HOW MUSLIMS CAN RESPOND TO THE POPE'S FAKE ''APOLOGY''
Islamic Community Net | 16.09.2006 20:01 | Culture | World
An artistic response from Muslims is suggested to the Pope's expressed bigotry against Islam by using the Catholic Church's own doctrines and practices as the canvas.
HOW MUSLIMS CAN RESPOND TO THE POPE'S FAKE ''APOLOGY''
Islamic Community Net
September 16, 2006
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/islamiccommunitynet/message/10792
Assalamu aleikum.
The Pope has - through someone else - mentioned that he "regrets" that "certain parts" of his rant "could" have "sounded offensive" to the "sensitivities" of the Muslim faithful.
That's a lot like "regretting" that "certain parts" of kicking in somebody's face "could" have "sounded offensive" to that person's "sensitivities".
The Pope simply thinks he has Muslims on a rope. The reason for his smugness is that he knows that while he insults Rasulullah (S.A.W.), we Muslims cannot return the insult by defaming Jesus (A.S.) in return; for Jesus (A.S.) is a Holy Prophet and Messenger of Allah (S.W.T.) and his person is inviolable to Muslims. Indeed, christians have often expressed frustration that it is Muslims who show up to protest films that insult Jesus (A.S.) while the christians stay home.
But the Pope is wrong in thinking that effective retaliation is not possible.
There IS an effective way to respond, one that not only does not insult Jesus (A.S.), but vindicates him as a human prophet of Allah (S.W.T.) while directly contravening the "Son of God" baloney and making a laughingstock of the Pope and his cannibal cult in the bargain.
Here's how.
Islamic Community Net has often noted before that Christianity is a cannibal cult - and that the Roman Catholic church headed by the Pope is the epicenter of that cannibal cult that also includes Orthodox Christians and Anglicans as well as some Protestants.
The Pope and his christian sect believe that during the daily or weekly christian ceremony called the "Mass" that wafers of flat, white unleavened bread circles are magically converted into the "actual living flesh" of Jesus (A.S.) (yeeeechhh!). (Yes, read that again, there is no typing error). The magically transformed wafer of unleavened bread is called the "Eucharist".
For a photograph of "Eucharists", see:
http://www.catholicpeople.com/catholic/Eucharist.jpg
In addition, wine is magically converted into the "actual living blood" of Jesus (A.S.) (double yeeeechhh!). Please bear closely in mind that the Catholics don't think that this is mere symbolism at all - they truly believe that they are drinking the actual living blood of Jesus (A.S.) and eating his actual living flesh!
From the Roman Catholic Cathechism (the first article below):
"Under the consecrated species of bread and wine Christ himself, living and glorious, is present in a true, real, and substantial manner: his Body and his Blood, with his soul and his divinity"
That's rather pathetic, violent, ignorant unnatural and SICK doctrine, and as has often been explained by Islamic Community Net, this unnatural and irreligious doctrine is the source of much christian violence against the rest of the world, especially Muslims.
Anyone who is first made to voluntarily descend into the humanly debased pit of cannibalism can be made to voluntarily engage in any other depravity - including the Crusades (both Middle Ages and today).
But that unnatural christian horror (called the "Eucharist") also provides a convenient nonviolent means of effective retaliation against the Pope's insults against Rasulullah (S.A.W.), and it soes so without insulting Jesus (A.S.). Far from it - this retaliation makes clear that Muslims regard with utter disgust the christian vampire cannibal cult that insults Jesus (A.S.) by presuming to eat his flesh and drink his blood.
The bread that magically becomes the "living actual flesh" of Jesus (A.S.) is distributed free to anybody who shows up to get one at any "Mass", on Sunday or otherwise. This happens about 20 minutes or more into the "Mass". People line up and go to the front where they kneel before the priest and chow down on the "actual living flesh" of the false "God" with which they have replaced Jesus (A.S.).
But anyone could go there, accept in the mouth, and push it to the side of the mouth and remove it from the church. Once accomplished, all kinds of interesting things could happen to the "Eucharist". Stomping on the "Eucharist", nailing the "Eucharist" to a cross, sticking the "Eucharist" with needles voodoo style: the list of possibilities goes on and on. Before anyone does this, call the church to make sure that they are not one of the churches that first dips the bread wafer into the wine (the vast majority of churches don't do this and when they do it is given as a soft cube, not as a wafer).
Perhaps you will choose to retaliate this way. Or perhaps you'll pass on this message to someone else who might do so. But if you do, here's the most important part:
Don't forget - make ABSOLUTELY SURE that you don't forget, because this is the main point of this particular exercise - that when you're done, you ask someone else to describe exactly what you have done and express on your behalf to the Roman Catholic Church your "regret" that "certain parts" of your activities "could" have "sounded offensive" to the "sensitivities" of the christian faithful.
Please note that 2 articles follow:
*Catechism of the Catholic Church (Sacrament of the Euchrarist) (In Brief)
*Pope sorry his Islam speech found offensive
---
(1)
Excerpted from:
Catechism of the Catholic Church
"In Brief"
PART TWO
THE CELEBRATION OF THE CHRISTIAN MYSTERY
SECTION TWO
THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS OF THE CHURCH
CHAPTER ONE
THE SACRAMENTS OF CHRISTIAN INITIATION
ARTICLE 3
THE SACRAMENT OF THE EUCHARIST
The presence of Christ by the power of his word and the Holy Spirit
The Vatican
http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p2s2c1a3.htm
IN BRIEF
1406 Jesus said: "I am the living bread that came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; . . . he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and . . . abides in me, and I in him" (Jn 6:51, 54, 56).
1407 The Eucharist is the heart and the summit of the Church's life, for in it Christ associates his Church and all her members with his sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving offered once for all on the cross to his Father; by this sacrifice he pours out the graces of salvation on his Body which is the Church.
1408 The Eucharistic celebration always includes: the proclamation of the Word of God; thanksgiving to God the Father for all his benefits, above all the gift of his Son; the consecration of bread and wine; and participation in the liturgical banquet by receiving the Lord's body and blood. These elements constitute one single act of worship.
1409 The Eucharist is the memorial of Christ's Passover, that is, of the work of salvation accomplished by the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, a work made present by the liturgical action.
1410 It is Christ himself, the eternal high priest of the New Covenant who, acting through the ministry of the priests, offers the Eucharistic sacrifice. And it is the same Christ, really present under the species of bread and wine, who is the offering of the Eucharistic sacrifice.
1411 Only validly ordained priests can preside at the Eucharist and consecrate the bread and the wine so that they become the Body and Blood of the Lord.
1412 The essential signs of the Eucharistic sacrament are wheat bread and grape wine, on which the blessing of the Holy Spirit is invoked and the priest pronounces the words of consecration spoken by Jesus during the Last Supper: "This is my body which will be given up for you. . . . This is the cup of my blood. . . ."
1413 By the consecration the transubstantiation of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ is brought about. Under the consecrated species of bread and wine Christ himself, living and glorious, is present in a true, real, and substantial manner: his Body and his Blood, with his soul and his divinity (cf. Council of Trent: DS 1640; 1651).
1414 As sacrifice, the Eucharist is also offered in reparation for the sins of the living and the dead and to obtain spiritual or temporal benefits from God.
1415 Anyone who desires to receive Christ in Eucharistic communion must be in the state of grace. Anyone aware of having sinned mortally must not receive communion without having received absolution in the sacrament of penance.
1416 Communion with the Body and Blood of Christ increases the communicant's union with the Lord, forgives his venial sins, and preserves him from grave sins. Since receiving this sacrament strengthens the bonds of charity between the communicant and Christ, it also reinforces the unity of the Church as the Mystical Body of Christ.
1417 The Church warmly recommends that the faithful receive Holy Communion when they participate in the celebration of the Eucharist; she obliges them to do so at least once a year.
1418 Because Christ himself is present in the sacrament of the altar, he is to be honored with the worship of adoration. "To visit the Blessed Sacrament is . . . a proof of gratitude, an expression of love, and a duty of adoration toward Christ our Lord" (Paul VI, MF 66).
1419 Having passed from this world to the Father, Christ gives us in the Eucharist the pledge of glory with him. Participation in the Holy Sacrifice identifies us with his Heart, sustains our strength along the pilgrimage of this life, makes us long for eternal life, and unites us even now to the Church in heaven, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and all the saints.
http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p2s2c1a3.htm
---
(2)
Pope sorry his Islam speech found offensive
By Stephen Brown
Reuters
Sat Sep 16, 2006
http://today.reuters.com/misc/PrinterFriendlyPopup.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-09-16T162002Z_01_L16121346_RTRUKOC_0_US-POPE-ISLAM.xml
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Vatican said on Saturday the Pope was sorry Muslims had been offended by a speech whose meaning had been misconstrued, but Morocco withdrew its ambassador as anger at his words flared on.
"The Holy Father thus sincerely regrets that certain passages of his address could have sounded offensive to the sensitivities of the Muslim faithful," Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone said in a statement.
Pope Benedict's first big crisis since his election 17 months ago was sparked by a speech in his native Germany on Tuesday that seemed to endorse a Christian view, contested by most Muslims, that early Islam was spread by violence.
The backlash has cast doubt on a planned visit to Turkey by the Pope in November. In an early reaction to the Vatican statement, Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood said it was not enough.
"We feel he has committed a grave error against us and that this mistake will only be removed through a personal apology," the Brotherhood's deputy leader, Mohammed Habib, told Reuters.
Morocco's King Mohammed recalled his ambassador to the Vatican in protest.
"Ali Achour is recalled for consultations as from Sunday following offensive remarks by Pope Benedict about Islam and Muslims," the official MAP news agency quoted a foreign ministry statement as saying.
The Pope's next scheduled public appearance is his Sunday Angelus blessing, when he often comments on current affairs.
Bertone, walking into the crisis only a day after taking over as "deputy pope", said the 79-year-old Pope confirmed "his respect and esteem for those who profess the Islamic faith" and hoped his words would be understood "in their true sense".
The academic speech was meant as a "a clear and radical rejection of religiously motivated violence, wherever it comes from", said the statement, which came as criticism of the leader of the world's 1.1 billion Roman Catholics swelled.
TURKISH DISPLEASURE
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan of Muslim Turkey said on Saturday before the Vatican statement that the Pope's comments were "ugly and unfortunate" and should be withdrawn.
"The Pope spoke like a politician rather than as a man of religion," he said in televised remarks. Asked if the Pope should cancel or postpone a planned trip to Turkey in November, he said: "I do not know."
Yemen's president publicly denounced the pontiff and five churches -- only one of them Catholic -- were attacked in the West Bank, although no one was hurt.
Egypt's foreign ministry summoned the Vatican envoy to Cairo to express "extreme regret" at Benedict's speech.
But Chancellor Angela Merkel and other German politicians defended his comments, saying he had been misunderstood.
"It was an invitation to dialogue between religions," she told the mass-circulation Bild newspaper in an interview.
CALLS FOR APOLOGY
The New York Times said in an editorial the Pope must issue a "deep and persuasive" apology for quotes used in his speech.
"The world listens carefully to the words of any pope. And it is tragic and dangerous when one sows pain, either deliberately or carelessly," it said.
In the speech, the Pope referred to criticism of the Prophet Mohammad by 14th century Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaeologus, who said everything Mohammad brought was evil "such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached".
Using the terms "jihad" and "holy war", the Pope said violence was "incompatible with the nature of God".
But Bertone said the Pontiff "had absolutely no intention" of presenting Emperor Manuel's opinions on Islam as his own.
Vatican insiders and diplomats say the Pope may have mixed up his new role with his former posts as a theologian and head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, when as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger he was known as a disciplinarian.
Angry Muslim leaders flung what they saw as allegations of violence back at the Christian West.
"How can (the Pope) imply that Muslims are the creators of terrorism in the world while it is the followers of Christianity who have aggressed against every country of the Islamic world?" prominent Saudi cleric Salman al-Odeh said. "Who attacked Afghanistan and who invaded Iraq?"
In Libya, the General Instance of Religious Affairs said the "insult ... pushes us back to the era of crusades against Muslims led by Western political and religious leaders".
Turkish paper Vatan quoted a member of the ruling Justice and Development Party saying Benedict "will go down in history in the same category as leaders like Hitler and Mussolini".
Catholic bishops in Turkey feared the angry local reaction, led by the Grand Mufti, could show public opinion was shifting against the Pope's planned visit. But Turkish officials said they hoped the row would blow over and the visit would go ahead.
In Iraq the government asked Muslims not to take their anger out on the small Christian minority, after the door of a church in Basra was attacked. The foreign ministry summoned the Vatican's top diplomat there to explain the Pope's remarks.
http://today.reuters.com/misc/PrinterFriendlyPopup.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-09-16T162002Z_01_L16121346_RTRUKOC_0_US-POPE-ISLAM.xml
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/islamiccommunitynet/message/10792
Assalamu aleikum.
The Pope has - through someone else - mentioned that he "regrets" that "certain parts" of his rant "could" have "sounded offensive" to the "sensitivities" of the Muslim faithful.
Tha's a lot like "regretting" that "certain parts" of kicking in somebody's face "could" have "sounded offensive" to that person's "sensitivities".
The Pope simply thinks he has Muslims on a rope. The reason for his smugness is that he knows that while he insults Rasulullah (S.A.W.), we Muslims cannot return the insult by defaming Jesus (A.S.) in return; for Jesus (A.S.) is a Holy Prophet and Messenger of Allah (S.W.T.) and his person is inviolable to Muslims. Indeed, christians have often expressed frustration that it is Muslims who show up to protest films that insult Jesus (A.S.) while the christians stay home.
But the Pope is wrong in thinking that effective retaliation is not possible.
There IS an effective way to respond, one that not only does not insult Jesus (A.S.), but vindicates him as a human prophet of Allah (S.W.T.) while directly contravening the "Son of God" baloney and making a laughingstock of the Pope and his cannibal cult in the bargain.
Here's how.
Islamic Community Net has often noted before that Christianity is a cannibal cult - and that the Roman Catholic church headed by the Pope is the epicenter of that cannibal cult that also includes Orthodox Christians and Anglicans as well as some Protestants.
The Pope and his christian sect believe that during the daily or weekly christian ceremony called the "Mass" that wafers of flat, white unleavened bread circles are magically converted into the "actual living flesh" of Jesus (A.S.) (yeeeechhh!). (Yes, read that again, there is no typing error). The magically transformed wafer of unleavened bread is called the "Eucharist".
For a photograph of "Eucharists", see:
http://www.catholicpeople.com/catholic/Eucharist.jpg
In addition, wine is magically converted into the "actual living blood" of Jesus (A.S.) (double yeeeechhh!). Please bear closely in mind that the Catholics don't think that this is mere symbolism at all - they truly believe that they are drinking the actual living blood of Jesus (A.S.) and eating his actual living flesh!
From the Roman Catholic Cathechism (the first article below):
"Under the consecrated species of bread and wine Christ himself, living and glorious, is present in a true, real, and substantial manner: his Body and his Blood, with his soul and his divinity"
That's rather pathetic, violent, ignorant unnatural and SICK doctrine, and as has often been explained by Islamic Community Net, this unnatural and irreligious doctrine is the source of much christian violence against the rest of the world, especially Muslims.
Anyone who is first made to voluntarily descend into the humanly debased pit of cannibalism can be made to voluntarily engage in any other depravity - including the Crusades (both Middle Ages and today).
But that unnatural christian horror (called the "Eucharist") also provides a convenient nonviolent means of effective retaliation against the Pope's insults against Rasulullah (S.A.W.), and it soes so without insulting Jesus (A.S.). Far from it - this retaliation makes clear that Muslims regard with utter disgust the christian vampire cannibal cult that insults Jesus (A.S.) by presuming to eat his flesh and drink his blood.
The bread that magically becomes the "living actual flesh" of Jesus (A.S.) is distributed free to anybody who shows up to get one at any "Mass", on Sunday or otherwise. This happens about 20 minutes or more into the "Mass". People line up and go to the front where they kneel before the priest and chow down on the "actual living flesh" of the false "God" with which they have replaced Jesus (A.S.).
But anyone could go there, accept in the mouth, and push it to the side of the mouth and remove it from the church. Once accomplished, all kinds of interesting things could happen to the "Eucharist". Stomping on the "Eucharist", nailing the "Eucharist" to a cross, sticking the "Eucharist" with needles voodoo style: the list of possibilities goes on and on. Before anyone does this, call the church to make sure that they are not one of the churches that first dips the bread wafer into the wine (the vast majority of churches don't do this and when they do it is given as a soft cube, not as a wafer).
Perhaps you will choose to retaliate this way. Or perhaps you'll pass on this message to someone else who might do so. But if you do, here's the most important part:
Don't forget - make ABSOLUTELY SURE that you don't forget, because this is the main point of this particular exercise - that when you're done, you ask someone else to describe exactly what you have done and express on your behalf to the Roman Catholic Church your "regret" that "certain parts" of your activities "could" have "sounded offensive" to the "sensitivities" of the christian faithful.
Please note that 2 articles follow:
*Catechism of the Catholic Church (Sacrament of the Euchrarist) (In Brief)
*Pope sorry his Islam speech found offensive
---
(1)
Excerpted from:
Catechism of the Catholic Church
"In Brief"
PART TWO
THE CELEBRATION OF THE CHRISTIAN MYSTERY
SECTION TWO
THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS OF THE CHURCH
CHAPTER ONE
THE SACRAMENTS OF CHRISTIAN INITIATION
ARTICLE 3
THE SACRAMENT OF THE EUCHARIST
The presence of Christ by the power of his word and the Holy Spirit
The Vatican
http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p2s2c1a3.htm
IN BRIEF
1406 Jesus said: "I am the living bread that came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; . . . he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and . . . abides in me, and I in him" (Jn 6:51, 54, 56).
1407 The Eucharist is the heart and the summit of the Church's life, for in it Christ associates his Church and all her members with his sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving offered once for all on the cross to his Father; by this sacrifice he pours out the graces of salvation on his Body which is the Church.
1408 The Eucharistic celebration always includes: the proclamation of the Word of God; thanksgiving to God the Father for all his benefits, above all the gift of his Son; the consecration of bread and wine; and participation in the liturgical banquet by receiving the Lord's body and blood. These elements constitute one single act of worship.
1409 The Eucharist is the memorial of Christ's Passover, that is, of the work of salvation accomplished by the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, a work made present by the liturgical action.
1410 It is Christ himself, the eternal high priest of the New Covenant who, acting through the ministry of the priests, offers the Eucharistic sacrifice. And it is the same Christ, really present under the species of bread and wine, who is the offering of the Eucharistic sacrifice.
1411 Only validly ordained priests can preside at the Eucharist and consecrate the bread and the wine so that they become the Body and Blood of the Lord.
1412 The essential signs of the Eucharistic sacrament are wheat bread and grape wine, on which the blessing of the Holy Spirit is invoked and the priest pronounces the words of consecration spoken by Jesus during the Last Supper: "This is my body which will be given up for you. . . . This is the cup of my blood. . . ."
1413 By the consecration the transubstantiation of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ is brought about. Under the consecrated species of bread and wine Christ himself, living and glorious, is present in a true, real, and substantial manner: his Body and his Blood, with his soul and his divinity (cf. Council of Trent: DS 1640; 1651).
1414 As sacrifice, the Eucharist is also offered in reparation for the sins of the living and the dead and to obtain spiritual or temporal benefits from God.
1415 Anyone who desires to receive Christ in Eucharistic communion must be in the state of grace. Anyone aware of having sinned mortally must not receive communion without having received absolution in the sacrament of penance.
1416 Communion with the Body and Blood of Christ increases the communicant's union with the Lord, forgives his venial sins, and preserves him from grave sins. Since receiving this sacrament strengthens the bonds of charity between the communicant and Christ, it also reinforces the unity of the Church as the Mystical Body of Christ.
1417 The Church warmly recommends that the faithful receive Holy Communion when they participate in the celebration of the Eucharist; she obliges them to do so at least once a year.
1418 Because Christ himself is present in the sacrament of the altar, he is to be honored with the worship of adoration. "To visit the Blessed Sacrament is . . . a proof of gratitude, an expression of love, and a duty of adoration toward Christ our Lord" (Paul VI, MF 66).
1419 Having passed from this world to the Father, Christ gives us in the Eucharist the pledge of glory with him. Participation in the Holy Sacrifice identifies us with his Heart, sustains our strength along the pilgrimage of this life, makes us long for eternal life, and unites us even now to the Church in heaven, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and all the saints.
http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p2s2c1a3.htm
---
(2)
Pope sorry his Islam speech found offensive
By Stephen Brown
Reuters
Sat Sep 16, 2006
http://today.reuters.com/misc/PrinterFriendlyPopup.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-09-16T162002Z_01_L16121346_RTRUKOC_0_US-POPE-ISLAM.xml
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Vatican said on Saturday the Pope was sorry Muslims had been offended by a speech whose meaning had been misconstrued, but Morocco withdrew its ambassador as anger at his words flared on.
"The Holy Father thus sincerely regrets that certain passages of his address could have sounded offensive to the sensitivities of the Muslim faithful," Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone said in a statement.
Pope Benedict's first big crisis since his election 17 months ago was sparked by a speech in his native Germany on Tuesday that seemed to endorse a Christian view, contested by most Muslims, that early Islam was spread by violence.
The backlash has cast doubt on a planned visit to Turkey by the Pope in November. In an early reaction to the Vatican statement, Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood said it was not enough.
"We feel he has committed a grave error against us and that this mistake will only be removed through a personal apology," the Brotherhood's deputy leader, Mohammed Habib, told Reuters.
Morocco's King Mohammed recalled his ambassador to the Vatican in protest.
"Ali Achour is recalled for consultations as from Sunday following offensive remarks by Pope Benedict about Islam and Muslims," the official MAP news agency quoted a foreign ministry statement as saying.
The Pope's next scheduled public appearance is his Sunday Angelus blessing, when he often comments on current affairs.
Bertone, walking into the crisis only a day after taking over as "deputy pope", said the 79-year-old Pope confirmed "his respect and esteem for those who profess the Islamic faith" and hoped his words would be understood "in their true sense".
The academic speech was meant as a "a clear and radical rejection of religiously motivated violence, wherever it comes from", said the statement, which came as criticism of the leader of the world's 1.1 billion Roman Catholics swelled.
TURKISH DISPLEASURE
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan of Muslim Turkey said on Saturday before the Vatican statement that the Pope's comments were "ugly and unfortunate" and should be withdrawn.
"The Pope spoke like a politician rather than as a man of religion," he said in televised remarks. Asked if the Pope should cancel or postpone a planned trip to Turkey in November, he said: "I do not know."
Yemen's president publicly denounced the pontiff and five churches -- only one of them Catholic -- were attacked in the West Bank, although no one was hurt.
Egypt's foreign ministry summoned the Vatican envoy to Cairo to express "extreme regret" at Benedict's speech.
But Chancellor Angela Merkel and other German politicians defended his comments, saying he had been misunderstood.
"It was an invitation to dialogue between religions," she told the mass-circulation Bild newspaper in an interview.
CALLS FOR APOLOGY
The New York Times said in an editorial the Pope must issue a "deep and persuasive" apology for quotes used in his speech.
"The world listens carefully to the words of any pope. And it is tragic and dangerous when one sows pain, either deliberately or carelessly," it said.
In the speech, the Pope referred to criticism of the Prophet Mohammad by 14th century Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaeologus, who said everything Mohammad brought was evil "such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached".
Using the terms "jihad" and "holy war", the Pope said violence was "incompatible with the nature of God".
But Bertone said the Pontiff "had absolutely no intention" of presenting Emperor Manuel's opinions on Islam as his own.
Vatican insiders and diplomats say the Pope may have mixed up his new role with his former posts as a theologian and head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, when as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger he was known as a disciplinarian.
Angry Muslim leaders flung what they saw as allegations of violence back at the Christian West.
"How can (the Pope) imply that Muslims are the creators of terrorism in the world while it is the followers of Christianity who have aggressed against every country of the Islamic world?" prominent Saudi cleric Salman al-Odeh said. "Who attacked Afghanistan and who invaded Iraq?"
In Libya, the General Instance of Religious Affairs said the "insult ... pushes us back to the era of crusades against Muslims led by Western political and religious leaders".
Turkish paper Vatan quoted a member of the ruling Justice and Development Party saying Benedict "will go down in history in the same category as leaders like Hitler and Mussolini".
Catholic bishops in Turkey feared the angry local reaction, led by the Grand Mufti, could show public opinion was shifting against the Pope's planned visit. But Turkish officials said they hoped the row would blow over and the visit would go ahead.
In Iraq the government asked Muslims not to take their anger out on the small Christian minority, after the door of a church in Basra was attacked. The foreign ministry summoned the Vatican's top diplomat there to explain the Pope's remarks.
http://today.reuters.com/misc/PrinterFriendlyPopup.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-09-16T162002Z_01_L16121346_RTRUKOC_0_US-POPE-ISLAM.xml
Islamic Community Net
September 16, 2006
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/islamiccommunitynet/message/10792 Assalamu aleikum.
The Pope has - through someone else - mentioned that he "regrets" that "certain parts" of his rant "could" have "sounded offensive" to the "sensitivities" of the Muslim faithful.
That's a lot like "regretting" that "certain parts" of kicking in somebody's face "could" have "sounded offensive" to that person's "sensitivities".
The Pope simply thinks he has Muslims on a rope. The reason for his smugness is that he knows that while he insults Rasulullah (S.A.W.), we Muslims cannot return the insult by defaming Jesus (A.S.) in return; for Jesus (A.S.) is a Holy Prophet and Messenger of Allah (S.W.T.) and his person is inviolable to Muslims. Indeed, christians have often expressed frustration that it is Muslims who show up to protest films that insult Jesus (A.S.) while the christians stay home.
But the Pope is wrong in thinking that effective retaliation is not possible.
There IS an effective way to respond, one that not only does not insult Jesus (A.S.), but vindicates him as a human prophet of Allah (S.W.T.) while directly contravening the "Son of God" baloney and making a laughingstock of the Pope and his cannibal cult in the bargain.
Here's how.
Islamic Community Net has often noted before that Christianity is a cannibal cult - and that the Roman Catholic church headed by the Pope is the epicenter of that cannibal cult that also includes Orthodox Christians and Anglicans as well as some Protestants.
The Pope and his christian sect believe that during the daily or weekly christian ceremony called the "Mass" that wafers of flat, white unleavened bread circles are magically converted into the "actual living flesh" of Jesus (A.S.) (yeeeechhh!). (Yes, read that again, there is no typing error). The magically transformed wafer of unleavened bread is called the "Eucharist".
For a photograph of "Eucharists", see:
http://www.catholicpeople.com/catholic/Eucharist.jpg In addition, wine is magically converted into the "actual living blood" of Jesus (A.S.) (double yeeeechhh!). Please bear closely in mind that the Catholics don't think that this is mere symbolism at all - they truly believe that they are drinking the actual living blood of Jesus (A.S.) and eating his actual living flesh!
From the Roman Catholic Cathechism (the first article below):
"Under the consecrated species of bread and wine Christ himself, living and glorious, is present in a true, real, and substantial manner: his Body and his Blood, with his soul and his divinity"
That's rather pathetic, violent, ignorant unnatural and SICK doctrine, and as has often been explained by Islamic Community Net, this unnatural and irreligious doctrine is the source of much christian violence against the rest of the world, especially Muslims.
Anyone who is first made to voluntarily descend into the humanly debased pit of cannibalism can be made to voluntarily engage in any other depravity - including the Crusades (both Middle Ages and today).
But that unnatural christian horror (called the "Eucharist") also provides a convenient nonviolent means of effective retaliation against the Pope's insults against Rasulullah (S.A.W.), and it soes so without insulting Jesus (A.S.). Far from it - this retaliation makes clear that Muslims regard with utter disgust the christian vampire cannibal cult that insults Jesus (A.S.) by presuming to eat his flesh and drink his blood.
The bread that magically becomes the "living actual flesh" of Jesus (A.S.) is distributed free to anybody who shows up to get one at any "Mass", on Sunday or otherwise. This happens about 20 minutes or more into the "Mass". People line up and go to the front where they kneel before the priest and chow down on the "actual living flesh" of the false "God" with which they have replaced Jesus (A.S.).
But anyone could go there, accept in the mouth, and push it to the side of the mouth and remove it from the church. Once accomplished, all kinds of interesting things could happen to the "Eucharist". Stomping on the "Eucharist", nailing the "Eucharist" to a cross, sticking the "Eucharist" with needles voodoo style: the list of possibilities goes on and on. Before anyone does this, call the church to make sure that they are not one of the churches that first dips the bread wafer into the wine (the vast majority of churches don't do this and when they do it is given as a soft cube, not as a wafer).
Perhaps you will choose to retaliate this way. Or perhaps you'll pass on this message to someone else who might do so. But if you do, here's the most important part:
Don't forget - make ABSOLUTELY SURE that you don't forget, because this is the main point of this particular exercise - that when you're done, you ask someone else to describe exactly what you have done and express on your behalf to the Roman Catholic Church your "regret" that "certain parts" of your activities "could" have "sounded offensive" to the "sensitivities" of the christian faithful.
Please note that 2 articles follow:
*Catechism of the Catholic Church (Sacrament of the Euchrarist) (In Brief)
*Pope sorry his Islam speech found offensive
---
(1)
Excerpted from:
Catechism of the Catholic Church
"In Brief"
PART TWO
THE CELEBRATION OF THE CHRISTIAN MYSTERY
SECTION TWO
THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS OF THE CHURCH
CHAPTER ONE
THE SACRAMENTS OF CHRISTIAN INITIATION
ARTICLE 3
THE SACRAMENT OF THE EUCHARIST
The presence of Christ by the power of his word and the Holy Spirit
The Vatican
http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p2s2c1a3.htm IN BRIEF
1406 Jesus said: "I am the living bread that came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; . . . he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and . . . abides in me, and I in him" (Jn 6:51, 54, 56).
1407 The Eucharist is the heart and the summit of the Church's life, for in it Christ associates his Church and all her members with his sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving offered once for all on the cross to his Father; by this sacrifice he pours out the graces of salvation on his Body which is the Church.
1408 The Eucharistic celebration always includes: the proclamation of the Word of God; thanksgiving to God the Father for all his benefits, above all the gift of his Son; the consecration of bread and wine; and participation in the liturgical banquet by receiving the Lord's body and blood. These elements constitute one single act of worship.
1409 The Eucharist is the memorial of Christ's Passover, that is, of the work of salvation accomplished by the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, a work made present by the liturgical action.
1410 It is Christ himself, the eternal high priest of the New Covenant who, acting through the ministry of the priests, offers the Eucharistic sacrifice. And it is the same Christ, really present under the species of bread and wine, who is the offering of the Eucharistic sacrifice.
1411 Only validly ordained priests can preside at the Eucharist and consecrate the bread and the wine so that they become the Body and Blood of the Lord.
1412 The essential signs of the Eucharistic sacrament are wheat bread and grape wine, on which the blessing of the Holy Spirit is invoked and the priest pronounces the words of consecration spoken by Jesus during the Last Supper: "This is my body which will be given up for you. . . . This is the cup of my blood. . . ."
1413 By the consecration the transubstantiation of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ is brought about. Under the consecrated species of bread and wine Christ himself, living and glorious, is present in a true, real, and substantial manner: his Body and his Blood, with his soul and his divinity (cf. Council of Trent: DS 1640; 1651).
1414 As sacrifice, the Eucharist is also offered in reparation for the sins of the living and the dead and to obtain spiritual or temporal benefits from God.
1415 Anyone who desires to receive Christ in Eucharistic communion must be in the state of grace. Anyone aware of having sinned mortally must not receive communion without having received absolution in the sacrament of penance.
1416 Communion with the Body and Blood of Christ increases the communicant's union with the Lord, forgives his venial sins, and preserves him from grave sins. Since receiving this sacrament strengthens the bonds of charity between the communicant and Christ, it also reinforces the unity of the Church as the Mystical Body of Christ.
1417 The Church warmly recommends that the faithful receive Holy Communion when they participate in the celebration of the Eucharist; she obliges them to do so at least once a year.
1418 Because Christ himself is present in the sacrament of the altar, he is to be honored with the worship of adoration. "To visit the Blessed Sacrament is . . . a proof of gratitude, an expression of love, and a duty of adoration toward Christ our Lord" (Paul VI, MF 66).
1419 Having passed from this world to the Father, Christ gives us in the Eucharist the pledge of glory with him. Participation in the Holy Sacrifice identifies us with his Heart, sustains our strength along the pilgrimage of this life, makes us long for eternal life, and unites us even now to the Church in heaven, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and all the saints.
http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p2s2c1a3.htm ---
(2)
Pope sorry his Islam speech found offensive
By Stephen Brown
Reuters
Sat Sep 16, 2006
http://today.reuters.com/misc/PrinterFriendlyPopup.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-09-16T162002Z_01_L16121346_RTRUKOC_0_US-POPE-ISLAM.xml VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Vatican said on Saturday the Pope was sorry Muslims had been offended by a speech whose meaning had been misconstrued, but Morocco withdrew its ambassador as anger at his words flared on.
"The Holy Father thus sincerely regrets that certain passages of his address could have sounded offensive to the sensitivities of the Muslim faithful," Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone said in a statement.
Pope Benedict's first big crisis since his election 17 months ago was sparked by a speech in his native Germany on Tuesday that seemed to endorse a Christian view, contested by most Muslims, that early Islam was spread by violence.
The backlash has cast doubt on a planned visit to Turkey by the Pope in November. In an early reaction to the Vatican statement, Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood said it was not enough.
"We feel he has committed a grave error against us and that this mistake will only be removed through a personal apology," the Brotherhood's deputy leader, Mohammed Habib, told Reuters.
Morocco's King Mohammed recalled his ambassador to the Vatican in protest.
"Ali Achour is recalled for consultations as from Sunday following offensive remarks by Pope Benedict about Islam and Muslims," the official MAP news agency quoted a foreign ministry statement as saying.
The Pope's next scheduled public appearance is his Sunday Angelus blessing, when he often comments on current affairs.
Bertone, walking into the crisis only a day after taking over as "deputy pope", said the 79-year-old Pope confirmed "his respect and esteem for those who profess the Islamic faith" and hoped his words would be understood "in their true sense".
The academic speech was meant as a "a clear and radical rejection of religiously motivated violence, wherever it comes from", said the statement, which came as criticism of the leader of the world's 1.1 billion Roman Catholics swelled.
TURKISH DISPLEASURE
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan of Muslim Turkey said on Saturday before the Vatican statement that the Pope's comments were "ugly and unfortunate" and should be withdrawn.
"The Pope spoke like a politician rather than as a man of religion," he said in televised remarks. Asked if the Pope should cancel or postpone a planned trip to Turkey in November, he said: "I do not know."
Yemen's president publicly denounced the pontiff and five churches -- only one of them Catholic -- were attacked in the West Bank, although no one was hurt.
Egypt's foreign ministry summoned the Vatican envoy to Cairo to express "extreme regret" at Benedict's speech.
But Chancellor Angela Merkel and other German politicians defended his comments, saying he had been misunderstood.
"It was an invitation to dialogue between religions," she told the mass-circulation Bild newspaper in an interview.
CALLS FOR APOLOGY
The New York Times said in an editorial the Pope must issue a "deep and persuasive" apology for quotes used in his speech.
"The world listens carefully to the words of any pope. And it is tragic and dangerous when one sows pain, either deliberately or carelessly," it said.
In the speech, the Pope referred to criticism of the Prophet Mohammad by 14th century Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaeologus, who said everything Mohammad brought was evil "such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached".
Using the terms "jihad" and "holy war", the Pope said violence was "incompatible with the nature of God".
But Bertone said the Pontiff "had absolutely no intention" of presenting Emperor Manuel's opinions on Islam as his own.
Vatican insiders and diplomats say the Pope may have mixed up his new role with his former posts as a theologian and head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, when as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger he was known as a disciplinarian.
Angry Muslim leaders flung what they saw as allegations of violence back at the Christian West.
"How can (the Pope) imply that Muslims are the creators of terrorism in the world while it is the followers of Christianity who have aggressed against every country of the Islamic world?" prominent Saudi cleric Salman al-Odeh said. "Who attacked Afghanistan and who invaded Iraq?"
In Libya, the General Instance of Religious Affairs said the "insult ... pushes us back to the era of crusades against Muslims led by Western political and religious leaders".
Turkish paper Vatan quoted a member of the ruling Justice and Development Party saying Benedict "will go down in history in the same category as leaders like Hitler and Mussolini".
Catholic bishops in Turkey feared the angry local reaction, led by the Grand Mufti, could show public opinion was shifting against the Pope's planned visit. But Turkish officials said they hoped the row would blow over and the visit would go ahead.
In Iraq the government asked Muslims not to take their anger out on the small Christian minority, after the door of a church in Basra was attacked. The foreign ministry summoned the Vatican's top diplomat there to explain the Pope's remarks.
http://today.reuters.com/misc/PrinterFriendlyPopup.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-09-16T162002Z_01_L16121346_RTRUKOC_0_US-POPE-ISLAM.xml http://groups.yahoo.com/group/islamiccommunitynet/message/10792 Assalamu aleikum.
The Pope has - through someone else - mentioned that he "regrets" that "certain parts" of his rant "could" have "sounded offensive" to the "sensitivities" of the Muslim faithful.
Tha's a lot like "regretting" that "certain parts" of kicking in somebody's face "could" have "sounded offensive" to that person's "sensitivities".
The Pope simply thinks he has Muslims on a rope. The reason for his smugness is that he knows that while he insults Rasulullah (S.A.W.), we Muslims cannot return the insult by defaming Jesus (A.S.) in return; for Jesus (A.S.) is a Holy Prophet and Messenger of Allah (S.W.T.) and his person is inviolable to Muslims. Indeed, christians have often expressed frustration that it is Muslims who show up to protest films that insult Jesus (A.S.) while the christians stay home.
But the Pope is wrong in thinking that effective retaliation is not possible.
There IS an effective way to respond, one that not only does not insult Jesus (A.S.), but vindicates him as a human prophet of Allah (S.W.T.) while directly contravening the "Son of God" baloney and making a laughingstock of the Pope and his cannibal cult in the bargain.
Here's how.
Islamic Community Net has often noted before that Christianity is a cannibal cult - and that the Roman Catholic church headed by the Pope is the epicenter of that cannibal cult that also includes Orthodox Christians and Anglicans as well as some Protestants.
The Pope and his christian sect believe that during the daily or weekly christian ceremony called the "Mass" that wafers of flat, white unleavened bread circles are magically converted into the "actual living flesh" of Jesus (A.S.) (yeeeechhh!). (Yes, read that again, there is no typing error). The magically transformed wafer of unleavened bread is called the "Eucharist".
For a photograph of "Eucharists", see:
http://www.catholicpeople.com/catholic/Eucharist.jpg In addition, wine is magically converted into the "actual living blood" of Jesus (A.S.) (double yeeeechhh!). Please bear closely in mind that the Catholics don't think that this is mere symbolism at all - they truly believe that they are drinking the actual living blood of Jesus (A.S.) and eating his actual living flesh!
From the Roman Catholic Cathechism (the first article below):
"Under the consecrated species of bread and wine Christ himself, living and glorious, is present in a true, real, and substantial manner: his Body and his Blood, with his soul and his divinity"
That's rather pathetic, violent, ignorant unnatural and SICK doctrine, and as has often been explained by Islamic Community Net, this unnatural and irreligious doctrine is the source of much christian violence against the rest of the world, especially Muslims.
Anyone who is first made to voluntarily descend into the humanly debased pit of cannibalism can be made to voluntarily engage in any other depravity - including the Crusades (both Middle Ages and today).
But that unnatural christian horror (called the "Eucharist") also provides a convenient nonviolent means of effective retaliation against the Pope's insults against Rasulullah (S.A.W.), and it soes so without insulting Jesus (A.S.). Far from it - this retaliation makes clear that Muslims regard with utter disgust the christian vampire cannibal cult that insults Jesus (A.S.) by presuming to eat his flesh and drink his blood.
The bread that magically becomes the "living actual flesh" of Jesus (A.S.) is distributed free to anybody who shows up to get one at any "Mass", on Sunday or otherwise. This happens about 20 minutes or more into the "Mass". People line up and go to the front where they kneel before the priest and chow down on the "actual living flesh" of the false "God" with which they have replaced Jesus (A.S.).
But anyone could go there, accept in the mouth, and push it to the side of the mouth and remove it from the church. Once accomplished, all kinds of interesting things could happen to the "Eucharist". Stomping on the "Eucharist", nailing the "Eucharist" to a cross, sticking the "Eucharist" with needles voodoo style: the list of possibilities goes on and on. Before anyone does this, call the church to make sure that they are not one of the churches that first dips the bread wafer into the wine (the vast majority of churches don't do this and when they do it is given as a soft cube, not as a wafer).
Perhaps you will choose to retaliate this way. Or perhaps you'll pass on this message to someone else who might do so. But if you do, here's the most important part:
Don't forget - make ABSOLUTELY SURE that you don't forget, because this is the main point of this particular exercise - that when you're done, you ask someone else to describe exactly what you have done and express on your behalf to the Roman Catholic Church your "regret" that "certain parts" of your activities "could" have "sounded offensive" to the "sensitivities" of the christian faithful.
Please note that 2 articles follow:
*Catechism of the Catholic Church (Sacrament of the Euchrarist) (In Brief)
*Pope sorry his Islam speech found offensive
---
(1)
Excerpted from:
Catechism of the Catholic Church
"In Brief"
PART TWO
THE CELEBRATION OF THE CHRISTIAN MYSTERY
SECTION TWO
THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS OF THE CHURCH
CHAPTER ONE
THE SACRAMENTS OF CHRISTIAN INITIATION
ARTICLE 3
THE SACRAMENT OF THE EUCHARIST
The presence of Christ by the power of his word and the Holy Spirit
The Vatican
http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p2s2c1a3.htm IN BRIEF
1406 Jesus said: "I am the living bread that came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; . . . he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and . . . abides in me, and I in him" (Jn 6:51, 54, 56).
1407 The Eucharist is the heart and the summit of the Church's life, for in it Christ associates his Church and all her members with his sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving offered once for all on the cross to his Father; by this sacrifice he pours out the graces of salvation on his Body which is the Church.
1408 The Eucharistic celebration always includes: the proclamation of the Word of God; thanksgiving to God the Father for all his benefits, above all the gift of his Son; the consecration of bread and wine; and participation in the liturgical banquet by receiving the Lord's body and blood. These elements constitute one single act of worship.
1409 The Eucharist is the memorial of Christ's Passover, that is, of the work of salvation accomplished by the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, a work made present by the liturgical action.
1410 It is Christ himself, the eternal high priest of the New Covenant who, acting through the ministry of the priests, offers the Eucharistic sacrifice. And it is the same Christ, really present under the species of bread and wine, who is the offering of the Eucharistic sacrifice.
1411 Only validly ordained priests can preside at the Eucharist and consecrate the bread and the wine so that they become the Body and Blood of the Lord.
1412 The essential signs of the Eucharistic sacrament are wheat bread and grape wine, on which the blessing of the Holy Spirit is invoked and the priest pronounces the words of consecration spoken by Jesus during the Last Supper: "This is my body which will be given up for you. . . . This is the cup of my blood. . . ."
1413 By the consecration the transubstantiation of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ is brought about. Under the consecrated species of bread and wine Christ himself, living and glorious, is present in a true, real, and substantial manner: his Body and his Blood, with his soul and his divinity (cf. Council of Trent: DS 1640; 1651).
1414 As sacrifice, the Eucharist is also offered in reparation for the sins of the living and the dead and to obtain spiritual or temporal benefits from God.
1415 Anyone who desires to receive Christ in Eucharistic communion must be in the state of grace. Anyone aware of having sinned mortally must not receive communion without having received absolution in the sacrament of penance.
1416 Communion with the Body and Blood of Christ increases the communicant's union with the Lord, forgives his venial sins, and preserves him from grave sins. Since receiving this sacrament strengthens the bonds of charity between the communicant and Christ, it also reinforces the unity of the Church as the Mystical Body of Christ.
1417 The Church warmly recommends that the faithful receive Holy Communion when they participate in the celebration of the Eucharist; she obliges them to do so at least once a year.
1418 Because Christ himself is present in the sacrament of the altar, he is to be honored with the worship of adoration. "To visit the Blessed Sacrament is . . . a proof of gratitude, an expression of love, and a duty of adoration toward Christ our Lord" (Paul VI, MF 66).
1419 Having passed from this world to the Father, Christ gives us in the Eucharist the pledge of glory with him. Participation in the Holy Sacrifice identifies us with his Heart, sustains our strength along the pilgrimage of this life, makes us long for eternal life, and unites us even now to the Church in heaven, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and all the saints.
http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p2s2c1a3.htm ---
(2)
Pope sorry his Islam speech found offensive
By Stephen Brown
Reuters
Sat Sep 16, 2006
http://today.reuters.com/misc/PrinterFriendlyPopup.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-09-16T162002Z_01_L16121346_RTRUKOC_0_US-POPE-ISLAM.xml VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Vatican said on Saturday the Pope was sorry Muslims had been offended by a speech whose meaning had been misconstrued, but Morocco withdrew its ambassador as anger at his words flared on.
"The Holy Father thus sincerely regrets that certain passages of his address could have sounded offensive to the sensitivities of the Muslim faithful," Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone said in a statement.
Pope Benedict's first big crisis since his election 17 months ago was sparked by a speech in his native Germany on Tuesday that seemed to endorse a Christian view, contested by most Muslims, that early Islam was spread by violence.
The backlash has cast doubt on a planned visit to Turkey by the Pope in November. In an early reaction to the Vatican statement, Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood said it was not enough.
"We feel he has committed a grave error against us and that this mistake will only be removed through a personal apology," the Brotherhood's deputy leader, Mohammed Habib, told Reuters.
Morocco's King Mohammed recalled his ambassador to the Vatican in protest.
"Ali Achour is recalled for consultations as from Sunday following offensive remarks by Pope Benedict about Islam and Muslims," the official MAP news agency quoted a foreign ministry statement as saying.
The Pope's next scheduled public appearance is his Sunday Angelus blessing, when he often comments on current affairs.
Bertone, walking into the crisis only a day after taking over as "deputy pope", said the 79-year-old Pope confirmed "his respect and esteem for those who profess the Islamic faith" and hoped his words would be understood "in their true sense".
The academic speech was meant as a "a clear and radical rejection of religiously motivated violence, wherever it comes from", said the statement, which came as criticism of the leader of the world's 1.1 billion Roman Catholics swelled.
TURKISH DISPLEASURE
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan of Muslim Turkey said on Saturday before the Vatican statement that the Pope's comments were "ugly and unfortunate" and should be withdrawn.
"The Pope spoke like a politician rather than as a man of religion," he said in televised remarks. Asked if the Pope should cancel or postpone a planned trip to Turkey in November, he said: "I do not know."
Yemen's president publicly denounced the pontiff and five churches -- only one of them Catholic -- were attacked in the West Bank, although no one was hurt.
Egypt's foreign ministry summoned the Vatican envoy to Cairo to express "extreme regret" at Benedict's speech.
But Chancellor Angela Merkel and other German politicians defended his comments, saying he had been misunderstood.
"It was an invitation to dialogue between religions," she told the mass-circulation Bild newspaper in an interview.
CALLS FOR APOLOGY
The New York Times said in an editorial the Pope must issue a "deep and persuasive" apology for quotes used in his speech.
"The world listens carefully to the words of any pope. And it is tragic and dangerous when one sows pain, either deliberately or carelessly," it said.
In the speech, the Pope referred to criticism of the Prophet Mohammad by 14th century Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaeologus, who said everything Mohammad brought was evil "such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached".
Using the terms "jihad" and "holy war", the Pope said violence was "incompatible with the nature of God".
But Bertone said the Pontiff "had absolutely no intention" of presenting Emperor Manuel's opinions on Islam as his own.
Vatican insiders and diplomats say the Pope may have mixed up his new role with his former posts as a theologian and head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, when as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger he was known as a disciplinarian.
Angry Muslim leaders flung what they saw as allegations of violence back at the Christian West.
"How can (the Pope) imply that Muslims are the creators of terrorism in the world while it is the followers of Christianity who have aggressed against every country of the Islamic world?" prominent Saudi cleric Salman al-Odeh said. "Who attacked Afghanistan and who invaded Iraq?"
In Libya, the General Instance of Religious Affairs said the "insult ... pushes us back to the era of crusades against Muslims led by Western political and religious leaders".
Turkish paper Vatan quoted a member of the ruling Justice and Development Party saying Benedict "will go down in history in the same category as leaders like Hitler and Mussolini".
Catholic bishops in Turkey feared the angry local reaction, led by the Grand Mufti, could show public opinion was shifting against the Pope's planned visit. But Turkish officials said they hoped the row would blow over and the visit would go ahead.
In Iraq the government asked Muslims not to take their anger out on the small Christian minority, after the door of a church in Basra was attacked. The foreign ministry summoned the Vatican's top diplomat there to explain the Pope's remarks.
http://today.reuters.com/misc/PrinterFriendlyPopup.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-09-16T162002Z_01_L16121346_RTRUKOC_0_US-POPE-ISLAM.xml
Islamic Community Net
Homepage:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/islamiccommunitynet/message/10792
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