POPE BENEDICT XVI and AL QUEDA

A Preview of Coming Events

Rome July 2008.

                            “Faith, it’s very simple.” This phrase was the essence of the speech that Pope Benedict XVI gave on September 12^th  at the University of Regensburg, in Germany. The title of the speech was “Faith, Reason, and the University; Memories and Reflections.” The speech was meant to stress the need for sound reason, even in the context of faith. Quoting directly from the speech, the Pope said:

          “I was reminded of all this recently (the need for reason in religious debate) when I did read part of a dialogue by the erudite Byzantine Emperor Paleologus and an educated Persian on the subject of Christianity and Islam. The emperor, after having expressed himself forcefully, goes on to explain in detail why spreading the faith through violence is something unreasonable. Violence is incompatible with the nature of God and the nature of the soul. God continues the emperor, is not pleased by blood, and not acting reasonably is contrary to God’s nature. Faith is born of the soul, not the body. Whoever will lead someone to faith needs the ability to speak well and to reason properly, without violence and threats.”

          The intention of the pontiff here is not one of negative criticism, but clearly that of stressing the need for reason and its’ application in matters of faith. Further in the speech, the Pope clearly expressed that we become capable of that genuine dialogue between cultures and religions only when we use the common ground of reason and common-sense.

          The Islamic fundamentalist’s response was, as usual, extreme. In Cairo, Egypt, an Al Qaeda- linked extremist group warned Pope Benedict XVI that he and the West were “doomed.” Other Al Qaeda organizations such as the Shura Counsel, a Sunni extremist group, issued a statement on the Web, vowing to “continue its Holy War against the Crusaders and the West.” In Kashmir, the head of a hard-line Muslim group forced shops, businesses, and schools to shut down. Churches were burned, a nun was killed, protestors rallied across Pakistan, Syria, and even in China top officials criticized the Pope and misrepresented his speech. Fire bombs were thrown against seven churches in the West Bank in the Gaza Strip. Christian Lebanese expressed their fear after mass in one of the few churches in Beirut. Of course, all these violent actions underlined the correctness of the statement that the Pope read at the University, expressing the concern that so many Muslims approve of violence as a mean to further their religion.

          Was all the fuss part of the usual media circus? Or was it a communication gap on the part of the Vatican? This was definitely a hot-potato for the new Secretary of State of the Vatican, Monsignor Tarcisio Bertone, just sworn in on September 15^th.

          What’s important is that the day before the dreaded speech, on September 11^th the Pope celebrated a special mass in which he declared that; “The true vengeance of God is the Cross.” The primary message of Christianity is “no” to violence and “love for fellow men and women till the ultimate self-sacrifice.”

          Concerning the statement of Benedict XVI, the Italian theologian, Vito Mancuso, professor at the University of St. Rafael in Milan, Italy, said: “The words that the Pope said concerning the logos and reason as an intrinsic heredity of the Christian Church are not only true, but were cause for a profound joy in my heart. Christianity knows that God is love.” This is not a conflict between religions, but is a different view on how to relate and express one’s own worldviews. In the West, we may agree to disagree and we may use strong words to try to defend our positions, but we do not resolve to violence. A few extremists, starting with Osama Bin Laden and all his followers, have decided to try to impose their views of the world, and their sick brand of fanatic pseudo-religion using force, intimidation, fear, and random killing of innocents (terror).

          On Sunday, September 10^th, in Munich, Germany, the Pope said; “The West is becoming deaf to the call of God and this is frightening to all other religions.  Pope Ratzinger wrote 14 speeches during his visit in Germany and prior to September 12^th. The common thread was “The spiritual rebirth of the West, so that the modern world will return to a deeper relationship with God.” Cardinal Christof Schoenborn, Archbishop of Vienna and former student of the Pope wrote: “This was the main objective chosen by the Pope.”

          The Pope was one of the top theologians in the Catholic Church for the last 30 years and the closest person to Pope John Paul II. All the speeches prior to September 12^th, and Pope Benedict XVI prior writings on theological matters, clearly indicate that his concern is the radical, materialistic rationalism of Western society, particularly in the U.S. and Europe. In all his speeches, the Pope tries to stress the fact that the Bible, both the New as well as the Old Testament, are extremely rational and supportive of common-sense and logic. The problem in our materialistic society is our inability to marry successfully rationality and faith, logic and soul, scientific and spiritual pursuit.

          If I understand the sense of what Pope Ratzinger is trying to say is that we need a new revolutionary approach to our faith, one that is more rational and more suited to our fast-paced world. But, among all the violence that is surrounding our world, the future is bright because every day we see more and more leaders searching for peaceful answers, young people trying to restore the balance of nature that we and our fathers have left so vulnerable, untold masses traveling freely, with trains, plains, or with television sets and internet screens, from nation to nation, sharing their cultures, their experiences, and their hearts. The future is multicolored and bright indeed.

Dr. Guido George Lombardi