Dogma: September 2006 Archives

"Using the terms "jihad" and "holy war", the Pope said violence was "incompatible with the nature of God"."

THE Pope has apologised to Muslims offended by his comments on their religion and violence, but his words have so far failed to curtail the international outcry.

The Vatican said overnight the Pope was sorry Muslims had been offended by a speech whose meaning had been misconstrued.

But, as the backlash continued, Morocco withdrew its ambassador, and Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood said the prepared apology was not enough.

Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone issued the statement, saying: "The Holy Father thus sincerely regrets that certain passages of his address could have sounded offensive to the sensitivities of the Muslim faithful."

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.

Editor's note: Secularism does tend to leave moral confusion and a spiritual void, for which reason Prout cannot support it as a complete philosophy. We suspect, however, that the current trend toward established religion in Germany may represent more of a retrenchment than a true reconsideration of spiritual ideas and purpose of life. Reconsideration requires thought, not mere belief, and examination of alternatives and possibilities. At stake in all spiritual questions of course is the nature of the individual's relation with the divine.

Pope Benedict XVI's challenge to secularism meets with receptivity during his German visit.

This is the continent where some leading thinkers are talking about a "post-Christian Europe." And this is the country of philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, who infamously quipped, "God is dead."