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Pope pressured to say sorry
17/09/2006 11:07 - (SA)
Vatican City - Pressure mounted on Pope Benedict to issue a personal apology on Sunday when he makes his first public appearance since his comments about Islam sparked Muslim fury across the world.
The Vatican said on Saturday the Pope was sorry Muslims had been offended and that his comments had been misconstrued, but Muslim countries and religious groups remained angry at what they said portrayed Islam as a religion tainted with violence.
The Pope, leader of the world's 1.1 billion Roman Catholics, is due to give his regular Sunday blessing - known as the Angelus - at his summer residence Castelgandolfo, an occasion often used to express the church's views on current affairs.
Italian media said security at the castle had been tightened.
In Iran, theological schools closed on Sunday in protest at the Pope and Etemad-e Melli newspaper said senior clerics demanded an immediate apology. The English-language Tehran Times called his remarks "code words for the start of a new crusade".
Morocco withdrew its ambassador to the Vatican on Saturday, calling the Pope's remarks "offensive", while Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood - the country's main opposition force - said the statement issued by the Vatican was not enough.
"We feel he has committed a grave error against us and that this mistake will only be removed through a personal apology," said the Brotherhood's deputy leader Mohammed Habib.
The Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, one of the country's main Shi'ite political parties, also called for the Pope to apologise "clearly and honestly" for his comments.
In the speech in Germany on Tuesday, the Pope referred to criticism of the Prophet Mohammad by 14th century Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaeologus.
The emperor said everything Mohammad brought was evil "such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached".
Using the terms "jihad" and "holy war", the 79-year-old Pope said violence was "incompatible with the nature of God".
Vatican statement
But Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone said in a statement the Pope "had absolutely no intention" of presenting Emperor Manuel's opinions on Islam as his own.
"The Holy Father thus sincerely regrets that certain passages of his address could have sounded offensive to the sensitivities of the Muslim faithful," Bertone said in a statement, only a day after taking over as "deputy pope".
He said the Pope, elected 17 months ago, confirmed "his respect and esteem for those who profess Islam" and hoped his words would be understood in their "correct meaning".
The academic speech was meant as a "a clear and radical rejection of the religious motivation for violence, from whatever side it may come", Bertone said.
The backlash over the Pope's comments had cast doubt on his planned visit to Turkey in November, with Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, a pious Muslim with roots in political Islam, calling the Pope's comments "ugly and unfortunate".
However, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said on Sunday he expected the visit to go ahead. Aksam newspaper said Gul had also written to Benedict urging him not to cancel, saying it was an opportunity to foster dialogue between different cultures.
- Reuters
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