastor, by John Allen, Jr. National Catholic Reporter 11/29/06.:
On a beautiful fall afternoon on a Turkish hillside, Pope Benedict XVI, Supreme Pontiff of the 1.1 billion-strong Roman Catholic Church, metamorphosed into a simple country pastor, celebrating an outdoor Mass for no more than 300 pilgrims – perhaps half Germans who belong to the nearby German-language parish of St. Nicholas.
It was the smallest crowd in recent memory for a papal Mass, though the turnout was mostly due to the remote location and the tiny size of Turkey’s Christian community. The event had an intimate feel, with the assembly physically closer to the pope than is often the case. . . .
Pope praises priest slain in cartoon furore The Guardian Nov. 29, 2006:
Pope Benedict today honoured the memory of a Roman Catholic priest who was killed after the publication of the Danish cartoons of the prophet Muhammad.
At a small open-air mass in Ephesus, Turkey, next to the ruins of a house where the Virgin Mary is thought to have spent her last years, the Pope praised the priest to 250 invited guests.
"Let us sing joyfully, even when we're tested by difficulties and dangers, as we have learned from the fine witness given by the Roman priest John Andrea Santoro, whom I am pleased to recall in this celebration."
A Turkish teenager shot the priest as he knelt in prayer in his church in the Black Sea port of Trabzon. The February attack occurred amid widespread Muslim anger over the cartoons. Two other Catholic priests were attacked in Turkey this year.
Papal Photos of the Mass from The Cafeteria is Closed; American Papist; American Papist with Pope Benedict in the Cathedral of St. George .

Istanbul
(Constantinople) [Wikipedia Guide]

Moment of prayer at the Patriarchal Church of St. George and private meeting with H.H. Bartholomew I - Greeting of the Holy Father
Schedule: Pope and Ecumenical Patriarchate meeting Spero News 11/28/06.
Welcome by His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI After the Prayer Service at the Patriarchal Cathedral of St. George:
So it is with open embrace that we welcome you on the blessed occasion of your first visit to the City, just as our predecessors, Ecumenical Patriarchs Athenagoras and Demetrios, had welcomed your predecessors, Popes Paul VI and John Paul II. These venerable men of the Church sensed the inestimable value and urgent need alike of such encounters in the process of reconciliation through a dialogue of love and truth.
Therefore, we are, both of us, as their successors and as successors to the Thrones of Rome and New Rome equally accountable for the steps - just, of course, as we are for any missteps - along the journey and in our struggle to obey the command of our Lord, that His disciples "may be one."
Address by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI at the Prayer service in the Church of St. George :
It gives me great joy to be among you, my brothers in Christ, in this Cathedral Church, as we pray together to the Lord and call to mind the momentous events that have sustained our commitment to work for the full unity of Catholics and Orthodox. I wish above all to recall the courageous decision to remove the memory of the anathemas of 1054. The joint declaration of Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras, written in a spirit of rediscovered love, was solemnly read in a celebration held simultaneously in Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome and in this Patriarchal Cathedral. The Tomos of the Patriarch was based on the Johannine profession of faith: “Ho Theós agapé estin” (1 Jn 4:9), Deus caritas est! In perfect agreement, Pope Paul VI chose to begin his own Brief with the Pauline exhortation: “Ambulate in dilectione” (Eph 5:2),“Walk in love”. It is on this foundation of mutual love that new relations between the Churches of Rome and Constantinople have developed.
"That They May All Be One" - translation of an article, signed by Bartholomew I, ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople, which appeared on the front page of the Nov. 27-28 Italian edition of L'Osservatore Romano. [Zenit News Service. 11/29/06]
Origins of the Ecumenical Patriarchate Spero News. 11/28/06.

Coverage & Commentary

Benedict XVI and Bartholomew I pray in Istanbul for unity between Churches Catholic News Agency. 11/29/06.
Pope and Patriarch offer symbolism, but don't expect breakthroughs, by John Allen, Jr. National Catholic Reporter 11/29/06.
Benedict XVI meets Bartholomew I, together for full unity AsiaNews.It 11/29/06:
Bartholomew and Benedict already know each other and have met before, but the Pope’s visit to Istanbul, where the Pontiff will meet the Patriarch three times, is an expression of their shared desire to pursue the ecumenical journey.
Bartholomew made this point reminding popes and patriarchs of their responsibility along the path of reconciliation. Benedict XVI echoed it when explaining that his visit to the patriarchate is part of the journey to strengthen “the impetus towards mutual understanding and the quest of full unity.”
Earlier, the Pope mentioned “the momentous events that have sustained our commitment to work for the full unity of Catholics and Orthodox. I wish above all to recall the courageous decision to remove the memory of the anathemas of 1054,” taken in a joint declaration by Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras, and “written in a spirit of rediscovered love”.

General

Al Qaeda in Iraq, Vatican trade words on pope visit CNN 6:07pm 11/29/06 - Al Qaeda in Iraq on Wednesday denounced Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Turkey, calling it part of a "crusader campaign" against Islam. The Vatican said the comments showed the need to fight "violence in the name of God."

Thursday, 30 November

Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom in the Patriarchal Church of St. George in the Phanar on the Feast of Saint Andrew the Apostle, Patron Saint of the Church of Constantinople. [Video | Photos]

Address of the Holy Father. 11/30/06
Homily by His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew 11/30/06
Common Declaration by Pope Benedict XVI and Patriarch Bartholomew I - The Ecumenical Patriarchate. 11/30/06.
Magnificent Photos of the Divine Liturgy at the Patriarchal Church of St. George - Courtesy of Kath.Net.

Coverage / Commentary

Homily of the Ecumenical Patriarch before Benedict [Analysis] - Fr. John Zuhlsdorf (What does Prayer Really Say?) provides some sharp analysis of Patriarch Bartholomew's homily and some thoughts of his own:
Frankly, I think liturgy is a serious issue for ecumenical dialogue with the East. Think about this. They look at the stupid things the Latins have done and are doing to the sacred liturgy, about how those desiring traditional liturgy from lay people to priests, are marginalized and berated. They see the leaders of a group of "traditionalists" are ecommunicated. And they are going to get closer to Rome? Would they hope that their traditions would be respected were they to give greater submission to the authority of Peter which the Pope of Rome exercises?
Pope Relaunches Dialogue on Petrine Ministry: Renews Commitment to Seek Full Catholic-Orthodox Unity Zenit News. 11/30/06:
The Pope's proposal resounded today in the Cathedral of St. George at the Phanar -- the ancient Greek neighborhood of Istanbul where the Orthodox patriarchate's headquarters is located -- at the end of the Divine Liturgy on the feast of St. Andrew. The Orthodox patriarch celebrated the Divine Liturgy.
The Holy Father, who prayed the Our Father in Greek, occupied a place of honor without being able to concelebrate, given the millennium-old division between the two Churches.
Bartholomew I of Constantinople said in his homily: "We confess in sorrow that we are not yet able to celebrate the holy sacraments in unity. And we pray that the day will come when this sacramental unity will be realized in its fullness."
For his part, the Roman Pontiff explained that his "presence here today is meant to renew our commitment to advancing along the road toward the re-establishment -- by God's grace -- of full communion between the Church of Rome and the Church of Constantinople."
"I can assure you," the Pope continued, "that the Catholic Church is willing to do everything possible to overcome obstacles and to seek, together with our Orthodox brothers and sisters, ever more effective means of pastoral cooperation to this end."
Under the Turkish Guns, the Christians Roar, by Joshua Trevino. Brussels Journal 12/1/06.
Turkish spokesman rejects title of "Ecumenical" Patriarch Catholic World News. Dec. 1, 2006:
As a November 30 press conference in Ankara, the spokesman for Turkey's foreign-affairs ministry asked Pope Benedict XVI to refrain from using the title "Ecumenical Patriarch" in reference to the Orthodox prelate Bartholomew I of Constantinople.
The ministry spokesman, Namik Tan, explained to reporters that the term "ecumenical," implying a universal role in Church leadership. That implication would violate the principles of secularism that inform the Turkish republic, he argued.
The Turkish government spokesman made his remarks only after Pope Benedict had joined with Patriarch Bartholomew in a public celebration of the feast of St. Andrew-- the most highly publicized event of his 4-day visit in Turkey. On November 29, when he met with the Patriarch at the church of St. George in Phanar, Pope Benedict had spoken of his gratitude for the invitation extended by "the Ecumenical Patriarchate." Again on November 30, during a talk for the feast of St. Andrew, he spoke of "Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I."

Visit to the Museum of Saint Sofia and the Grand Umayyad Mosque ["Blue Mosque"]

Coverage / Commentary

Footage of Pope Benedict's visit to the Grand Umayyad Mosque (YouTube.com) - The prayer occurs starting at 6:58. ("Interestingly, Pope Benedict keeps praying long after the Mufti has finished his devotions. -- via Dale Price)
"Built in the sixth century and in its time the largest church in the world, Hagia Sophia was turned into a mosque in the 15th century by the conquering Ottoman Turks. The Blue Mosque was deliberately sited to face Hagia Sophia to demonstrate that Ottoman and Islamic architects and builders could rival anything their Christian predecessors had created. It got its popular name because of the coloring of may of the tiles." [Source: CBSNews.com]
Pope joins Grand Mufti at prayer inside Blue Mosque The Times UK - Dec. 1, 2006:
When the two men reached the mihrab, the focal point of the mosque facing Mecca, the Mufti explained that Muslims stand for 30 seconds there “to achieve serenity”. He then announced: “I am going to pray.” The pontiff turned towards Mecca and joined him, his lips clearly moving in prayer for over a minute.
Father Federico Lombardi, the Pope’s spokesman, said that the pontiff had “paused in meditation and certainly he addressed his thoughts to God”.
However, Pope Benedict’s act of prayer differed significantly from that of Pope John Paul II, who when he visited a mosque in Damascus in 2001 was left to meditate alone. The Pope continued praying yesterday after the Mufti had stopped.
The historic gesture underlined the Pope’s wish to use his visit to reach out to Muslims outraged by his remarks on Islam at Regensburg University in September.
In sign of respect to Muslims, pope prays in Istanbul's Blue Mosque, by John Thavis. Catholic News Service. 11/30/06:
The pope accepted the gift of a ceramic tile inscribed with the word "Allah" in the form of a dove.
Placing his hand on the tile, the pope said: "Thank you for this gift. Let us pray for brotherhood and for all humanity."
"Your Holiness, please remember us," the mufti replied. . . .
The pope asked a few questions but mostly listened during his tour. He was surrounded by a phalanx of Vatican aides and security personnel.
Before leaving, he stopped to write in the museum's guest book.
"In our diversity, we find ourselves before faith in the one God. May God enlighten us and help us find the path of love and peace," he wrote.
Pope Wins Praise By Praying With Mufti, by Allen Pizzey. CBS Evening News' "Reporters Notebook" 11/30/06:
The press then had to go through its usual round of asking each other "did-he-didn't-he," agree that he did — and then wait for confirmation from the Vatican spokesman, who more or less confirmed that the pope had indeed prayed, in a manner of speaking.
Turkish TV, which carried the event live, had no doubts — and was almost universally breathless in its coverage. "We are shocked ... it is fabulous … fantastic ... they pray together ... pope and mufti pray together ... historical ..." were among the comments.
They even noted that the Pope had, like everyone else, taken off his shoes, as is required in a mosque. But not for him the feel of soft, rich carpet under his socks. Benedict appeared to be wearing white slippers.
Peter Visits Andrew – And Prays at the Blue Mosque, by Sandro Magister. www.Chiesa December 1, 2006:
On the feast of saint Andrew, Benedict XVI entered the Blue Mosque in Istanbul with the cross of Jesus clearly visible upon his chest. He paused before the mihrab facing Mecca, and prayed in silence beside the grand mufti, who murmured the opening words of the Qur’an: all this took place with the freedom and clarity marked out by his lecture in Regensburg.
But a no less symbolic gesture took place shortly before this, with the pope’s entrance into the Hagia Sophia, now a museum, previously a mosque, and before that the cathedral church of the patriarch of Constantinople, in the land where early Christianity flourished.
In the Hagia Sophia, Benedict XVI did not immerse himself in prayer; he did not repeat the gesture of Paul VI when he visited there in 1967. Surrounded and hemmed in at every moment, he was able only to admire – in the impressive architecture of the Hagia Sophia, in its Byzantine mosaics, and in its Qur’anic inscriptions – the magnificent and sorrowful image encapsulating the Christian East of yesterday and today. First there was Greek civilization and then early Christianity, then Roman culture and then the Islam that conquered but did not erase what came before it, and finally the little flock surrounded by wolves that keeps the Christian faith alive in today’s Turkey.
Papal Pause Not Exactly a Prayer, Zenit News Service. 11/30/06:
Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican press office, confirmed, after the Holy Father's historic visit today, that "the Pope paused in a moment of meditation and recollection."
"It was a moment of personal meditation, of relationship with God, which can also be called of personal, profound prayer," Father Lombardi told journalists, "but it was not a prayer with external manifestations characteristic of the Christian faith."
"His Lips Moved", by Robert Moynihan. Inside the Vatican 11/30/06:
Benedict’s moving lips were captured by television cameras and transmitted by satellite instantaneously around the world, to the ends of the earth.
Perhaps the Pope was not really "praying" at all? Perhaps he was just "meditating"? Was this possible?
No, because when the two men continued on their way (as Serena, who was there and could hear everything, related to me), the pope said to the mufti, "Thank you for this moment of prayer." There seems no doubt, then, that Benedict was indeed praying.
The Pope’s spokesman, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, was asked about this later by journalists. Was it really a prayer?
At first Lombardi seemed to hesitate, saying "the pope paused in meditation, and certainly he turned his thoughts to God."
Then he said that this could be called a moment of personal prayer, but one which did not include any of the exterior signs of Christian prayer, like a sign of the cross. In this way, Lombardi said, the pope underlined what unites Christians and Muslims, rather than any differences.
"In this sense it was a personal, intimate prayer to God," Father Lombardi said, which "can easily be expressed with his mind and with his thoughts also in a mosque, where many people cultivate the same spiritual attitude."
The essence of this argument would seem to be that the pope - or any Christian - may pray to God anywhere, not just in a Christian church, but even outdoors, even in a prison cell, even in a non- Christian place of worship, like a mosque.

* * *Personal observation on the Papal "Prayer" at the Blue Mosque:

I believe this will be a moment strongly reminiscent of Pope John Paul II's Infamous Koran Kissing Incident -- which is to say, interpreted and exaggerated far beyond the Holy Father's personal intentions (taking a moment to reflect, in much the same manner as John Paul II was expressing a customary sign of respect towards the giver in that country). It will be, if not already, lambasted by 'radtrads' and exploited as a publicity stunt by the Muslim press.
Is this a "diplomatic error" on Benedict's part? -- the gesture is certainly too open to exploitation. (The same could be said for the Turkish newspaper Zaman's headline: "Pope Agrees Islam is Religion of Peace" -- of course the Pope would beg to differ, but the media will go where they will and say what they want to say regardless).
But however one chooses to receive the above, it would have to be weighed against other factors -- for instance, explicitly praising a priest slain in the Islamic rage over the Danish cartoons, or alluding to the Armenian genocide by Turkey in his address with patriarch Mesrob II.
Perhaps he could have been more explicit in attributing Turkey's responsibility for the genocide in the latter -- but then again, as a guest of Turkey, he would also have jeopardized the possibility of a return visit, in light of advancing ecumenical relations with the Orthodox, so perhaps this was a reason for a more nuanced allusion to "truly tragic conditions, like those experienced in the past century.").
Regardless, -- just as I can't interpret JPII's "kissing of the Koran" in isolation from everything else, I'm inclined to weigh this saying / action by Pope Benedict in context with everything else that was said or done during the trip. At best I think it could be construed as a blunder (we'll see to what extent the Muslim press plays this up).
In the discussion of this event at Domenico Bettinelli's -- Fr. Martin Fox stressed the importance of looking at the event "through the right lenses" ("Triumph or Capitulation"?):
Seems to me this is an event that acquires most of its meaning from the lens through which one views it.
If you view it through a fearful/defensive/paranoid lens (surf the blogosphere, you’ll find plenty of examples), it is capitulation, “political correctness,” fake nicey-nice, syncretism, etc.
If you view it through the lens of confident trust in the Holy Spirit and in the ability of our very able pope, it is considered, deliberate, courteous, astute.
If you view it through the lens of ultimate triumph, it is victorious, prophetic.
If the latter is less clear, consider—wasn’t there a question some time back about an Imam visiting a Christian cathedral, and how awful that was? Well, which is it: is a leader of a religion coming to the turf of another a sign of strength or of weakness?
Seems to me the very fact a priest entered a mosque represents an invasion of Christian sanctity-— Christ himself has entered, in persona Christi capitis; in fact, not merely a priest, but a bishop, a successor to the Apostles; and not any successor, but Peter’s successor!
Now, some won’t be happy unless he came tossing holy water around and making the sign of the cross. But I would say the pope’s very person-- as bishop and as successor to Peter-- is vastly more significant in bringing Christ into that mosque.
Of course the Muslim triumphalists think they’ve won something, but they believe in Islamic eschatology, whereas we know the truth. Why should we see things through their lens.

* * *
The Shell of a Great Church, by Joshua Trevino. Brussels Journal 11/29/06. - "The Hagia Sophia is a tragedy in being."
When the Turk's hired Christian engineer sapped the Theodosian walls to claim the Queen City for Islam, the tale is that Mehmet the Conquerer spent days exploring the recesses of the Hagia Sophia. It was the great prize of the great city -- and when the Sultan emerged, he pronounced himself well pleased. He had the Great Church stripped of its nine hundred years of decoration -- glorious gilt and mosaics -- and caused minarets to be built at its corners. Hagia Sophia was now a mosque. Its Muslim occupants did not bother to rename it: instead, its Greek name became its Turkish one as well -- Ayasofya, a word meaning nothing in Turkish beyond the unintended invocation of the Holy Wisdom. Throughout the Ottoman period, the Christians of the east yearned for a Liturgy to be sounded again in the Hagia Sophia. At the end of that period, it seemed as if it might come to pass: one of the demands of the European powers, prior to the recognition of Ataturk's republic, was that the Hagia Sophia again be a church. Ataturk would not hear of it -- but he did make it a museum, and that was sufficient for the powers of Europe.
Pope visits Blue Mosque as gesture of outreach to Muslims, by John Allen, Jr. National Catholic Reporter 11/30/06.

Moment of prayer in the Armenian Apostolic Cathedral and meeting with H.B. Patriarch Mesrob II

Greeting of the Holy Father Benedict XVI to Patriarch Mesrob II Armenian Apostolic Cathedral, Istanbul. 11/30/06.

Coverage / Commentary

Pope and Armenian Seek to Surmount Schism, Zenit News Service 11/30/06:
During the celebration of the Word, following [Patriarch Mesrob II Mutafina]'s address, Benedict XVI clarified that "Our meeting is more than a simple gesture of ecumenical courtesy and friendship."
"It is a sign of our shared hope in God's promises and our desire to see fulfilled the prayer that Jesus offered for his disciples on the eve of his suffering and death: 'That they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I in you, may they also be one in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me,'" the Pope said, quoting from John 17:21.
"We must continue therefore to do everything possible to heal the wounds of separation and to hasten the work of rebuilding Christian unity," the Holy Father continued. "May we be guided in this urgent task by the light and strength of the Holy Spirit."
Pope Recalls Armenian Genocide Catholic World News. 11/30/06:
In his greeting to the patriarch, the Holy Father praised the Armenian people for their faithful witness to the Gospel, even under "truly tragic conditions, like those experienced in the past century." He was clearly alluding to the slaughter of Armenians under the Ottoman empire.
To this day the Turkish government refuses to acknowledge the genocidal campaign of 1915- 1917, in which an estimated 1.5 million Armenians were killed during massacres and forced marches, as the government of the "Young Turks" forced the relocation of an entire people. The Armenian Apostolic Church remains the largest Christian community in Turkey, but today numbers only about 50,000 faithful; in the late 19th century the number was several million. There are about 2 million members of the Church living in the country now known as Armenia.
Holy Father says meeting with Armenian patriarch a sign of hope for Christian unity Catholic News Agency. Dec. 1, 2006.
With Turkey's Armenians, Benedict shows off his 'great ear', by John Allen, Jr. National Catholic Reporter 12/03/06:
Though Benedict indeed spared no effort to send positive signals to the Turks, his more immediate sensitivity in his meeting with the Armenians was actually for someone else – the Armenians themselves, and especially their leader, Patriarch Mesrob II.
“It would have been a huge headache for us,” Mesrob II told NCR in Istanbul shortly after his meeting with the pope, referring to the prospect of Benedict XVI inflaming Turkish sentiment by using the term “genocide.”
Mesrob said doing so would have thrown his community of perhaps 60,000, the largest Christian community in Turkey but still a tiny minority in a nation of some 72 million, into tumult, potentially making them targets for a nationalist backlash.
Benedict XVI could have gone home after setting off such a rhetorical bomb, Mesrob II suggested, but the Armenians would have been left behind to deal with the aftermath.
Interview with Patriarch Mesrob II of Istanbul and Turkey Pt. I; Pt. II, by Florence Avakian. Circa 1999.

Additional Visits

Meeting with H.E. the Syrian Orthodox Metropolitan
Meeting with the Grand Rabbi of Turkey:
The Hebrew term for "wise man" Haham has been adopted in Turkish to mean "Rabbi." This is to avoid the use of the word "Rabbi" since in Arabic the word "Rab" is one of he names of God and may not be applied to a human.
Still today the Grand Rabbi is called the "Hahambasi." (Head of Rabbis)." [Source]
See Also: History of the Jews in Turkey [Wikipedia Entry]
Meeting and dinner with the members of the Catholic Episcopal Conference

Friday, 1 December

Holy Mass at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit - Homily of the Holy Father
Farewell ceremony at the Airport of Istanbul
13.15 Departure from the Airport of Istanbul to Rome

Coverage / Commentary

Pope encourages Turkish Christians to live in harmony with Muslims, by John Thavis. Catholic News Service. 11/01/06.
Pope says Church in Turkey asks to live with the freedom to reveal Christ Catholic News Agency. 12/01/06:
On the last day of his Apostolic voyage to Turkey, Pope Benedict XVI celebrated Mass for the country’s Catholic community, affirming that the Church does not wish to impose its faith on anyone but, “merely asks to live in freedom,” in order to reveal Christ Jesus.
The Holy Father reminded the numerous Catholics gathered in the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit that the Church, “has been charged to proclaim (Christ’s) Gospel to the ends of the earth (cf. Mt 28:19), transmitting to the men and women of our time the Good News which not only illuminates but overturns their lives, even to the point of conquering death itself. This Good News is not just a word, but a person, Christ himself, risen and alive!”
“The Church’s mission,” he added, “is not to preserve power, or to gain wealth; her mission is to offer Christ, to give a share in Christ’s own life, man’s most precious good, which God himself gives us in his Son.”

ITALY

Ciampino (Rome)

14.45 Arrival at the Airport of Ciampino (Rome)

Labels: Islam, Pope Benedict Roundup, Turkey (Apostolic Journey)

Friday, November 24, 2006

Anticipating Pope Benedict's Papal Visit to Turkey

On November 28, 2006, Pope Benedict will make an apostolic journey to the predominantly-Muslim country of Turkey. After the Regensburg address and the ensuing controversy, all eyes will be on the Benedict's visitation with Catholic and Orthodox Christian minority. Following are some background articles and commentary on the Pope's journey this week.

Supplementary Articles

"The Passion of the Pope", by David Van Biema, Jeff Israely. (Time Nov. 19, 2006):
when Benedict XVI travels to Turkey next week on his first visit to a Muslim country since becoming Pope last year, he is unlikely to cloak himself in a downy banner of brotherhood, the way his predecessor did 27 years ago. Instead, Benedict, 79, will arrive carrying a different reputation: that of a hard-knuckle intellect with a taste for blunt talk and interreligious confrontation. Just 19 months into his tenure, the Pope has become as much a moral lightning rod as a theologian; suddenly, when he speaks, the whole world listens. And so what takes place over four days in three Turkish cities has the potential to define his papacy--and a good deal more.

Time provides background to the papal visit by noting the contrast between Benedict's reaction toward Islam with what is oft-perceived as an overly-congenial approach of his predecessor:
Unlike John Paul, who had a big-tent approach, Ratzinger has always favored bright theological lines and correspondingly high walls between creeds he regards as unequally meritorious. His long-standing habit is to correct any aide who calls a religion other than Christianity or Judaism a "faith." . . .
That approach includes Islam. In Ratzinger's 1996 interview book Salt of the Earth (with Peter Seewald), he noted that "we must recognize that Islam is not a uniform thing. No one can speak for [it] as a whole. There is a noble Islam, embodied, for example, by the King of Morocco, and there is also the extremist, terrorist Islam, which, again, one must not identify with Islam as a whole, which would do it an injustice." This sophisticated understanding, however, did not keep Ratzinger from slapping down a bishop who wanted to invite peaceable Muslims to a papal ceremony in Fatima, Portugal, or, in 2004, from objecting to Turkish E.U. entry on grounds that it has always been "in permanent contrast to Europe," a contrast his other writings made clear had much to do with religion.
Islam played a particular role--as both a threat and a model--in the drama that probably lies closest to Benedict's heart: the secularization of Christian Europe. In the same 1996 book, he wrote that "the Islamic soul reawakened" in reaction to the erosion of the West's moral stature during the 1960s. Ratzinger paraphrased that soul's new song: "We know who we are; our religion is holding its ground; you don't have one any longer. We have a moral message that has existed without interruption since the prophets, and we will tell the world how to live it, where the Christians certainly can't."
While Time emphasizes one side of Benedict's response, it is certainly not the only one. Benedict's August 2005 address to Muslim community in Cologne, Germany and his recent reception and dialogue with Islamic scholars (responding to the Regensberg address) reveals a side much more akin to that of his predecessor.
Time's feature on the Pope also contains a brief point / counterpoint -- "What the Pope Gets Right", by Fr. Richard John Neuhaus:
It is noteworthy, however, that the Pope has not retreated from his challenge to Islam. Moreover, under his leadership, the Vatican has taken a much stronger line in insisting on "reciprocity" in relations with Islam. Mosques proliferate throughout cities in the West, while any expression of non-Islamic religion is strictly forbidden in many Muslim countries. In the Vatican and elsewhere, the feeling has been growing that the way of tolerance, dialogue and multicultural sensitivity can no longer be a one-way street. In fact, that shift predates Benedict's papacy. In his 1994 book, Crossing the Threshold of Hope, John Paul II said complimentary things about the piety of Muslims. But John Paul concluded his discussion of Islam with this: "For [these reasons] not only the theology but also the anthropology of Islam is very distant from Christianity."
and from Tariq Ramadan, on "Where [Benedict XVI] is Still In the Dark":
this profoundly European Pope is inviting the people of his continent to become aware of the central, inescapable character of Christianity within their identity, or risk losing it. That may be a legitimate goal, but Benedict's narrow definition of European identity is deeply troubling and potentially dangerous. This is what Muslims must respond to: the tendency of Westerners to ignore the critical role that Muslims played in the development of Western thought. . . .
What the West needs most today is not so much a dialogue with other civilizations but an honest dialogue with itself--one that acknowledges those traditions within Western civilization that are almost never recognized. Europe, in particular, must learn to reconcile itself with the diversity of its past in order to master the coming pluralism of its future.
The Pope's visit to Turkey presents an opportunity to put forward the true terms of the debate over the relationship between Islam and the West.
Time identifies the author of the latter article as "a research fellow at Oxford," and was elsewhere hailed by Time as part of "the next wave" of spiritual leaders and innovators.
A discussion of Ramadan may be tangential to this roundup, but some bloggers couldn't help but note his status as the grandson of Hassan al-Banna, founder of the Muslim Brotherhood. On September 20, 2006, he was denied a visa on grounds of his contribution to a charity-front for the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, which followed the 2004 revocation of his visa to live and work in the U.S. (See "The State Dept. was Right Weekly Standard Oct. 16, 2006).
The Italian journalist Sandro Magister profiled Ramadan ("Tariq Ramadan's Two-Faced Islam. The West Is the Land of Conquest" www.Chiesa January 19, 2004).
Turkey's unique history a challenge for this academic pope National Catholic Reporter Nov. 17, 2006. John Allen, Jr. provides some helpful background, addressing the Pope's demand for "reciprocity" -- "meaning the demand that religious minorities in Islamic states should receive the same rights and freedoms as Muslims in the West":
Reciprocity is a core element of Benedict's challenge to Muslims -- inviting them to embrace reason with respect to religious affairs -- and the dismal conditions facing Turkey's small Christian population, including the tiny flock of the Patriarch of Constantinople, offers a classic case in point.
Benedict will have to choose his words carefully, however, because there's a unique history in Turkey that could easily make such a challenge sound like a threat. Over the centuries, European powers repeatedly intervened in Turkey to demand special privileges for Christians, a process that many Turks associate with the slow undermining of the Ottoman Empire. If the pope is to avoid awakening those historical ghosts, he'll have to find a vocabulary that makes it clear he's talking about a matter of universal human dignity, not about special treatment for Christians.

Signs of Trouble

Ali Bardakoglu, President of Religious Affairs in Turkey, is hardly enamored with Benedict's approach to Islam, denouncing his Regensburg address as "An Attack on the Pillars of Islam". Der Spiegel interviewed the dignitary on the Regensburg controversy and the Pope's impending visit:
SPIEGEL: It's been 27 years since since a pope last visited Turkey, a Muslim country. What does the visit mean for your country?
Bardakoglu: Whenever a religious leader visits other countries, it means that religious leader is ready to engage in dialogue. That's important. If we want to get a grip on the world's problems, we have to speak to each other. Our problems don't originate in the religions themselves. The leaders can help ensure that people from various cultures develop an understanding for one another.
Unfortunately, the notion of religiously-motivated violence is not an issue for Bardakoglu:
SPIEGEL: What was wrong with the speech?
Bardakoglu: It was an attack, strongly colored by prejudice, on the three pillars of Islam: faith, the Koran and the prophet Muhammad -- without any reference to a specific event from the history of Islam. Whoever portrays the Koran and the prophet as the causes of the problems hasn't understood Islam.
SPIEGEL: You spoke of the Pope having "hatred in his heart" and accused him of cultivating a way of thinking that resembles that of the crusaders.
Bardakoglu: A person who says the prophet is the source of violence, and that the Koran is the cause of the aberrations, isn't formulating criticism but rather condemning and insulting Islam. The fact that the speaker is merely repeating a quotation does not diminish the mistake.

See also: Reconstruction of a Global Crisis: How the Pope Angered the Muslim World Der Spiegel Nov. 24, 2006.
Sales of Pope Murder Book Soar Ahead of Benedict XVI's Visit (Adnkronos International (AKI) Nov. 22, 2006). As reported in one of our earlier roundups, sales of a Turkish novel fantasizing about the murder of the Holy Father are increasing in anticipation of the papal visit:
The Plot Against The Pope is a highly speculative potboiler narrating how the conservative Roman Catholic society Opus Dei, a subversive masonic lodge and the CIA collude to make the pontiff's murder a pretext for a US attack against Iran.
Yuvel Kaya's book, which features Benedict XVI in front of a burning cross with a bearded gunman aiming a rocket launcher at him, is on sale at major Turkish bookstores such as D&R, Kabalci, Pandora.
Despite the absence of any promotional campaign - no billboards, posters or pamphlets at bookstores - sales are rapidly picking up, according to Lale Yilmaz from Kabalci, one the country's biggest book stores. However she told Adnkronos International (AKI) exact sales figures could not be released to the public.
"More copies of the book have been bought over the last 10 days than any other time," Zeynep Yaman an employee with Alfa Dagitim, one of the six companies distributing the books, told AKI.

Robert Duncan (News Editor for Spero News) is skeptical: Turkey: Pope murder book not what it seems?:
No matter how distasteful the subject of this book may be - not to mention that it is getting free press and distracting attention away from the positive message of this historic visit - we should question if there isn't journalistic hype at play.
Interestingly enough, people seem to be missing one point.
At least from what I have read the book doesn't argue that Muslims will kill the Pope. Instead, according to Kaya's novel, the Pope is being targeted by, get this, Catholics.
And not just any Catholics, but by Dan Brown's favorite nemesis - Opus Dei.
Shouting "Allahu akbar," Muslim protestors occuppied the Hagia Sophia in Instanbul on Wednesday, to protest the Pope's visit (Protesters occupying building detained" - a rather innocuous title?):
The protesters belong to the Great Unity Party, a far right-wing group that has previously staged demonstrations against the planned Nov. 28-Dec. 1 visit.
They entered the 6th century former Byzantine church and mosque, shouting "Allahu akbar!" — "God is great!" — and then knelt to perform Islamic prayers.
They also shouted a warning to Benedict: "Pope, don't make a mistake, don't wear out our patience."
A group leader read a statement saying Benedict had offended Muslims with his comments linking violence and Islam, but the reading was interrupted by police. . . . Benedict is scheduled to tour the Haghia Sophia, which is a source of religious sensitivity in Turkey. It was one of the world's greatest churches for more than 1,000 years, but was converted into a mosque after the conquest of Istanbul by Ottoman Turks in 1453. Today, the Haghia Sophia is a museum, and public religious ceremonies inside are forbidden.
Responding to the incident, Cardinal Raffaele Martino dismissed the protest:
"One shouldn't accord to much importance to this episode," Cardinal Raffaele Martino, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace said in a statement.
"Some things are just isolated events and don't reflect the views of the entire population."
39 of the Hagia Sophia protestors -- 14 of them under the age of 18 -- were detained and later released, according to the Turkish newspaper Zaman.
The Catholic Apostolic Vicar of Anatolia, Luigi Padovese claimed the Hagia Sophia protest was organised by ultranationalist militants "for political, not religious ends", and that "The purpose of such protests is to keep Europe as far away as possible from Turkey," (Adnkronos International (AKI) Nov. 22, 2006).
Indifference, antipathy and scarce approval as Turkey awaits Pope, by Mavi Zambak. AsiaNews.It Nov. 24, 2006:
The latest surveys carried in Turkey’s main newspapers with nationwide coverage, reveal that only 10% of Turks approve the pope’s visit, 38% are decidedly against while another 38% are indifferent. And 14% preferred not to express their opinion.
However, even if they may not declare themselves to be hostile to the pope, people admit they are afraid something could happen. Despite constant assurances from police and security officials, many are not so sure that everything will go smoothly, and they fear unexpected hazards. Mehmet Ali Solak, an Alevite, director of the “Guvey Ruzgari” (southern wind) magazine, admitted to fears that someone may seek to attempt to assassinate the Pope, or even just to create unrest to discredit Turkey, and to shift the blame onto the Turks. Acknowledging that this was one reason why many would prefer Benedict XVI to stay at home, Solak echoed the views of a good part of the Turkish population (especially religious and ethnic minorities and also some Christians).
But there are also those who expect strong words of support from the Pope with regard to authentic freedom and democracy, against the Islamization that increasingly threatens to destroy the true secularism of the country. Thus, the daily Sabah, an extreme right Kemalist, summed up its thinking in a front page cartoon depicting a blurred crowd of people appealing to the figure of the Pope, saying “You save us”.

Christian Anticipation of the Papal Visit

Interview with Father Justo Lacunza Balda of the Missionaries of Africa, a professor of the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies of Rome (PISAI):
Q: The Pope is going to Turkey in a few days on a trip that has aroused high expectations. Why is it a difficult trip?
Father Lacunza: Turkey is a lay, democratic and secular republic. The state has no official religion, but we must not forget that the majority of the population in Turkey is Muslim.
Therefore, the relations of the Catholic Church come into play with a country of Muslim majority, and this is difficult from the point of view of Christian minorities, religious liberty and pastoral activities.
It is a difficult trip because at stake in this crucial moment is Turkey's entrance into the European Community.
Personally, I don't see why Turkey should be part of the European Union. Suffice it to see its geographic situation to realize this. Have we forgotten that Turkey has borders with Iran, Iraq and Syria?
Readers might recall that, in August 2004, then-Cardinal Ratzinger caused a bit of a stir by challenging Turkey's bid to join the European Union:
"In the course of history, Turkey has always represented a different continent, in permanent contrast to Europe," Ratzinger told the magazine, noting that the history of Ottoman Empire, which once invaded Europe as far as Vienna. "Making the two continents identical would be a mistake," he said. "It would mean a loss of richness, the disappearance of the cultural to the benefit of economics." The born cardinal said Turkey "could try to set up a cultural continent with neighboring Arab countries and become the leading figure of a culture with its own identity."
According to Zenit News Service, "about 99% of Turkey's 70 million inhabitants are Muslim, the majority Sunni. Catholics represent 0.04% of the population."
Conventual Franciscan Friar Martin Kmetec describes Benedict XVI's forthcoming visit to Turkey as a "courageous gesture" - In an interview with ZENIT, Father Kmetec, a Slovenian missionary in Turkey, paints a picture of the nation the Pope will visit next week and explains that Catholics there are preparing for this event with hope. (Zenit News Service. Nov. 11, 2006):
Q: What is the Catholic reality in Turkey? How are Catholics preparing for this visit and what do they expect from the Pope?
Father Kmetec: Catholics in Turkey, those who are established, are close to 30,000. They are preparing spiritually for this visit with prayer.
An attempt is made in Sunday Masses to underline that Christians urgently need a spiritual renewal of life, according to the principles of the Gospel. This must be the fruit of the Pope's visit among us.
For this occasion, Bishop Luigi Padovese, apostolic vicar of Anatolia, addressed a letter to his faithful on the topic of hope, which is essential not only for the Church of Anatolia but for all Turkey's Christians.
Our communities must face daily not a few difficulties of an economic order; above all, however, they must be able to react to an inferiority complex in the face of an oppressive Muslim majority, which makes them feel oppressed and can make them think that they are the "infidels."
Q: Given the latest events, is there concern over security, or are only some isolated cases of intolerants to be feared?
Father Kmetec: I am sure that there are no problems in regard to the safety of the person of the Supreme Pontiff. The Turkish state will do everything possible so that this visit will unfold without major incidents.
One cannot exclude, however, some small demonstration or some isolated case of reaction, but certainly not in the course of the papal itinerary.
Providing an illustration to the challenges faced by Christians in Turkey, Two men who converted to Christianity went on trial Thursday for allegedly insulting "Turkishness" and inciting religious hatred against Islam (Associated Press, Nov. 23, 2006):
Hakan Tastan, 37, and Turan Topal, 46, are accused of making the insults and of inciting hate while allegedly trying to convert other Turks to Christianity. If convicted, the two Turkish men could face up to nine years in prison.
The men were charged under Turkey's Article 301, which has been used to bring charges against dozens of intellectuals — including Nobel Prize-winner Orhan Pamuk.
The law has widely been condemned for severely limiting free expression and European officials have demanded Turkey change it as part of reforms to join the EU.
They also are charged under a law against inciting hatred based on religion.
Update! - 25,000 Protest Pope's Visit to Turkey Associated Press Nov. 26, 2006:
More than 25,000 people joined demonstrations Sunday against Pope Benedict XVI's upcoming visit, police said.
The demonstration was the largest anti-pope protest so far ahead of Benedict's arrival Tuesday for a four-day visit, his first as pope to a predominantly Muslim country. Some 4,000 police backed by riot trucks, armored vehicles and helicopters monitored the protest as the crowds grew.
The protest was organized by a pro-Islamic political party called Felicity whose leaders have said they were offended by Benedict's comments in September linking violence and Islam.
(Further coverage of this on American Papist).
Mossad in Turkey to Assist Pope's Security - Zaman Nov. 26, 2006:
The Italian daily La Republica has reported that Mossad agents and Italian and Vatican security and intelligence officers have arrived in Turkey to help Turkish security units.
La Republica also reported that security units in Istanbul arrested a group in preparation for an attack on the pope a few weeks ago in Istanbul.
However, no detailed information was given on the identity and nationality of the suspects.
Pope death threats put Turkey on high alert, by Malcolm Moore in Rome, Sunday Telegraph Nov. 26, 2006 :
An army of snipers, riot police, secret agents and bomb disposal experts has been mobilised for the Pope's four-day visit to Turkey. Naval units will patrol the Bosphorus armed with machine guns after warnings to police and security services that the life of Benedict XVI may be threatened by Islamic extremists after he arrives on Tuesday.
Celalettin Cerrah, the police chief in Istanbul, said that the city would have maximum security and warned that he would "call for reinforcements from nearby cities" if needed. Fears within the Vatican, which has been making preparations on the ground for the past month, were heightened when a man lunged at Archbishop Pierluigi Celata, the former papal ambassador to Turkey, who was on a advance scouting mission in his Catholic robes.
The archbishop said he hoped the attack was an "isolated case" and that the Pope would be met with the "hospitality that is typical of the Turkish and Muslim people".
Writing for the Turkish Daily News, Mustafa Aykol introduces us to "The Turkish Side of Things": How Turks see the Pope (Nov. 25 / 26, 2006) -- a two-part series covering Turkish opposition to the papal visit:
Thanks to the reports of the international fine print, many must have been informed that the fiercest opponents of the pope's visit are Turkish nationalists. But these folks do not form a homogenous crowd. They may fit into one of three broad categories: the pure nationalists, the Islamic nationalists and the secular nationalists (aka Kemalists) . . .
Part II of Aykol's series on How Turks see the Pope (Part II) covers the historical motivation of the purely secular nationalists:
Among those Turkish nationalists who do not welcome Pope Benedict XVI, the third category would be secular nationalists, who are in line with the anti-EU forces in Turkey's civil and military bureaucracy. They see the whole West as an imperialist enemy dying to carve Turkey into pieces by re-implementing the infamous Treaty of Sèvres -- a 1920 document that only a handful of non-Turkish historians but the whole Turkish nation remembers. For them Pope Benedict XVI is simply the religious face of "Western imperialism." His effort to consolidate Christianity is interpreted as the preparation for a new Crusade. . . .

Supplementary Links

Turkish Media

TurkishPress.com - Includes daily aggregated news and Turkish media review compiled by the Office of the Prime Minister.
Zaman - Turkey's first online daily.
Turkish Daily News - Turkey's largest circulation English daily newspaper.

Additional Resources

An Interactive History of Turkey, courtesy of The Guardian (UK).
"Pope Benedict is scheduled to make a “touristic” visit to the Haghia Sophia – the Church of Divine Wisdom – when he visits Istanbul. This enormous and enormously influential Byzantine-era structure is certainly a must-see. Erected during the reign of the Roman emperor Justinian, it was completed in just 6 years by 10,000 workmen and inaugurated in 537. In a wise move, Ataturk made it a museum in 1934." Posting to The Pope Benedict Forum, Rcesq recently visited Instanbul and has generously provided us with A Look Inside the Haghia Sophia.
The Ecumenical Patriarchate is the highest see and holiest center of the Orthodox Christian Church throughout the world. It is an institution with a history spanning seventeen centuries, during which it retained its see in Constantinople (present-day Istanbul). It constitutes the center of all the local Orthodox Churches, heading these not by administration but by virtue of its primacy in the ministry of pan-Orthodox unity and the coordination of the activity of the whole of Orthodoxy. The website of the Ecumenical Patriarchate already features biography of Bartholomew, Archbishop of Constantinople and our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI. The official online photo gallery which will showcase photos from the events of the Papal Visit to the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
In the latest issue of Newsweek (Dec. 4, 2006 issue), George Weigel draws attention to the Turkish government's oppression of the Ecumenical Patriarchate:
[I]t is Turkish law, not the canons of the Orthodox Church, that determines who is eligible to be elected ecumenical patriarch, and Turkish law limits the pool of possible candidates to Turkish citizens living in Turkey. As a recent memorandum from the Ecumenical Patriarchate put it, "the result of these restrictions is that in the not so distant future the Ecumenical Patriarchate may not be able to elect a Patriarch."
The Turkish government closed the patriarchate's seminary, the Theological School of Halki, in 1971, and has refused, despite numerous requests, to reopen it.
An Itinerary of Benedict XVI's Trip to Turkey has been published by the Vatican.
By way of Blog by the Sea:
The Knights of Columbus has organized a spiritual pilgrimage to accompany the Pope in prayer as he journeys to Turkey, beginning tomorrow with the Solemnity of Christ the King. Printable (.pdf) versions of the prayer can be downloaded from the K of C site.

Labels: Islam, Turkey (Apostolic Journey)

Saturday, September 23, 2006

Pope Benedict and "Regensburg Rage" - The Islamic Reaction (Pt. III)

It has been over week since Pope Benedict gave his now-infamous Regensburg address on "Faith, Reason and the University". Muslims are marching, pundits are pontificating, and by now everybody and their next door neighbor and their neighbor's dog has weighed in on the Pope's reference to 14th century Byzantine emperor Manuel II Palaiologos' commentary on "spreading the faith by the sword."

Benedict has been nothing if not gracious, devoting devoting a portion of his Wednesday General Audience to clarifying the nature of his speech:

It was a profound reflection, as he did last Sunday before the Angelus prayer, Benedict XVI reiterated the substance of what he had already said: everything took place in an athenaeum, and hence in language that would be employed for a university lecture. In the text of the address, there is a note that the pope intended to add footnotes. Further, the controversial phrase was a quote referring to Muhammad “in a way that is incomprehensible and brusque for us” and which served to “introduce the drama and actuality of the topic.” The pope said that “in no way did I wish to make my own the negative words of the emperor”, that he has “profound respect for world religions and for Muslims, who worship the one God and with whom we promote peace, liberty, social justice.”
Benedict XVI also expressed the hope that “after the initial reaction”, his words may “constitute a push towards positive, even self-critical, dialogue between religions and between modern reason and Christian faith.”

In addition, Benedict "invited Muslim envoys to meet with him at his summer residence, for what the Holy See says is urgently needed dialogue" (AP, Sept. 20, 2006). Turkey and Iran accepted his offer, but apparently not everybody is satisfied.

Continuing Muslim Reactions

Waving Hamas banners at the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem's Old City, Palestinians have denounced the Pope as a coward and a Jew.
In Tripoli, a son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi urged the Pope to "embrace" Islam and "learn the truth" (Reuters, Sept. 20, 2006)
In Hamas-controlled Gaza, Muslims have formed an ad hoc terrorist group promising to attack Christian targets (Arutz Sheva Israel National Times Sept. 19, 2006):
The group, which calls itself the “Army of guidance,” sent an announcement to news agencies based in Gaza saying that “every place relevant to Christians will be a target until the cursed infidel – the Vatican – apologizes to Muslims.”
In Pakistan, 1,000 Muslim clerics and religious scholars demanded pope's removal (Associated Press. Sept. 21, 2006):
Benedict "should be removed from his position immediately for encouraging war and fanning hostility between various faiths" and "making insulting remarks" against Islam, said a joint statement issued by the clerics and scholars at the end of their one-day convention.
Needless to say, the Vatican is not likely comply with their demand.
The Anti-Defamation League has chronicled continuing Allegations of Jewish Conspiracy Behind Pope's Comments in the Arab/Muslim media, together with some outrageous anti-semitic political cartoons:
ADL also found a growing trend in editorials and opinion-pieces in the Arab/Muslim media that claim the Pope's statements should not surprise anyone, since they are the long-lasting natural discourse of international Zionism against Islam. Some maintain that after September 11 a new Rome was erected, one that aims at converting Christianity and God to Judaism under the watchful eyes of the evil American-Israeli alliance that was established by the international Zionism, which eventually seeks to enflame a full confrontation between Islam and Christianity.
(Hat tip: Bill Cork, who wonders "Where's the Outcry" over this by the US Media?).

However, not all the reactions from the international Muslim community to Benedict's Regensburg speech have been negative:

Asia News reports that the Sunni Grand Mufti of Syria has said that “The clarifications supplied by the Pope are more than sufficient":
“The clarifications supplied by the Pope are more than sufficient, although I would ask for, if possible, more explanation.” With these words, the Sunni Grand Mufti of the Arab republic of Syria, Ahmad Badr El Din El Hassoun summed up a meeting yesterday – Tuesday – with the Apostolic Nuncio of Syria, Mgr Giovanni Morandini. In a statement to AsiaNews, he added: “The disapproval of Pope Benedict XVI and his bitterness after the recent reactions are more than an ‘apology’ for us and a great sign of respect towards the Islamic world.” El Hassoun called on “all to respect this great personality, Pope Benedict XVI.”
In an editorial for the Washington Times (Sept. 21, 2006), Farid N. Ghadry, President of the Reform Party of Syria, insists "The words of Pope Benedict should not be examined with scorn but with scrutiny":
As a moderate Muslim living amongst Muslims, Christians, and Jews, I am asking myself what have we, Muslims, brought forth to today's civilizations that would appeal to other religions and prompt them to imitate us or praise us? We have but TV beheadings and barbaric killings of innocent people in the name of our great religion. Are we then surprised to hear other religious people with followers all around the world ask us, through factual history, why we are so violent?
"Irresponsible Comments; Abhorrent Response" Arab News Sept. 22, 2006. Lubna Hussein is critical of the Pope, but equally (if not more) repulsed by the response of her fellow believers:
It is tragic that we lose our power to reason and allow emotions to dictate our response whenever a situation like this arises. Instead of referring to the teachings of the Qur’an and the Prophet (peace be upon him) a few deviants take it upon themselves to perform atrocities and injustices in the name of Islam.
Since when has the desecration of churches and threats against Christians been acceptable in our religion? . . .
[It is] nothing short of pathetic to watch the mob mentality of some Muslims who, instead of extending this message of peace to the outside world, show a very ugly face when they burn effigies of the pope and attack the lives and property of innocents. Who can blame those who have no understanding of Islam if they cannot see the beauty of the religion through this shameful veneer inspired by hatred and intolerance?
It is also reported by Asia News that Pakistanese Christians and Muslims met to study the Pope’s speech together:
The meeting, which took place at the Bishop’s residence, is the initiative of the local bishop, Mgr Joseph Coutts, and Fr Aftab James Paul, director of Interfaith Dialogue and Ecumenism for the diocese of Faisalabad. A committee was formed that includes Bishop Coutts himself, two Catholic priests, four ulemas and another Muslim, Pir Muhammad Ibrahim.
In opening the meeting, Mgr Coutts expressed his “joy” to see Muslims and Christians together, but at the same time “sadness” for the overall misunderstanding of what the Pope said in Germany. . . .
The article goes on to note the positive response of some Pakistanese Muslims:
Members of the Muslim community said they appreciated the initiative of the local Church.
For Rana Khalid Mehmood it is necessary to release Mgr Coutts’s remarks to the Pakistani press so that “people can understand the real situation”.
Pir Muhammad Ibrahim is convinced that it is urgent to proceed logically. First, find the real issue; then, if there are problems clarify them through dialogue with our Christian brothers.”
“We have decided to translate the original speech into Urdu so that Muslim clerics can study and better understand it,” he added.
Perhaps all Catholic bishops experiencing similar unrest in their diocese' should issue a similar invitation to dialogue?

Reactions from the Christian community

Back in the U.S., Benedict was subjected to criticism -- suprise, suprise -- in the pages of the National Catholic Reporter, when Bishop Thomas J. Gumbleton admonished the Pope on his choice of words:
But there's another short passage that Jesus proclaimed, that it seems to me if Pope Benedict had been thinking about this, he would have been much more careful in what he said.
Remember the part when Jesus is talking to the people who are correcting other people. He challenged them, "Look, you can see the speck in somebody else's eye, but you can't see the beam in your own eye!"
(Hat tip: Gerald Augustinus of Closed Cafeteria)
In a display of episcopal spine, Benedict received the ecumenical support of the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey of Clifton, and His Beatitude the Archbishop of Athens and All Greece Christodoulos, the prelate of the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Greece.
Pope's lecture also shakes Catholic theologians, by Bernward Loheide. Deutsche Presse-Agentur Sept. 18, 2006. (Via Argent by the Tiber).

Moving on to some commentaries of the week . . .

"Should Vatican aides have warned the Pope?, asks Malcolm Moore of the Telegraph UK (Sept. 19, 2006). Pointing to the recent departures in the papal curia, Moore has the audacity to suggest that an incompetent Benedict might have been kept in line by those well-versed in Islamic etiquette:
Since the exile of Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald to be the papal envoy to Egypt, there are few high-ranking Islamic experts close to the Pope. Yesterday, Archbishop Fitzgerald declined to comment on the row, saying that he was "on retreat" in France.
Robert Mickens, the Vatican correspondent of the Tablet, the Catholic newspaper, said the biggest problem was a lack of checks and balances within the Roman Curia under Benedict.
He said that the Pope was surrounded by a cabal of "yes-men" who "hold him in such high regard that they are unlikely to challenge him".
John Paul II was regularly guided either by Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the former secretary of state who resigned this month, or by Joaquin Navarro Valls, the Vatican's press secretary, who served 22 years before retiring earlier this year.
Fr. Richard J. Neuhaus responds in "The Pope and His Cultured Advisers" (First Things' "On the Square" Sept. 22, 2006):
You recall those awful years of John Paul II’s authoritarian and repressive pontificate when the ailing pontiff, taking advice only from a cabal of right-wing intimates and yes men, turned the Catholic Church into a one-man show.
Surely you remember. . . . But now the story line has turned on a dime. After the imbroglio over the Regensburg lecture, we are told that “the authoritarian nature of Pope Benedict’s papacy” [he means pontificate] can be attributed to the fact that he, unlike John Paul, is surrounded by people who are not “brave enough to tell the pope that he has made a mistake.”

Over at Insight Scoop, Carl Olson takes on similar criticisms by Rev. Thomas J. Reese, SJ in the Baltimore Sun (The Usual Suspects with the Usual Suspect Stuff Sept. 20, 2006), and in The Pope's Censor (Open Book ), readers respond to the suggestion by Jesuit Father Tom Michel, who served on the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, that this whole mess could have been averted "had the Pope's talk been reviewed and controlled by any competent staff person."
The Pope, Faith, and Reason - In the hands of the press, it was more like Will and Grace. National Review's Denis Boyles takes aim at the characteristically-incompetent digestion of papal documents by the mainstream media:
Part of the problem journalists face when they have to report on complicated, somewhat obscure topics, such as Roman Catholic dogmatic theology, is that graduate journalism courses like JOM926 may stress spelling & grammar, but completely at the expense of “faith & reason.” So maybe it’s not fair to blame journalists for the inanities in the week’s reporting of what was a very complex discussion by a scholarly pope concerning faith and reason in Christianity and in Islam. . . . Within hours, the BBC World Service had started skipping the complicated bits and simply reported that “the Pope described Islam as evil and inhuman” making the story a much simpler one to report.
Boyles examines the disappointing trend in supermarket tabloid-esque reporting on the story by the New York Times, the London Times, the Guardian, the Telegraph, Le Figaro and the Daily Mail.
For Robert Moynihan, Benedict's speech has been misinterpreted by almost everyone -- by those who condemn him, but also by his defenders ("Reaping the Whirlwind" Inside the Vatican October 2006):
[Benedict's] address is not a "bashing" or "blasting" or "indictment" of Islam but rather a profound reflection on the need for the West to return to religious faith.
Benedict's main point -- and few have noted this -- is that the West, unless it recovers a vision of God, cannot engage in a fruitful dialogue with the other great cultures of the world, which have a basic religious conviction about reality. Among these great cultures, of course, is Islam.
His entire talk is focused on this point.
He attempts to persuade his academic audience that giving theology a voice in the modern Western university would be of immense benefit to Western society, because it would lead to a rational dialogue on the central meaning of human existence; namely, an investigation of the nature of God. Such an inquiry, he says, would counter Europe's destructive denial of its own origins.
"The Pope was Right!", agrees George Weigel. (L.A. Times Sept. 20, 2006):
CAN ISLAM BE self-critical? Can its leaders condemn and marginalize its extremists, or are Muslims condemned to be held hostage to the passions of those who consider the murder of innocents to be pleasing to God? Can the West recover its commitment to reason and thus help support Islamic reformers? These are the large questions that Pope Benedict XVI has put on the world's agenda. Men and women of reason and goodwill should be very glad that he has done so.
"Benedict the Brave" Wall Street Journal Sept. 19, 2006:
This is not an invitation to the usual feel-good interfaith round-tables. It is a request for dialogue with one condition--that everyone at the table reject the irrationality of religiously motivated violence. The pope isn't condemning Islam; he is inviting it to join rather than reject the modern world.
By their reaction to the pope's speech, some Muslim leaders showed again that Islam has a problem with modernity that is going to have to be solved by a debate within Islam. The day Muslims condemn Islamic terror with the same vehemence they condemn those who criticize Islam, an attempt at dialogue--and at improving relations between the Western and Islamic worlds--can begin.
See also Pope Provocateur, by Brett Stephens (Wall Street Journal Sept. 20, 2006), insisting that "That speech deserves to be read in its totality, and not simply as the spark that set fire to churches across the West Bank because some Muslim fanatics object to the suggestion that there is too much violence in their religion."
Der Spegiel publishes a lengthy interview with Cardinal Kasper on the Vatican's relations with Muslims and the furor over the pope's recent remarks, conducted by Peter Wensierski and translated from German by Christopher Sultan. Sept. 19, 2006.
Putting the Pope's Remarks on Islam in Context - [audio] National Public Radio Sept. 19, 206. The fallout continues from Pope Benedict XVI's recent speech addressing Islam, and the Pope's subsequent apology. The Pope's approach to Islam is rooted both in the history of the church, and in the world's modern realities. Lynn Neary talks to author James Reston and reporter John Allen about the Pope's remarks.
"A Challenge, Not a Crusade", by John Allen Jr. New York Times Sept. 19, 2006:
The new pope is tougher both on terrorism and on what the Vatican calls "reciprocity" - the demand that Islamic states grant the same rights and freedoms to Christians and other religious minorities that Muslims receive in the West. When Benedict said in his apology on Sunday that he wants a "frank and sincere dialogue," the word "frank" was not an accident. He wants dialogue with teeth.
Michael Novak invites us to "Tune out the static and hear Pope's challenge to us all": "People are missing the point, Pop," Novak imagines himself saying to his father. "The Pope just pulled off a triple play and they are still arguing about a single pitch early in the inning." In keeping with Novak's analogy, those interested in the remainder of the game can turn to our central post on the Regensburg address.

Catholic Londoner relays a stirring tribute to Sister Leonella Sgorbati, of the Institute of Consolata Missionaries from the African Catholic Information Service:

She was born in 1940.
She entered the religious order in 1963.
She worked training nurses at a children's hospital in Mogadishu.
Men gunned her down outside the hospital this Sunday.
Her last words before dying: "I forgive, I forgive."

For more roundups on "Regensburg Rage," see After Friday's "Day of Rage" then what? and Popes, Dopes and General Prattle from The Anchoress.

John Allen Jr. provides substantial commentary on the Fall out from Benedict's comments on Islam; What's next for Christian-Muslim relations? "All Things Catholic" (National Catholic Reporter Sept. 22, 2006) and Why Benedict XVI Did not Want to Fall Silent or Backpedal, by Sandro Magister. (www.Chiesa) Sept. 22, 2006.

On a Lighter Note . . .

Stephen Colbert on the Pope and Muslims (via Me Monk, Me Meander).
Jeff Miller (Curt Jester) recently connected the dots and figured out the real reason for the Muslim outrage against the Pope's Regensburg speech.
Two amusing political cartoons on the subject, via Jimmy Akin.

Labels: Islam, Regensburg Address

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Pope Benedict's Regensburg Address and the Muslim Reaction (Part II)

Entering the week after the Pope's Regensburg address and the media-spawned controversy over his statements on Islam, and the fires of outrage are still going strong. Effigies of the Pope were burnt in Basra, Iraq (Reuters); protests practically shut down the Kashmir Valley, paralyzing "educational institutions, government offices, banks, markets and transport"; Muslims in the Gaza strip told the pope he must "accept Islam", and the Mujahideen Shura Council, an umbrella group led by Iraq's branch of al Qaeda, vowed "jihad":

"We shall break the cross and spill the wine. ... God will (help) Muslims to conquer Rome. ... God enable us to slit their throats, and make their money and descendants the bounty of the mujahideen," said the statement.
It was posted on Sunday on an Internet site often used by al Qaeda and other militant groups.

Also today, the German Chancellor Angela Merkel conveyed her support -- a lone voice in the wilderness of European heads-of-state?

And now, another roundup of commentary on the ongoing controversy:

Islam’s Unreasonable War Against Benedict XVI, by Sandro Magister (www.Chiesa Sept. 18, 2006):
Anyone who is an expert in the art of diplomacy and a proponent of “realism” in international relations would certainly have censured as inopportune and dangerous many passages of the homilies and speeches delivered by Benedict XVI in Germany.
But this is not a pope who submits himself to such censorship or self-censorship, which he sees as being inopportune and dangerous indeed when it concerns the pillars of his preaching. His goal on his trip to Germany was to illuminate before modern man – whether Christian, agnostic, or of another faith; from Europe, Africa, or Asia – that simple and supreme truth that is the other side of the truth to which he dedicated the encyclical “Deus Caritas Est.” God is love, but he is also reason, he is the “Logos.” And so when reason separates itself from God, it closes in upon itself. And likewise, faith in an “irrational” God, an absolute, unbridled will, can become the seed of violence. Every religion, culture, and civilization is exposed to this twofold error – not only Islam, but also Christianity, toward which the pope directed almost the entirety of his preaching.
From Fr. Fessio of Ignatius Press (and one of the Pope's former students), offers his reflections on the Regensberg address, asking Is Dialogue wit Islam Possible? Ignatius Insight Sept. 18, 2006:
Yet there is a crucial underlying principle that needs to be enunciated. Christianity and Islam make incompatible truth claims. Despite the difficulty in determining who can speak authoritatively for Christianity or for Islam, there are elements of belief common to all Christians which are incompatible with elements of belief common to all Muslims. The two most obvious and most fundamental are the Trinity and the Incarnation.
I would expect an intelligent and informed Muslim to consider me a blasphemer (because I introduce multiplicity into the one God) and an idolator (because I worship as God a man named Jesus). Should I be offended if he says so publicly? Should I not rather be offended if he conceals his position for the alleged purpose of fostering dialogue?
On the blog of Domenico Bettinelli, Jr., the question is raised: Who Will Stand with the Pope?:
It’s been 5 days and still no official statement from the USCCBureaucracy. Has anyone’s individual bishop spoken out?
Some of his readers respond with mentions of recognition and prayer at Mass in their parishes. Another mentioned these words from Cardinal Pell of Sydney, Australia.
Bill Cork (Built on a Rock) posts a link to Audio of yesterday's homily by the Rev. Stephen B. Reynolds on "the latest Papal-Muslim bru-ha-ha.". Reynolds is pastor of St. Theresa's Church in Sugar Land, TX. A clear exposition of the Holy Father's Regensburg address. Well worth listening to (and more priests like this, please!)
Also mentioned, this statement from Fr. Julián Carrón, President of the Fraternity of Communion and Liberation (The CL Press Office Milan, September 15, 2006):
“Concerning the accusations against Benedict XVI, three things are evident: 1) The Pope certainly did not want to offend Islamic believers, but to call everyone to a correct use of reason; 2) the Pope has a clear awareness of some extreme aspects of the vicissitudes of Islam, which are truths of history before the eyes of all; and 3) there is an intolerance of peaceful criticism that is intolerable, both in terms of the preconceived positions of certain Islamic exponents, and in terms of the indifference and superficiality of many Western commentators.
“We stand by the Pope. In affirming that “not acting according to reason is against the nature of God,” Benedict XVI said a true thing that holds for anyone, beginning with we Christians.
“This position of the Pope saves the possibility for an authentic religious experience for every man, and permits an encounter in peace. It is not a question of a clash of civilizations, but the elementary experience of the “poor of spirit” of every religion: those who live a reasonable relationship with God, beginning from the needs for truth, beauty, justice, and happiness that are in the heart of every man, and precisely for this cannot follow the violent degenerations of those who, in the name of an ideology, reject reason for a power, be they in the West or anywhere else.”
Father Peregrinator (Canterbury Tales) draws our attention to The Man of the Hour: Manuel II Paleologos.
From Amy Welborn, another survey of mixed reactions from the Arab press.
From Muslim author believes "Pope should not have apologized CBSNews.com Sept. 18, 2006. (Via Rod Dreher @ CrunchyCon):
As a faithful Muslim, I do not believe the pope should have apologized. I've read what’s been described as his inflammatory speech. Actually, he called for dialogue with the Muslim world. To ignore that larger context and to focus on a mere few words of the speech is like reducing the Koran, Islam's holy book, to its most bloodthirsty passages. We Muslims hate it when people do that. The hypocrisy of doing this to the pope stinks to high heaven.
Irshad Manji is a Muslim, a feminist, and a best-selling author of The Trouble with Islam Today: A Muslim’s Call for Reform in Her Faith (St. Martins, 2005). She is based at Yale University as a Visiting Fellow with the International Security Studies program.
Amy Welborn is rounding up reactions from clear-headed, fair-minded Muslims who are challenging those who have embarassed their faith and tradition.
First Things' Fr. Richard J. Neuhaus weighs in (he, too, was reminded if Benedict's Cologne 2005 address to the Muslim community. On Benedict's choice of Manuel II Paleologos as an illustration:
I have had the opportunity of many extended conversations with Ratzinger-Benedict over the years, and he is a man of great gentleness and deliberation and extremely careful to say what he means. What he said at Regensburg he has said many times before. Contrary to many reports, he has not apologized or retracted his argument. He has indicated sincere regret that many Muslims have reacted to his statement as they have. The response of those who are properly called jihadists is, “If you don’t stop saying we’re violent, we’re going to bomb more churches, kill more nuns and priests, and get the pope too.” In short, the reaction has powerfully confirmed the problem to which Benedict called our attention.
Some think that Benedict was not as judicious as he might have been in quoting a medieval emperor of the East who, faced by Islamic conquest that succeeded in turning Christian Constantinople into Islamic Istanbul, declared that Islam has produced only inhumanity and evil. That is arguable. Benedict did say at Regensburg that the emperor’s words were excessively “brusque.” But the citation was also a way of reminding everybody that this conflict with Islam bent upon conversion by the sword is very long-standing.

And his conclusion:
Benedict’s responsibility is to set forth clearly and uncompromisingly the Christian understanding. At Regensburg he said: “God acts with logos. Logos means both reason and word— reason which is creative and capable of self-communication, precisely as reason. John [the Evangelist] thus spoke the final word on the biblical concept of God . . . In the beginning was the logos, and the logos is God.”
As history is turning out, this theological truth is at the very core of what is likely the greatest political and cultural struggle of this century, and maybe beyond.

But was it a "Papal Blunder"?" -- That is the question, as presented by the media, and up for discussion by readers at Amy Welborn's Open Book.
Among those affirming the judgement that yes, a blunder was made:
- Mark Shea:
  The bishop, and supremely the Universal Pastor, has responsibility for the care of *all* the souls in his jurisdiction--including the Muslim ones. Benedict said nothing untrue--which is why he has not apologized for what he said, nor should he. But he is trying very hard to counter the bad effects of what he need not have said, but did. If he did not think those ill effects of his words were, in some sense, his responsibility, he would not be saying anything. The last thing Benedict wants is to destroy the Church's ability to speak to both East and West. He may already be too late, but only time will tell.
- Jimmy Akin:
  in the process of taking a detour to say something meant to help break the link between religion and violence, he happened to quote a particularly inflammatory line from 600 years ago that could and has stirred up the potential for religious violence. And the line isn't even necessary to his speech!
- Robert Miller of First Things:
  Given the exquisite sensitivity that European politicians generally show for Muslim sensibilities, when a pope, speaking in public and before television cameras, quotes a text embodying a statement that will predictably result in explosive anger in the Muslim world, does so without needing to quote the specific language to make his point, does not expressly disavow the offending statement when quoting it, and even endorses a larger point that the author of the quotation is making, a decent respect for the intelligence of the man on the Throne of St. Peter demands that we conclude that he quoted the text intentionally, knowing what the consequences would be, and did so for a reason.
  See also Pope Benedict Clarifies - Jimmy Akin unpacks the Pope's words in his Sunday remarks on the Regensburg speech, and concludes: "From the original speech itself and from the way the Vatican has handled this matter, it is clear that the present situation was unexpected and that the Holy Father did not foresee this reaction to his speech."
Meanwhile, Turkish bishops confirm trip of Benedict XVI will go ahead, by Mavi Zambak. Asianews.it September 18, 2006:
Istanbul (AsiaNews) – The bishops of Turkey today followed Ankara’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Abdullah Gul, in confirming that the visit of Benedict XVI will take place as planned, from 28 November to 1 December, according to the set itinerary. . . .
And this morning, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Turkey, as planned, met in Istanbul to discuss details of the trip’s itinerary. They were joined by Mgr Piero Marini, head of the Office of Papal Liturgical Celebrations. They share the view that at this point, there is no reason to call off the visit . . .
But according to John Allen Jr., Some are justifiably anxious about the Pope's visit to Turkey:
A potboiler novel currently on bestseller lists in Turkey titled Papa'ya suikast ("Attack on the Pope") predicts that Benedict will be assassinated.
Written by novelist Yücel Kaya, the book is subtitled, Who will kill Benedict XVI in Istanbul?
In a little more than 300 pages, Kaya manages to weave the Turkish Secret Service, the infamous Masonic lodge P2, and (of course) Opus Dei into his plot line. Inevitably, Mehmet Ali Agca, the Turk who shot Pope John Paul II in 1981, also makes an appearance.
All this might seem comical were it not for the fact that in the last seven months, three Catholic priests have been attacked in Turkey, beginning with the murder of Italian missionary Fr. Andrea Santoro on February 5. Bishop Luigi Padovese, a 58-year-old Capuchin from Milan who serves as the region's apostolic vicar, and who was Santoro's superior, has warned of a "rising tide" of anti-Christian propaganda in Turkey.
Pray for our Holy Father.

Labels: Islam, Regensburg Address

Sunday, September 17, 2006

So what DOES Pope Benedict XVI think about Islam?

Benodette, from the RatzingerForum, reminded all of us today of a much-overlooked address by Benedict to representatives of some Muslim communities, whom he met while visiting Cologne for World Youth Day on Saturday, August 20, 2005. A portion of the address is printed below. You can find the full text on the Vatican website.

In light of everything that has happened in the past several days, the words of our Holy Father appear all the more striking and relevant for us today.

Dear Muslim Friends,
It gives me great joy to be able to be with you and to offer you my heartfelt greetings. . . .
I am certain that I echo your own thoughts when I bring up one of our concerns as we notice the spread of terrorism. I know that many of you have firmly rejected, also publicly, in particular any connection between your faith and terrorism and have condemned it. I am grateful to you for this, for it contributes to the climate of trust that we need. [...]
If together we can succeed in eliminating from hearts any trace of rancour, in resisting every form of intolerance and in opposing every manifestation of violence, we will turn back the wave of cruel fanaticism that endangers the lives of so many people and hinders progress towards world peace.
The task is difficult but not impossible. The believer - and all of us, as Christians and Muslims, are believers - knows that, despite his weakness, he can count on the spiritual power of prayer.
Dear friends, I am profoundly convinced that we must not yield to the negative pressures in our midst, but must affirm the values of mutual respect, solidarity and peace. The life of every human being is sacred, both for Christians and for Muslims. There is plenty of scope for us to act together in the service of fundamental moral values. [...]
Only through recognition of the centrality of the person can a common basis for understanding be found, one which enables us to move beyond cultural conflicts and which neutralizes the disruptive power of ideologies. [...]
Past experience teaches us that, unfortunately, relations between Christians and Muslims have not always been marked by mutual respect and understanding. How many pages of history record battles and wars that have been waged, with both sides invoking the Name of God, as if fighting and killing, the enemy could be pleasing to him. The recollection of these sad events should fill us with shame, for we know only too well what atrocities have been committed in the name of religion.
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. The defence of religious freedom, in this sense, is a permanent imperative, and respect for minorities is a clear sign of true civilization. In this regard, it is always right to recall what the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council said about relations with Muslims.
The Church looks upon Muslims with respect. They worship the one God living and subsistent, merciful and almighty, creator of heaven and earth, who has spoken to humanity and to whose decrees, even the hidden ones, they seek to submit themselves whole-heartedly, just as Abraham, to whom the Islamic faith readily relates itself, submitted to God.... Although considerable dissensions and enmities between Christians and Muslims may have arisen in the course of the centuries, the Council urges all parties that, forgetting past things, they train themselves towards sincere mutual understanding and together maintain and promote social justice and moral values as well as peace and freedom for all people" (Declaration Nostra Aetate, n. 3).

For us, these words of the Second Vatican Council remain the Magna Carta of the dialogue with you, dear Muslim friends, and I am glad that you have spoken to us in the same spirit and have confirmed these intentions.
You, my esteemed friends, represent some Muslim communities from this Country where I was born, where I studied and where I lived for a good part of my life. That is why I wanted to meet you. You guide Muslim believers and train them in the Islamic faith. [...]
Christians and Muslims, we must face together the many challenges of our time. There is no room for apathy and disengagement, and even less for partiality and sectarianism. We must not yield to fear or pessimism. Rather, we must cultivate optimism and hope.
Interreligious and intercultural dialogue between Christians and Muslims cannot be reduced to an optional extra. It is in fact a vital necessity, on which in large measure our future depends. [...]
I pray with all my heart, dear and esteemed Muslim friends, that the merciful and compassionate God may protect you, bless you and enlighten you always.
May the God of peace lift up our hearts, nourish our hope and guide our steps on the paths of the world.

Labels: Islam

Saturday, September 16, 2006

Pope Benedict XVI on "Faith, Reason and the University" - Regensburg, 2006

In 1969, following a tense period at the University of Tübingen (see The difficult years, by Gianni Valente 30 Giorni May 2006), Joseph Ratzinger received the invitation to teach at the University of Regensburg in Bavaria.

Having turned down the initial invitation in 1967, he remarks in Milestones that "I was still dean [of the faculty of theology at Tübingen], but the exhausting controveries I experienced during academic meetings had changed my attitude". So it was with understandable relief that he accepted the invitation. Ratzinger would later reflect on his years as "a time of fruitful theological work" and of "acquiring a theological vision that was ever more clearly my own" (Milestones p. 149/150).

The website of the University of Regensburg proudly features a section devoted to Pope Benedict's years at Regensburg, where he was appointed in 1969 as a professor of dogmatic theology. For B16 history buffs, the website posts a number of wonderful artifacts, including a newspaper announcement and certificate of his appointment, along with his later appointment to the International Papal Theological Commission.

On September 12, 2006, Pope Benedict XVI was again welcomed to the university, to give an address to students and faculty. His lecture was titled "Faith, Reason and the University: Memories and Reflections", the text of which is available at the Vatican website.^* While I'll highlight a few points, I recommend a reading of the full text -- it is "vintage Benedict": at once stimulating and provocative.

The Pope spoke about his days teaching at the University of Bonn, of the dialogue between departments, "working in everything on the basis of a single rationality with its various aspects and sharing responsibility for the right use of reason." By way of illustration he mentions an exchange "by the erudite Byzantine emperor Manuel II Paleologus and an educated Persian on the subject of Christianity and Islam, and the truth of both, and proceeds to mention one point, "itself rather marginal to the dialogue as a whole," as a starting point for his reflections on the relationship between faith and reason:

In the seventh conversation edited by Professor Khoury, the emperor touches on the theme of the holy war. The emperor must have known that surah 2, 256 reads: "There is no compulsion in religion". According to the experts, this is one of the suras of the early period, when Mohammed was still powerless and under threat. But naturally the emperor also knew the instructions, developed later and recorded in the Qur'an, concerning holy war. Without descending to details, such as the difference in treatment accorded to those who have the "Book" and the "infidels", he addresses his interlocutor with a startling brusqueness on the central question about the relationship between religion and violence in general, saying: "Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached". The emperor, after having expressed himself so forcefully, goes on to explain in detail the reasons why spreading the faith through violence is something unreasonable. Violence is incompatible with the nature of God and the nature of the soul. "God", he says, "is not pleased by blood - and not acting reasonably is contrary to God's nature. Faith is born of the soul, not the body. Whoever would lead someone to faith needs the ability to speak well and to reason properly, without violence and threats... To convince a reasonable soul, one does not need a strong arm, or weapons of any kind, or any other means of threatening a person with death...".
The decisive statement in this argument against violent conversion is this: not to act in accordance with reason is contrary to God's nature. The editor, Theodore Khoury, observes: For the emperor, as a Byzantine shaped by Greek philosophy, this statement is self-evident. But for Muslim teaching, God is absolutely transcendent. His will is not bound up with any of our categories, even that of rationality. Here Khoury quotes a work of the noted French Islamist R. Arnaldez, who points out that Ibn Hazn went so far as to state that God is not bound even by his own word, and that nothing would oblige him to reveal the truth to us. Were it God's will, we would even have to practise idolatry.
At this point, as far as understanding of God and thus the concrete practice of religion is concerned, we are faced with an unavoidable dilemma. Is the conviction that acting unreasonably contradicts God's nature merely a Greek idea, or is it always and intrinsically true?

In answer to this question, Benedict contends that there exists "the profound harmony between what is Greek in the best sense of the word and the biblical understanding of faith in God," pointing to the Christian understanding that "God acts with logos. Logos means both reason and word - a reason which is creative and capable of self-communication, precisely as reason."

Benedict goes on to discuss the significance of the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament -- the Septuagint -- which fosters this encounter between biblical faith and Greek philosophical inquiry ("From the very heart of Christian faith and, at the same time, the heart of Greek thought now joined to faith, Manuel II was able to say: Not to act 'with logos' is contrary to God's nature.")

According to Benedict, this integration of faith and reason is at the heart of the Christian conception of God. He notes that there arose in the history of Christianity itself schools of thought which have endangered this very conception, and which, when taken to their logical conclusion, are found to be profoundly incompatible. I personally found the following passage one of the more provocative and stimulating:

In all honesty, one must observe that in the late Middle Ages we find trends in theology which would sunder this synthesis between the Greek spirit and the Christian spirit. In contrast with the so-called intellectualism of Augustine and Thomas, there arose with Duns Scotus a voluntarism which ultimately led to the claim that we can only know God's voluntas ordinata. Beyond this is the realm of God's freedom, in virtue of which he could have done the opposite of everything he has actually done. This gives rise to positions which clearly approach those of Ibn Hazn and might even lead to the image of a capricious God, who is not even bound to truth and goodness. God's transcendence and otherness are so exalted that our reason, our sense of the true and good, are no longer an authentic mirror of God, whose deepest possibilities remain eternally unattainable and hidden behind his actual decisions. As opposed to this, the faith of the Church has always insisted that between God and us, between his eternal Creator Spirit and our created reason there exists a real analogy, in which unlikeness remains infinitely greater than likeness, yet not to the point of abolishing analogy and its language (cf. Lateran IV). God does not become more divine when we push him away from us in a sheer, impenetrable voluntarism; rather, the truly divine God is the God who has revealed himself as logos and, as logos, has acted and continues to act lovingly on our behalf. Certainly, love transcends knowledge and is thereby capable of perceiving more than thought alone (cf. Eph 3:19); nonetheless it continues to be love of the God who is logos. Consequently, Christian worship is λογικὴ λατρεία - worship in harmony with the eternal Word and with our reason (cf. Rom 12:1).

According to Benedict, this "inner rapprochement between Biblical faith and Greek philosophical inquiry" is not only at the very heart of Christianity, but in the historical origins of Europe as well: "this convergence, with the subsequent addition of the Roman heritage, created Europe and remains the foundation of what can rightly be called Europe."

In the latter half of his lecture, Benedict voices his concerns with the call for the "dehellenization" of Christianity -- of severing Christianity from its Greek heritage. He observes three stages of this program of dehellenization:

the fundamental postulates of the Reformation in the sixteenth century, countering what they perfecived to be a philosophically-conditioned and corrupted Christianity with a wholesale reliance upon sola scriptura -- "faith in its pure, primordial form, as originally found in the biblical Word";
the "liberal theology of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries", with Adolf von Harnack as its outstanding representative. -- Harnack positing a "return simply to the man Jesus and to his simple message underneath the accretions of theology," thereby bringing Christianity back into harmony with modern reason through the purging of its theological elements (the divinity of Christ and the Trinity). This is in accord with what Benedict describes as the "modern self-limitation of reason," which confines itself to that which is scientifically (mathematically and emperically) verifiable -- thereby dismissing as irrelevant (subjective) "the specifically human questions about our origin and destiny, the questions raised by religion and ethics."
the proposition of "inculturation" -- that, in light of experience with cultural pluralism, "the synthesis with Hellenism achieved in the early Church was a preliminary inculturation which ought not to be binding on other cultures . . . [who] have the right to return to the simple message of the New Testament prior to that inculturation, in order to inculturate it anew in their own particular milieux." To this Benedict responds:
The New Testament was written in Greek and bears the imprint of the Greek spirit, which had already come to maturity as the Old Testament developed. True, there are elements in the evolution of the early Church which do not have to be integrated into all cultures. Nonetheless, the fundamental decisions made about the relationship between faith and the use of human reason are part of the faith itself; they are developments consonant with the nature of faith itself.

Against this program of dehellenization, Benedict does not propose a rollback of the Enlightenment. He acknowledges "the positive aspects of modernity", pointing out that the scientific ethos is itself "the will to be obedient to the truth, and, as such, embodies an attitude which reflects one of the basic tenets of Christianity").

Rather, what is called for is a "broadening of our concept of reason and its applications," overcoming "the self-imposed limitation of reason" to that which is emperically verifiable, and a true restoration of theology to its place in the university, in genuine dialogue with the sciences -- "not merely as a historical discipline and one of the human sciences, but precisely as theology, as inquiry into the rationality of faith." Only then, says Benedict, "do we become capable of that genuine dialogue of cultures and religions so urgently needed today."

In the Western world it is widely held that only positivistic reason and the forms of philosophy based on it are universally valid. Yet the world’s profoundly religious cultures see this exclusion of the divine from the universality of reason as an attack on their most profound convictions. A reason which is deaf to the divine and which relegates religion into the realm of subcultures is incapable of entering into the dialogue of cultures. . . .
The West has long been endangered by this aversion to the questions which underlie its rationality, and can only suffer great harm thereby. The courage to engage the whole breadth of reason, and not the denial of its grandeur – this is the programme with which a theology grounded in Biblical faith enters into the debates of our time. “Not to act reasonably (with logos) is contrary to the nature of God”, said Manuel II, according to his Christian understanding of God, in response to his Persian interlocutor. It is to this great logos, to this breadth of reason, that we invite our partners in the dialogue of cultures. To rediscover it constantly is the great task of the university.

The subject of this lecture is certainly a familiar one to Benedict. Shortly after his election, Zenit News featured an interview with Timothy O'Donnell, president of Christendom College, who spoke on Benedict XVI's Commitment to Faith and Reason in Universities. O'Donnell predicted that the Holy Father's experience as a university professor would have an influence over his pontificate, and that he would carry on Pope John Paul II's legacy "by stressing the synthesis of faith and reason in the Catholic intellectual tradition."

. . . I think that our current Holy Father will continue the good work initiated by Pope John Paul II in his apostolic constitutions "Sapienta Christiana" and "Ex Corde Ecclesiae."
I think he will find it particularly important to continue to speak to the vital role that must be played by Catholic institutions of higher learning in an effort to once again re-engage the culture and communicate effectively to the world the great synthesis of the Catholic intellectual tradition, which unites both faith and reason and recognizes in both of them a common source in Almighty God.

Responses to the 2006 Regensburg Address

Mark Scott (Rome of the West) ignores the tangential sound-byte approach of the media and gets to the heart of the address in his post, Holy Father's Speech on De-Hellenization of Religion:
This is the critical question: "Is acting according to reason also acting according to the Will of God?"
Prof. Stephen Bainbridge comes to the point:
Pope Benedict XVI's speech at the University of Regensburg is a challenging read - it's dense and, in a way, highly technical. Yet, it rewards close scrutiny. . . .
[T]he Pope is staking out a set of claims about the relationship of man and God that stand in opposition not only to the Islam of Ibn Hazn, but also that of the Protestant Reformers, the Jesus of History crowd, and (an area of particular concern for this pope) post-Christian Europe. The Pope is also renewing the claims of the Church Universal to have a truth that is transcendent, rather than culturally-bound.
Oswald Sobrino (Catholic Analysis) has also been taking a look at the speech in its entirety -- part 1 examines the Pope's opening remarks on the use of coercion to spread religion; part two tackles Benedict's critique of the loss of reason in the West:
. . . the major part of the speech is not about Islam at all but about a wider trend: the abandonment of reason in the modern world. Fanatical religious violence is but one manifestation of that trend. To judge by the number of paragraphs in his speech, what concerns the Pope more is the abandonment of the fullness of reason in the West. The Pope begins his discussion in the fifth paragraph by posing the question: "Is the conviction that acting unreasonably contradicts God's nature merely a Greek idea, or is it always intrinsically true?" For the Pope, the idea that acting unreasonably contradicts God's nature is an intrinsically true idea that is a perennial contribution of ancient Greek culture for all the world, whether Western or not.
Thanks in large part to the irresponsibility of the media, the Vatican is preoccupied in a public relations venture to safeguard the lives of Christians. But this -- the loss of reason in the West; the integration of biblical faith and philosophical reason at the heart of Christianity, at (according to B16) the very foundation of Europe itself, the question of "dehellenization" -- is what we should be talking about, and I hope what many will be returning to this topic, once the fires of controversy have subsided. (Update 9/18/06) - Here is Part III on Oswald Sobrino's reflection on the Pope's address.
The Regensburg Lecture: Thinking Rightly About God and Man, by Fr. James V. Schall. Ignatius Insight September 15, 2006:
. . . with this lecture we are in heady academic surroundings. All is genteel. All is formal. All is, yes, "intellectual." But it is here where the real battles lie hidden. What we see in Regensburg are, after Deus Caritas Est, the second shots of the new pope at the heart of what is wrong in our world and its mind. These "shots," however, are designed to do what all good intellectual battle does, namely, to make it possible for us to see again what is true and to live it.
The Regensburg Address, I suspect, will go down as one of those seminal and incisive analyses that tell us who we are and where we are. It will remind us of what we are by teaching us again to think about the God that the skeptics, the dons, the theological faculties, including Muslim faculties, have too often obscured for us. Civilization depends also on thinking rightly about God and man -- all civilization, not just European or Muslim. Such is the reach of this lecture.

Update! 9-23-06

"Polemical Target: The Self-limitation of Western Reason" Zenit News Service Sept. 20, 2006: Cardinal Raffaele Martino, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, has written an in-depth article on Benedict XVI's recent speeches in Bavaria. The cardinal's article appears in the Sept. 25 edition of L'Osservatore Romano. Here, ZENIT is reprinting a translation of that article, done by the Cardinal Van Thuân International Observatory for the Social Doctrine of the Church.
Benedict, Islam, Faith and Reason by Ryan T. Anderson (First Things' "On the Square", Sept. 20, 2006).
Pope's lecture also shakes Catholic theologians, by Bernward Loheide. Deutsche Presse-Agentur Sept. 18, 2006. (Via Argent by the Tiber).
Ratzinger and Regensburg: On What Is a University?, by Fr. James V. Schall. Ignatius Insight Sept. 18, 2006.

* In reading Benedict's speech I was relying on, and quoting from, the Provisional Text of the Regensberg address, on the website of Vatican Radio. In comparing it to that which is posted on the Vatican website, I see there are some minor variations in translation but I trust the meaning is essentially the same.

Labels: Islam, Regensburg Address