Word: benedict
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...experts - experts in satanic cults, experts in criminology, they even had a psychiatrist come in to talk to the priests about the differences between the various mental illnesses that could be confused for demonic possession vs. what the church says is actually demonic possession. (See photos of Pope Benedict...
Thirteen months later, Benedict set off the most explosive moment of his papacy with a lecture at his old university in Regensburg, Germany, about faith and reason and the risk that Islamic theology makes the religion particularly prone to violence. Even as criticism of the speech spread in both Muslim and Catholic circles, Samir was among the first and most steadfast defenders of the Pope's message about Islam. Indeed, they were the same ideas Samir had been espousing for years. (See pictures from Pope Benedict XVI's first year...
...years since Benedict's charged lecture, the Vatican has established a permanent, ongoing Catholic-Muslim dialogue group, which held its first meetings in November. But last Easter, the Pope performed a high-profile baptism in St. Peter's Basilica of Egyptian-born Italian journalist Magdi Allam, who converted from Islam. Many Muslims and Catholics took this as a provocation. Samir instead praised it as a "necessary gesture." He says, "Freedom to choose your religion is more important than all the initiatives put together. Without it, dialogue is not possible...
Though Samir's words cannot be put into Benedict's mouth, it is widely acknowledged that the Jesuit scholar continues to enjoy great favor in the Pope's inner circle, which includes Monsignor Khaled Akasheh, head of the Muslim section of the Vatican's Council for Interreligious Dialogue, who is considered an intellectual ally of Samir. "It is not that he is inspired by me," Samir says of the Pope. "We just have the same line of thinking on this subject. Without being a specialist of Islam, His Holiness has a vast culture and knowledge in human and world religious...
...pictures of Pope Benedict XVI visiting America...