Word: regensburgers
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Under Pope Benedict XVI's reign, the Vatican dossier on Islam could be entitled: "Regensburg, and Everything After." Regensburg was the professor Pope's landmark 2006 discourse at his former university that included a nasty historical citation about the prophet Mohammed and provocatively asked if Islam lacks reason, making it inherently prone to violence. The worldwide protests among Muslims, including a handful of church burnings and the killing of a nun, forced the Pope to quickly change his approach, and soften his tone...
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...
...other words, Benedict's surprise, unilateral gesture to the group also known as the Society of St. Pius X has kicked up a storm rivaled in this four-year old pontificate only by his provocative 2006 Regensburg speech about faith and violence that offended so many Muslims. Indeed, this may very well turn out worse. The Pope's biggest problem will be neither Jewish leaders' hurt feelings (which he has already begun to heal) nor the outrage of liberal Catholics (with whom Benedict was never going to be truly simpatico). Instead, for the first time in his papacy, Benedict...
...deputies have spent the past week reiterating the Vatican's clear, longstanding line on both the historical facts of the Holocaust and the warm papal sentiments toward and theological connection with the Jewish people. There is little doubt that the repair work, like that done with Muslims after the Regensburg speech, will eventually help put inter-faith dialogue back on track...
...fallout inside the Catholic hierarchy could be more lasting. Regensburg was a question of a speech largely directed toward the outside world; and while some still criticize the poorly chosen language, others believe it gave much needed impetus to a more frank discussion about Islam. It was, in any case, the "professor Pope" playing to his strengths...