The Pope

last updated 8 January 2015

It's the first major crisis of Pope Benedict XVI's 17-month papacy, said Margaret Ramirez in the Chicago Tribune. In a speech last week in Germany, the pontiff inflamed Muslim anger around the globe by repeating an attack on Islam from a 14th-century Byzantine emperor. 'œShow me just what Mohammed brought that was new,' Benedict said, quoting Manuel II Paleologus, 'œand there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.' It was just one sentence from a speech in which Benedict called on Islam to respect reason and to tolerate other religions. But the reaction was explosive, with riots in Muslim countries from Syria to Indonesia. In Somalia, an elderly nun was gunned down in a children's hospital in apparent retribution. Pakistan's parliament passed a unanimous resolution condemning Benedict; al Qaida in Iraq declared holy war on 'œthe worshipper of the cross' and his flock. After five days of uproar, Benedict issued a rare papal apology, saying he was 'œdeeply sorry' for offending 'œthe sensibility of Muslims.'

Benedict has created major problems 'œfor himself, his church, and the West,' said E.J. Dionne in The Washington Post. But then, Benedict sometimes forgets who he is. As the brilliant but often combative Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, he was free to make arcane theological arguments. Now, however, this doctrinaire conservative is the public face of a billion Catholics, and 'œreligious dialogue will not progress very far if it starts off with a slap in the face.' This isn't the first time Benedict has gratuitously insulted Muslims, said The New York Times in an editorial. In 2004, when he was the Vatican's top theologian, Ratzinger came out against letting Turkey into the European Union, on the grounds that it might further dilute Europe's waning Christian identity. 'œThere is more than enough religious anger in the world.' The pope, of all people, should not be adding to it.

Clearly, that was not his intention, said National Review in an editorial. And the violent reaction to the pope's speech only proves his larger thesis—that Islam 'œhas a troubled relationship with reason and with peace and religious freedom.' So does the refusal of many Muslims to accept his apology, said Jeff Jacoby in The Boston Globe. For that matter, the very concept of forgiveness is alien to them. It's the same old 'œstaggering double standard.' Crazed imams routinely spew vitriol against Christians and Jews, and the Muslim world sits silent. But if an author, or a cartoonist, or politician says anything even vaguely critical about Muslims, he is sentenced to death, and mobs put the torch to buildings.