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Global Islamist fanatics who purposely misread the Pope’s remarks last week demanded an apology from him in riotous fashion as is their peaceful habit, at the threat of more of that peaceful riotous protest to which we’ve all become so accustomed and obedient.
The Pope seems to have done that, depending on whom you ask.
First, here’s how some Muslims view it. Shockingly, it’s “not enough”. Apparently he has to grovel to them personally (all around the world, presumably), even though he did nothing wrong (it’ll just look cool on TV! Allahu Akbar—wink!).
CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood said a Vatican statement on Saturday saying Pope Benedict was sorry for upsetting Muslims with his comments on Islam did not go far enough.
“We want a personal apology (from the Pope). We feel that he has committed a grave error against us and that this mistake will only be removed through a personal apology,” Muslim Brotherhood Deputy Leader Mohammed Habib told Reuters.
“Has he presented a personal apology for statements by which he clearly is convinced? No,” he said.
Here’s an Associated Press report at CTV.ca:
Pope ‘extremely upset’ that Muslims were offended
Updated Sat. Sep. 16 2006 12:56 PM ET
Associated PressVATICAN CITY—Pope Benedict XVI is “extremely upset” that Muslims have been offended by a recent speech in Germany and hoped they would understand the “true sense” of his words, the Vatican said Saturday.
“The Holy Father is very sorry that some passages of his speech may have sounded offensive to the sensibilities of Muslim believers,” said new Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone in a statement.
Bertone said the pope’s position on Islam is unmistakably in line with Vatican teaching—that the church “esteems Muslims, who adore the only God.”
The pope, therefore, is “extremely upset that some portions of his speech were able to sound offensive to the sensibilities of Muslim believers and have been interpreted in a way that does not at all correspond to his intentions.”
The angry reaction in the Islamic world to Benedict’s comments stirred fears of violent anti-Western protests, like those in February that followed the publication of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad in a Danish newspaper.
On Saturday, a Greek Orthodox and an Anglican church in the West Bank were hit by firebombs. A group calling itself the “Lions of Monotheism” claimed responsibility.
But here’s another Associated Press story:
Pope Benedict XVI “sincerely regrets” that Muslims have been offended by some of his words in a recent speech in Germany, the Vatican said Saturday — stopping short of issuing an apology the Islamic world has demanded.
The new Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, said the pope’s position on Islam is unmistakably in line with Vatican teaching that the church regards Muslims with “esteem.”
Thus, the pope “sincerely regrets that certain passages of his address could have sounded offensive to the sensitivities of the Muslim faithful and should have been interpreted in a manner that in no way corresponds to his intentions,” Bertone said in a statement.
“Indeed it was he who, before the religious fervor of Muslim believers, warned secularized Western culture to guard against ‘the contempt for God and the cynicism that considers mockery of the sacred to be an exercise of freedom,’” Bertone said, citing words from another speech that Benedict gave during the German trip.
“In reiterating his respect and esteem for those who profess Islam, he hopes that they will be helped to understand the correct meaning of his words,” the cardinal said.
But what also gets me is the tremendous cries from the media about the terrifically “proportionate response” from the Islamists fanatics worldwide who purposely misread the Pope’s remarks in order to incite global violent rioting and Islamist appeasement.
Caption included with this Associated Press picture at Yahoo News:
Palestinian firefighters work at the entrance of an Orthodox church hit by a firebomb in the West Bank city of Nablus, Saturday Sept.16 2006. Palestinians wielding guns, firebombs and lighter fluid attacked four churches in the West Bank town of Nablus on Saturday, while gunmen opened fire at a fifth in Gaza, following remarks by Pope Benedict XVI that many Muslims view as disparaging. (AP Photo/Nasser Ishtayeh)
UPDATE (Hat tip: Lord’s Fury)
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