Muslim extremists seem to be devoid of all logic and reason. All they know is to hate and destroy all non-Muslims. If the Pope had apologized and said that he was wrong to quote what he did not believe was true of Muslims, it would not have made a difference. They would still continue with their overblown and violent reactions. They are probably only too happy that the Pope made this mistake because in their sick little minds, violence towards
non-Muslims are now justified.

"Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction."
Blaise Pascal

Freedom of speech and religion were key factors for the founding of this country. With that said, I am confused by all of this. I do not think the Pope owes anyway an apology if he believed in what he said. I have now witnessed Muslims violently demonstrating against the opinion of the Pope. I have witnessed violent demonstrations by Muslims because a cartoonist decided to draw a picture they didn't like. The list goes on. Why is it so easy to get Muslims together to demonstrate against perceived slights, but not for actions by some that cast a shadow on their religion. A cartoon can spawn instant anger and public denouncement, but suicide bombings - barely a murmur? I ask that any Muslim reading this give me an answer to a sincere question.

This may be in vain (which may be why no-one including the Vatican seems to have tried it), but I will try describe to Muslims & non-Muslims why the Pope's choice of quotation was apt, and despite the content of the quote, not a slur by the Pope against Muslims. (I will NOT hide behind the lame defense of "it was only a quote".)

First, it would help if anyone trying to understand the Pope's true intent would at least look at the text of his speech. (It is on the Vatican website. After selecting a language, click on the head of St Peter (first circle at top), Benedict XVI, Speeches, 2006, Sept 12.) It's not easy reading, but his audience were students & faculty at a university.

On the subject of Faith & Reason, the Pope wanted to refute the idea that Biblical faith and Greek rational thought, which had become fused in early Christianity, should really be separate. To begin his remarks, he needed a Christian "Hellenistic" (Greek) view to examine as an example. That meant the example had to come from the 800 years between 330, when Constantinople became capital of the (Eastern) Roman Empire (later "Byzantine" Empire), and 1453, when that empire was extinguished by Turks. That's why the Pope quoted some old Byzantine emperor.

But why the quote he used? The Pope needed a "Hellenistic" view that could be examined in terms of the question, "Is this a "Christian" point of view or a "Greek" point of view, or are they inseparable?" So it needed to express a moral viewpoint. And it needed to be from a "Christian Greek" in that 800-year period. Considering that for 600 of those 800 years the Byzantines were under attack from Arab, and later Turkish Muslims, it is hardly surprising that the quoted emperor had something to say on the issue of "Holy War" which he perceived to be a motivation of his enemies.

I cannot speak for the Pope, but it looks like academic honesty made him cite the quote in full, including the words "evil and inhuman" near the beginning. But the Pope--and even the quoted emperor himself--were really focused on the later words questioning the "command to spread by the sword the faith he [Muhammad] preached", and how could that be compatible with the nature of God and of the human soul?

Why not an example of Catholicism being spread by the sword? There are many shameful examples, all of which the Catholic church has acknowledged and officially and sincerely apologised for. (It's easy to be dismissive, but if any Islamic authority has done anything similar, I would genuinely like to know.) And just think of the uproar if the Pope had quoted a Medieval call for Crusade against "heretics" within the Church or "infidels" without! He preferred a statement condemning the idea, and again, he needed a "Hellenistic" example.

Muslims will object that Islam is a religion of peace, that "Holy War" is not in its doctrine, and that the Pope should have emphasized that. Well the Pope did preface his quote of the emperor by stating that he must have been aware of the (oft-quoted) Sura 2, 256, concerning "no compulsion in religion" but also of many other verses in the Quran which do seem to endorse the idea. Given that apparent equivocation and the militant reality he faced, the emperor's question was certainly valid.

So the Pope used an entirely apt quotation in what was, contrary to the lazy sound-bite-chasing media's constant repetition, NOT a "speech on Islam", nor even a speech condemning "use of the sword to spread religion". He did not condemn Islam. He DID condemn use of the sword to spread religion, but even that was tangential to his main topic--which would have bored to death any of the mob screaming on both sides of the controversy that followed the incendiary headlines. (By the way, "Media", if you want to inflame not only Muslims, but all other religions as well: in the same speech, the Pope also quoted a university colleague who said "God doesn't exist".)

I am under no illusion that those who would most benefit from reading this will ever see it. But plant a seed of reason and have faith that it might grow.

I'm done discussing the Pope. But I must personally add that the emperor's question remains valid for all religions. And rather than claiming to be insulted by the question, Islam really needs to address it, both internally and to the whole world. The Quran IS equivocal on the subject. Even in that Sura 2 where verse 256 speaks against "compulsion in religion", verses 243 through 253 discuss fighting for God. Not figuratively fighting, but actual military action. Verse 244 proclaims "Then fight in the cause of God, and know that God heareth and knoweth all things." Which is louder in a rash youth's ears, verse 256, or verse 244? In Muhammad's own example, he led battles to spread and consolidate Islam across Arabia. Not just in defense, but taking the battle to any tribes that were seen as backsliding in their allegiance to Muhammad and Islam. Everyone cites the Crusades, which indeed had horrific excesses and atrocities. But Christendom's first introduction to Islam was on the receiving end of swords sweeping across Byzantine Syria, Palestine & Egypt; across North Africa; across the Mediterranean in raids on Italy; and across Spain into France. Was all that just an "oops"? More than 350 years of Islamic aggression preceded the Crusades. As late as 1683, Turks were besieging Vienna. That is not to transfer blame or say "you started it". But just as those acting in the name Christianity have had much to answer for, so too have those acting in the name of Islam. Where are the Islamic leaders speaking and acting in the contrite manner of John Paul II, forgiving and asking forgiveness?

I must now address the "elephant in the room". Even the most patient Muslim may wonder how an American can speak of unjust Islamic aggression in the past, when RIGHT NOW the United States is engaged in an unjustified war in Iraq? I won't hide behind the fact that most Americans also now question the justifications of that war, and especially its conduct and duration. That fact is not irrelevant, though it makes no difference to people in Iraq right now. And it is not disloyal nor unsupportive of US soldiers for an American to acknowledge that some of the Iraqis shooting and bombing them are not "terrorists", but patriots opposing a prolonged foreign occupation--just as American patriots would do. But it is also not irrelevant that most of Iraq's current suffering is due to the sectarian strife between Shiite and Sunni Muslims. That strife is not directly related to the US at all, but has erupted mainly because the brutal dictatorship that was suppressing it has been removed. Indeed, despite the gross misconduct of Mr. Bush junior; had Mr. Bush senior removed that dictatorship in the course of the first Gulf War in 1991, followed by quick withdrawal and reconstitution of Iraq by allied Muslim forces, even most Muslims would probably have praised the US for its contribution to the betterment of the whole region. Of course, that is not what happened, and no-one is happy--including most Americans. And one could justly apply the Byzantine emperor's objection to the irrational contradiction of trying spread religion by the sword to the equally irrational attempt to spread democracy by the sword. (Afghanistan is another matter. American action there was fully justified by the atrocities committed by Al Qaeda, which was hosted there by the Taliban.) Anyway, I speak out on human error and injustice as a human being, not as an American. But since I live in a tolerant and secular democracy, I am allowed to speak out, even when it is my country that is in error. Even though Mr. Bush junior and Mr. Cheney and Mr. Rumsfeld think I should not. But that is another of their sins. Did I mention that the elephant in the room was a neoconservative Republican elephant?

On the broader topic of tolerance, Muslims really need to consider verses 40 through 159, which occur still earlier in that Sura 2 quoted above. These verses go on and on denouncing Judaism & Christianity. Detailing and emphasizing and reiterating how degenerate and misguided and ungrateful Jews & Christians are, and how hateful they are in the eyes of God. Wow. If the West paid any attention to those lines and responded in like manner and proportion to the Muslim uproar concerning the merest whiff of criticism in the Pope's speech--Islam would be wiped off the face of the earth. (Note to wackos: this is NOT a call to arms. Sit down, shut up, and turn the other cheek.) I'm just pointing out that those who encourage or excuse such frenzies are really playing with fire, should such virulent hatred catch hold in the West. And I'm pointing out to rational and good-hearted Muslims that there is real cause for the whole world to be concerned and alarmed, not just because of misdeeds long past, not only because of a few "misguided" terrorists, but because of some teachings in the Quran itself. And because people raised on such teachings are so readily whipped into violent angry mobs by cartoons or academic speeches. Such intolerance to criticism all too closely mirrors that of Muhammad himself. Upon returning from Medina, although he treated most of Mecca magnanimously, he singled out two groups for execution: "apostates" (who had tried but then rejected Islam)...and poets or singers who had mocked him. Intolerance is not unique to Islam. Indeed, much of what Catholicism has had to "do penance" for involved that very sin. But one sees no such contrition in Islam, despite the widespread perception that Islam is particularly intolerant both in doctrine and in practice. Islam is in need of some serious introspection on the subject of tolerance.

Muslims take offense and become enraged. They give offense and become enraged if anyone points it out. Does this reflect an insecure defensiveness, or an arrogant righteousness? If only Muslims would calmly correct, laugh at, or even just ignore criticism that is truly unfounded. And if only they would take to heart that which is fair.

Will someone please correct me if I am wrong didn't the pope say last year Turkey should NOT be let into the EU BECAUSE THEY ARE A MUSLIM COUNTRY?HOW MANY TIMES MUST YOU TURN THE OTHER CHEEK.

I believe in live and let live. you have nothing good to say about someone don't say anything. want to get into an argument start talking about religion or politics.people who live in glass houses should not throw stones

So the pope goes a bit further and says he " is sorry for the reaction to his speech"! Some apology! He is not sorry for what HE HAS SAID but for the raction from Muslims to what he has said. What does he think Muslims are? Fools and idiots? He is the true Fascist one could expect.

"A Fellow Seeker" is absolutely correct. Obviously the Pope's speeches and other public utterances are being closely monitored, probably by Islamic Fascists. These Fascists look for opportunities to take things out of context, distort what was said, and use it to stir up more animosity against Christianity, the Pope & the west. Too bad these protestors cant work up any outrage over the genocide in Darfur.

You are dead on Linda D! The Muslims are just looking for a fight. I think these people are very sick and I find it amazing that they would want to cause harm, kill, destroy themselfs and others over something that somebody said. I am sorry to say that the Muslims are a disgrace to the civilized world. THE LIGHTS ARE ON BUT NOBODY IS HOME.

The Pope need not apologize for merely re-stating history - the remarks of a 14th century Emperor, Manuel II Paleologus.
I, too, can quote history, in this case from D M Low's famous 1960 one-volume abridgement of Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, published in 1781.
On page 682, he wrote, "seven hundred Jews were dragged in chains to the market-place of the city; they descended alive into the grave prepared for their execution and burial; and the apostle [Mahommed] beheld with an inflexible eye the slaughter of his helpless enemies."
All this happened over 1300 years before Hitlers' Holocaust (denied by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's Shiite President.) Islam a religion of peace, as they claim? Go figure!

Pope Benedict should apologize for what was said by him, not for the reaction to what he said. Is that so hard to understand? I am embarrassed to be a Catholic. The Pope did NOT apologize - and the fact that he was struck by how his words wounded Muslims is an estonishment to me. Isn't he supposed to be intelligent? What about a little respect for others who are not of your religion? He's supposed to be God's representative on Earth; MY God would never have generalized that Islam is bad - he would have (and does) love the sinner, and hate the sin. Now, the bad muslims (aka terrorists) are killing people. These people don't need a reason to kill - they just do. However, no one figured this speech would CREATE this type of outrage?? How ridiculously short-sighted and stupid! Shame on him for adding fuel to the fire!

May God bless our Pope....he made his point and we should all be listening and watching. It's proves that actions speak louder than words. Is Islam a peaceful religion? It DON'T look like it. I do fear Islam and therefore will not give my name to this message.

Americans, more than anyone else, should understand why separation of religion and government was so wisely written into the foundational documents of America. The very reason for its (America) formation was to escape the oppression of a dictatorial religious government. True freedom can never exist as long as religious intolerance is used as a tool to govern: What is happening in the World today in the Middle East is visible proof. Using wisely thoughtout standards as acceptable behavior for a nations people is one thing; forced conformance to one religious denomination, is entirely a different matter. Government leaders from around the World who are truly dedicated to World Peace must understand these principals. True democracy has never been achieved; not even in America: It's a lofty goal. My fervent prayer is that intelligent leaders (in both religion and government) grasp the importance of the wisdom of separation of these two conflicting areas which stand steadfast to destroy nations and peoples throughout the World. It is prudent now to consider: "Let us reason together". Democracy (in its infantcy in America) works. Imagine the World after wise leaders (no matter what their religious beliefs) adopt the principals and goal of true democracy within their own governmental processes. One of the most misunderstood ideas I've heard so far is the misguided preception that America is selling christianity: It's not; that's the roll of the religious denominations, which in America are multifarious and separate from governmental processes. Faith is an individual personal matter that governs only the behavior of the individual; not the nation! What part of this simplistic process do we NOT understand? The Pope spoke only for his denomination; not for America OR the world. That's one of the blessings of democracy and its tolerance, which proves once again that religious intolerance breeds unacceptable behaviors. God grant us grace to understand and be tolerant of one another. No one had ever been completely right or completely wrong. It's important now that we share thoughts, ideas and faiths, to continue to exist in a world without borders via technological advances. One nation under God does not mean intolerance: We are many nations under God no matter what personal choices we make.

The Pope should not have apologized.

I'm not a Catholic, but wasn't the Pope quoting someone else in his speech - as an example of how we should all try to be tolerant of one another's religion? It wasn't his words and his intent was not to belittle the Islamic religion. He was just not very smart to quote a Crusade era ruler. I guess he thought the Crusades were over.

Matthew 7:16-17, 20: "By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them." If you look at the reactions of Muslims to the comments of the Pope, you can't help but see a bad tree. Take a look at Matthew 7:19.

Its a shame that the pope apologized, all this does is show the Muslims that their bad behavior gets rewarded and then they think they can push us around. I wish the pope had the courage to just come out and say point blank that Islam is evil.

The Pope need not appologize. The way the Muslims are reacting to a quote of Emperor Manuel II Paleologus shows the emperor had it right. As the saying goes....."if the shoe fits, wear it!" The Muslim extremists need to get a life. They look for any little reason to burn, fight, kill, etc. Where is the peace???????????

I have only seen violent reaction from the muslim community offended by the Pope's remarks, but maybe only violent reactions are being reported. Are there calls among muslim religious leaders to open a dialogue with the Vatican? Are muslim religous leaders asking for unity and peace? Are other muslims outraged at the violent reaction from some within their community, or has this happened so much in their community that non-extremist muslims have become apathetic.

I don't like the pope. However, I don't think he should apologize, either. To do that further weakens the West's position.

Don't fool yourselves here: There are hundreds upon hundreds of Muslim clerics preaching daily in Mosque about the need to destroy Christians, to hate Christians. This happens daily in every continent and every country, including the US. It's ok for Muslims to talk smack about another religion, but when it's their own....oh boy, stop the press! It's time to riot, kill and destroy. It's time to talk about world domination with one religion. Try to write a cartoon character poking fun at Islam....Muslim's have to realize their religion means nothing to a lot of people. And neither does Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, etc...to the rest. I feel like a lot of people, who are sick of Muslims getting all bent out of shape when someone says something negative about Islam. And I don’t feel this way because of 9/11. I feel this way because I’m sick of Muslims screaming we’ll kill you for saying that. We’ll kill all Christians and destroy the west. Really? You would kill someone for saying something you don’t agree with? Amazing….

Since its birth Islam has been agressive and intolerant. The West has never lived at peace with it, merely in a modus vivendi. Having lost North Africa, the Middle East, and the Near East to the sword of Islam, the West barely managed to push back the invading tide at the gates of Vienna and from Spain and Southern Italy. The idea that some tolerant society existed in areas of conquered Europe is a revisionist myth. The very intolerance and aggressiveness of Islam gave the West no choice but to expel Moslems from those areas. Our modern elite lives a dangerous delusion. The Right, gluttonous for oil, thinks Islam can be tamed. The Left, determined to remain in a multicultural relativist fantasy world, denies that it even needs to be. Only the pope has had the intellectual courage to draw our attention to the fact that a liberal-democratic-individualist society risks its very existence if it insists on opening itself to an ideology which is intolerant and aggressive. If we do not wake up, withdraw all political and military forces from the Islamic world, free ourselves of our dependence on Middle Eastern oil, and stop the mass migration of Islamic people into the West, we will come to understand only too well what it is like to live in a place in which there is no sexual equality, no separation of state and religion, and no tolerance whatsoever for sexual and religious minorities. In short, the backward horror of places like Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, etc., will become our everyday horror, too.

The worldwide reaction by muslims to the comments the pope said only proves that the core of their belief is violence. Muhammed did preach violence and intolerance towards anyone who wasn't muslim, and it continues to be proven right up to today. The attacks on christians, not Catholics, around the world due to these remarks, by muslims shouts of intolerance.
Rosie O'Donnell, but consider the source, recently said that bible-reading believers of Jesus Christ are no different that the muslim terrorists that flew the jets into the World Trade Centers. Did christians around the world start rioting and burning buildings, NO!!! Its time for muslims and non-muslims alike to wake up too what this "religion" is really teaching. The "wrongs" of hundreds of years ago are not going to be changed, whats done is done, we can however learn from others mistakes and grow in a positive way.

These Muslims are NOT expressing outrage. They are expressing HATE. Calling on the pope for a formal apology in a peaceful way is expressing outrage. Killing and burning churches is hate. We call them hate crimes in America, why shouldn't Muslims be held to the same standard of judgment? These were not the pope's words, it was a quote. A really old quote, at that. The quote was valid then, and now.

Obviously many of your posters don't know much about Islamic history. I suggest they read about al-Andalus, Moorish Spain, where Jews, Christians and Muslims lived in harmony for several hundres years--at a time when Jews were subject to persecution throughout all of Christendom. And at the time of the quote the Pope read, the Inquisition was cranking up, killing heretics like the Cathars, women who were consdiered witches, and Jews. They later extended this pasttime to include Protestants (who, in all fairness, returned the favor).

No religion is perfect. I had 16 years of Catholic education, and I know church history all too well. Catholicism in its early years was spread by the sword in many countries (Ireland was the exception), especially once Constantine made it the imperial religion, and has a really bad track record for dealing with anyone who disagrees with church doctrine (they're called "heretics" and tend to be burned at the stake).

Considering that THIS Pope, when he was head of what used to be the Inquisition, ORDERED bishops to cover up the pedophilia scandals (and the wider sex scandals worldwide) to preserve the chuirch's good name rather than care for the abused and molested girls and boys, he needs to remmeber a quote form his Lord Jesus: Judge not lest ye be judged. Oh yeah, and he who is without sin cna cast the forst stone.