Benedict XVI: Faith, Reason and the University... and Islam?

Read what the pope actually said at Regensburg concerning Faith, Reason and the University. It is, of course, very good when read from beginning to end! Is a statement, a quotation, taken out of context, really a sound reason to start riots and burn him in effigy?

And it bothers me that it seems that the news media is the primary cause of this pain, provoking anger in the Muslim world by latching on to this quotation and reporting things like, "POPE SLAMS ISLAM", when in fact, the lecture has nothing to do with Islam itself, and only uses the quotation to develop its key points, including the condemnation of religious violence. One hopes that this lecture is translated into Arabic and other languages to allow people to understand it. The media involvement underscores the reality that, by and large, the media is no friend of ours if they encourage things like this.

Knowing that people are dear to our pope's mind and heart, I have no doubt that he is grieved by this, and so I expect him to address it further -- even if its cause was frivolous -- because the events underscore deeper realities. He won't ignore them. The Vatican is assuring people that the pope's feelings echo those expressed by the fathers of the Second Vatican Council in Nostra Aetate:

The Church regards with esteem also the Moslems. They adore the one God, living and subsisting in Himself; merciful and all- powerful, the Creator of heaven and earth, who has spoken to men; they take pains to submit wholeheartedly to even His inscrutable decrees, just as Abraham, with whom the faith of Islam takes pleasure in linking itself, submitted to God. Though they do not acknowledge Jesus as God, they revere Him as a prophet. They also honor Mary, His virgin Mother; at times they even call on her with devotion. In addition, they await the day of judgment when God will render their deserts to all those who have been raised up from the dead. Finally, they value the moral life and worship God especially through prayer, almsgiving and fasting.

Since in the course of centuries not a few quarrels and hostilities have arisen between Christians and Moslems, this sacred synod urges all to forget the past and to work sincerely for mutual understanding and to preserve as well as to promote together for the benefit of all mankind social justice and moral welfare, as well as peace and freedom.