Forum: Pope Can Boost Peace by Explaining Errors of Emperor's Quote

Summary

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IN March, when the Danish cartoons of Muhammad were published, Pope Benedict XVI said, "The Catholic Church remains convinced that to encourage peace and understanding ... it is urgently necessary that religions and their symbols be respected and that believers not be the object of provocations that wound their outlook and religious sentiments. The only path that leads to peace and brotherhood is that of respect for the religious convictions and practices of others." As the leader of approximately 1.2 billion Catholics, he directed his followers to avoid casting aspersions on the symbols and religious beliefs of other faiths. It appeared his intention was to create an atmosphere of respect in order to bring about peace among humankind. Then, he contradicted himself a day after the commemoration of Sept. 11 when he quoted the 14th century Byzantine emperor, Manuel II of Palaiologos, who said, "Show me just what Mohammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith that he preached."

Sadly, violent reactions have occurred, but not due to a commandment from within the religion of Islam. There were those who felt very strongly that this was another attack directed at prophet Muhammad and Islam.

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Extract

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Forum: Pope Can Boost Peace by Explaining Errors of Emperor's Quote

Yet, in order to present a contrast between Christianity and Islam, he referred to the emperor's point of view and tried to rationalize it in the cont...

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