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by <a href="https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/author/Giulio+Meotti" target="_blank"><span>Giulio Meotti</span></a><br>
<time class="m_3991935135154087695m_3888777656868510719gmail-nocontent" datetime="2016-10-16T05:30:00">October 16, 2016 at 5:30 am</time></b></p>
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<ul class="m_3991935135154087695m_3888777656868510719gmail-content_preface_bullets"><li><p>"[Pope Benedict XVI] has
doubted publicly that it can be accommodated in a pluralistic society...
and tempered <u><b>(=mérsékelte)</b></u> his support for a programme of inter-religious dialogue
run by Franciscan monks at Assisi. He has embraced the view of Italian
moderates and conservatives that the guiding principle of
inter-religious dialogue must be <i>reciprocità</i>. That is, he finds
it naive to permit the building of a Saudi-funded mosque, Europe's
largest, in Rome, while Muslim countries forbid the construction of
churches and missions." — Christopher Caldwell, <i>Financial Times</i>.</p></li><li><p>In that lecture, Benedict did what in the Islamic world is
forbidden: freely discussing faith. He said that God is different from
Allah.</p></li><li><p>Since then, apologies to the Islamic world have become the
official Vatican policy. Pope Francis denied that Islam itself is
violent and claimed that the potential for violence lies within every
religion, including Catholicism. Previously, Pope Francis said there is
"a world war" but denied that Islam has any role in it.</p></li><li><p>"It is clear that Muslims have an ultimate goal: conquering the
world...But we find it hard to recognize this reality and to respond by
defending the Christian faith (...) I have heard several times an
Islamic idea: 'what we failed to do with the weapons in the past we are
doing today with the birth rate and immigration'. The population is
changing. If this keeps up, in countries like Italy, the majority will
be Muslim (...) And what is the most important achievement? Rome." —
Monsignor Raymond Burke, US Catholic leader.</p></li></ul>
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<div class="m_3991935135154087695m_3888777656868510719gmail-itemprop_articlebody">
<p>........<br></p>
<p>On September 12th 2006, Pope Benedict XVI (Joseph Ratzinger) ....... was
expected to deliver a <a href="https://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/it/speeches/2006/september/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20060912_university-regensburg.html" target="_blank">lecture</a>
in front of the academic community at the University of Regensburg. .......<br></p>
<p>.........<br></p>
<p>In his lecture, Pope Benedict clarified the internal contradictions
of contemporary Islam, but he also offered a terrain of dialogue with
Christianity and Western culture. The Pope spoke of the Jewish, Greek
and Christian roots of Europe's faith, explaining why these are
different from Islamic monotheism.<br></p><p>..........<br></p><p>In that lecture, the Pope did what in the
Islamic world is forbidden: freely discussing faith. He said that God
is different from Allah. We never heard that again.</p>
<p>... the Muslim <i>umma</i>
[community] ... reacted violently. Even the international press was
unanimous in a chorus of condemnation of the "Pope's aggression on
Islam."</p>
<p>The reaction to Pope's speech proved that he was right. From Muslim leaders to the <a href="http://catholicexchange.com/pope-benedict-and-islam-too-deep-for-the-new-york-times" target="_blank"><i>New York Times</i></a>,
everybody demanded the Pope's apologies and submission. ....... . <br></p><p><font size="1">In the Palestinian area Christian churches were burned and Christians targeted. <a href="http://www.standard.co.uk/news/the-pope-must-die-says-muslim-7191047.html" target="_blank">British Islamists</a> called to "kill" the Pope, but Benedict <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1529464/Pope-defies-death-threats-to-greet-pilgrims.html" target="_blank">defied them</a>. At the same time, in Somalia, an <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5353850.stm" target="_blank">Italian nun</a> was shot. In Iraq, a <a href="http://www.christiantoday.com/article/worldwide.christian.community.shocked.as.priest.is.beheaded.in.iraq/8023.htm" target="_blank">Syrian Orthodox priest</a> was beheaded by al-Qaeda and mutilated after the terrorists demanded that the Catholic Church to apologize for the speech. The <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5347876.stm" target="_blank">Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood</a> pledged retaliations against the Pope. A Pakistani leader, <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/archive/2006/09/200849154441682442.html" target="_blank">Shahid Shamsi</a>, accused the Vatican of supporting "the Zionist entity." <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/pope-compared-to-hitler-and-mussolini-over-islam-remarks-416123.html" target="_blank">Salih Kapusuz</a>,
number two in the party of the Turkey's then Prime Minister (now
President) Recep Tayyip Erdogan, compared Pope Benedict XVI to Hitler
and Mussolini. The Supreme Leader of Iran, <a href="http://aaj.tv/2006/09/iranian-leader-says-us-israeli-conspiracy-behind-pope-remarks/" target="_blank">Ayatollah Ali Khamenei</a>,
insisted that the words of the Pope belong to "the chain of US-Israeli
conspiracy," and accused Benedict of being part of the "Crusader
conspiracy."</font></p><font size="1">
</font><p>Security around Pope Benedict was soon massively increased. Two years later, the Pope had been <a href="http://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/186421?eng=y" target="_blank">barred from speaking</a>
at Rome's most important university, La Sapienza. After the Regensburg
affair, Benedict would not be the same anymore. Islamists and Western
appeasers had been able to close his mouth.</p>
<p><font size="1">A few days after the lecture, exhausted and frightened, <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB115862615497066989" target="_blank">Pope Benedict apologized</a>.
I am deeply sorry for the reactions in some countries to a few passages
of my address ... which were considered offensive to the sensibility of
Muslims," the Pope told pilgrims at his Castelgandolfo summer
residence. The quote did not "in any way express my personal thoughts. I
hope this serves to appease hearts." </font>The Pope may have said that to stop further violence. <br></p><p>But since then,
apologies to the Islamic world have become the official Vatican policy.</p>
<p>........ <br></p><p>The Vatican's new agenda seeks "to reach
political accommodations with Islamic states and foreswear forceful
public condemnation of Islamist and jihadist ideology."</p>.........<br>The entire Vatican's diplomatic body today carefully avoids the words
"Islam" and "Muslims," and instead embraces a denial that a clash of
civilization exists.........<table style="margin-bottom:5px;max-width:600px" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" align="center">
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</tbody></table>
<p>In May, <span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b>Pope Francis explained </b></span>that the "<a href="http://www.la-croix.com/Religion/Pape/Le-pape-Francois-a-La-Croix-Il-faut-integrer-les-migrants-2016-05-16-1200760525" target="_blank">idea of conquest</a>"
is integral to Islam as a religion, but he quickly added that some
might interpret Christianity, the religion of turning the other cheek,
in the same way. "Authentic Islam and the proper reading of the Koran
are opposed to every form of violence," <a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20131124_evangelii-gaudium.html" target="_blank">the Pope claimed in 2013</a>. A year later, Francis <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/12/23/pope-francis-muslim-christian-middle-east-christmas/20816259/" target="_blank">declared</a>
that "Islam is a religion of peace, one which is compatible with
respect for human rights and peaceful coexistence." He claimed that it
is the <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/pope-francis-urges-poles-to-embrace-migrants-on-final-day-of-visit-1469963264" target="_blank">ills of global economy</a>, and not Islam, that inspire terrorism. And a few days ago, the Pope <a href="https://www.jihadwatch.org/2016/10/pope-denounces-christians-who-dont-want-muslim-migrants-as-hypocrites" target="_blank">said</a> that "people who call themselves Christians but do not want refugees at their door are hypocrites."</p>
<p>................<br></p><span style="background-color:rgb(255,229,153)"><b>.... there are brave cardinals who still speak the truth. One is the
US Catholic leader <span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)">Raymond Burke,</span></b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"> </span>who is featured in a recent <a href="http://www.ilgiornale.it/news/politica/lislam-pericolo-vogliono-sottometterci-armi-e-i-figli-1314051.html" target="_blank">interview</a> with the Italian media, in which<span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b> he said:
</b></span><blockquote><p><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">"It is clear that Muslims have an ultimate goal:
conquering the world. Islam, through the sharia, their law, wants to
rule the world and allows violence against the infidels, such as
Christians. But we find it hard to recognize this reality and to respond
by defending the Christian faith (...) I have heard several times an
Islamic idea: 'what we failed to do with the weapons in the past we are
doing today with the birth rate and immigration'. The population is
changing. If this keeps up, in countries like Italy, the majority will
be Muslim (...) Islam realizes itself in the conquest. And what is the
most important achievement? Rome."</span></p>
</blockquote>
<p><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>Unfortunately</b></span>,<span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><b> </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">Rome's first bishop</span>, Pope Francis</b></span>, <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>seems deaf and
blind </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,229,153)"><b>to these important truths</b>.</span> It took five days for Benedict XVI to <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/17/world/europe/17cnd-pope.html" target="_blank">apologize</a> for his brave lecture. But he opened a decade-long season of the Vatican's excuses for Islamic terrorism.</p>
<p>........<br></p>
<blockquote><p><i>Giulio Meotti, Cultural Editor for</i> Il Foglio,<i> is an Italian journalist and author.</i></p>
</blockquote>
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