Pope quote from Regensburg

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

On his second visit as Pope in Germany, Benedict XVI. on September 12, 2006 a lecture to scientists at the University of Regensburg . The dictum , known as the Pope's quote from Regensburg , is an expression in this lecture.

content

The Pope quoted a statement on the role of violence in Islam made by the Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaiologos (1350–1425) during a conversation with a Persian scholar:

“Without going into details such as the different treatment of 'writers' and 'unbelievers', he (the emperor) turns to his in an astonishingly harsh, surprisingly harsh manner with the central question of the relationship between religion and violence in general Interlocutor. He says: 'Show me what new Mohammed has brought, and you will only find bad and inhumane things like this, that he prescribed that the faith that he preached should be spread by the sword'. After he has struck, the emperor explains in detail why the spread of faith through violence is absurd. It is in contradiction to the essence of God and the essence of the soul. 'God has no pleasure in blood', he says, 'and not acting rationally, not σὺν λόγω, is contrary to the nature of God'. Faith is the fruit of the soul, not of the body. So if you want to lead someone to believe, you need the ability to speak well and right thinking, but not violence and threats ... In order to convince a sensible soul, you don't need your arm, striking tools or any other means by which you can get someone threaten with death. "

Reactions

First reactions

The Pope's words were characterized by a number of Islamic religious representatives as " hate sermons " and were heavily criticized. On the other hand, Hürriyet columnist Mehmet Yilmaz emphasized that the text of the speech made it clear that "the Pope distanced himself from quotations from the Middle Ages".

The Holy See initially reacted to the protests from the Muslim world with a written clarification by the head of the Vatican press office Federico Lombardi on September 14, 2006. He stressed that the Pope was about a resolute rejection of religiously motivated violence, not about the Hurt feelings of Muslims. Two days later, on September 16, 2006, Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone issued a written statement on the incident and also made it clear that the Pope had clearly distanced himself from the quote used in his lecture. He expressed the Holy Father's regret that portions of his address might have sounded hurtful and were interpreted in a way that was completely contrary to the intentions of his speech. He did not want to offend the Muslims' religious sentiments in any way. At a specially convened reception on September 25, 2006, the Pope personally shared his thoughts with the Vatican ambassadors of most of the Muslim countries represented in the Holy See.

Adel Theodor Khoury , the editor of the source edition from which the Pope had taken the quote, took Benedict XVI. also in protection, but also stated that the statement could have been made more precise in order to avoid misunderstandings. The philosopher Kurt Flasch accused the Pope of imprecise argumentation and of using a wrong Kant quote in his lecture. On the Protestant side, the theology professor Rolf Schieder pointed out that the Pope had assumed that not only Islamic, but above all Protestant theology, too, was not bound by reason.

Vatican opinion

The statement by Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone, published on behalf of the Pope, states, among other things:

“With regard to the judgment of the Byzantine emperor Manuel II. Palaiologos, which was quoted by him in the lecture in Regensburg, the Holy Father did not intend to make it his own in any way, but he made use of it in order to develop some reflections on the relationship between religion and violence in general in an academic context - as a careful reading of the entire text of the Regensburg speech shows. These considerations resulted in a firm rejection of religious motivations for violence, wherever they come from. "

In December 2006, the official footnote edition of the Regensburg speech was published. The controversial paragraph was amended as follows:

"Without going into details such as the different treatment of 'writers' and 'unbelievers', he turns to his interlocutor in an astonishingly harsh, for us unacceptably harsh form with the central question of the relationship between religion and violence in general."

In the footnotes it is emphasized again that the Pope regrets the misunderstanding and never wanted to adopt the quote, but only wanted to point out the essential connection between faith and reason and feel awe of the Koran.

After the Pope 's trip to Turkey from November 28th to December 1st, which he started as planned just one month after the incident, State Secretary Tarcisio Bertone jovially described the Regensburg case to Vatican Radio as an “archaeological relic” (in the sense of : "Old news"). With his trip, the Pope had proven that he was open to a real dialogue with Islam, according to Bertone. One now has the feeling that "a millennium" has passed since the misunderstanding about the misinterpreted speech. The trip was very strenuous for the head of the church, but Pope Benedict showed that talking to Muslims meant a lot to him. The Turkey had immediately before the trip deliberately insisted to speak to the Pope himself an official invitation to their country. Originally he had only been invited by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew I.

More reactions

On October 14, 2006, an open letter to the Pope was published on the website of the US Islamic magazine Islamica ; a detailed analysis and commentary on the speech appeared in the January 2007 issue of the magazine. The letter accepts the Pope's clarification, but it has also criticized errors in the understanding of the Koran and Islamic philosophy . The letter was signed by 38 Muslim imams and grand muftis - u. a. the Grand Muftis from Egypt , Russia, Bosnia, Croatia and Turkey, albeit without representatives of the relevant centers of Islamic learning Cairo , Medina and Mecca  - and who were looking for an “honest dialogue”.

The spiritual leader and caliph of the Ahmadiyya Muslims gave three Friday addresses in response to the Pope's speech, which were broadcast worldwide on Muslim Television Ahmadiyya and webstream. In 2007 the community published a 300-page book “Faith and Reason from an Islamic Perspective” in “Verlag der Islam”, in which the theses are discussed from an Islamic perspective.

The spiritual leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei , described the papal speech as the "last link in a plot for a crusade". In contrast, the former Iranian President Mohammed Khatami was moderate and warned against a hasty judgment. Khatami emphasized that one should first read the entire text of the speech before making any statements about its content. "Conclusions" as they are "currently drawn" come from "uninformed and fanatical people". He himself got to know the Pope as a very educated and patient man. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was satisfied with the statement from the Vatican. In a video broadcast by the radical Islamist organization Al-Qaeda on Italian private television TG5, a death threat against Pope Benedict XVI was made. pronounced. According to the embassy, ​​he placed himself in line with George W. Bush and Tony Blair . The security precautions for the angelus prayer on September 17, 2006 have been strengthened.

A few reform-oriented Muslims in the West, such as the French-Tunisian writer Abdelwahab Meddeb , on the other hand, have stood behind the Pope: “He must by no means soften the dispute or allow himself to be intimidated. He has already apologized too much ”.

On October 13, 2007, 138 Muslim scholars published a 29-page open letter (“ A common word between us and you ”) to Christian religious leaders calling for a dialogue on commonalities between the two religions. The initiative is considered a historic event because for the first time Muslim leaders from different directions and countries who represent the vast majority of Islamic faiths have come together (but without representatives from the influential Al-Azhar University in Cairo). Pope Benedict accepted the offer for dialogue on November 19th.

Speculation about the motives for the murder of a religious woman

The 65-year-old Italian nun, Sister Leonella Sgorbati , who works at an SOS Children's Village hospital, was shot dead by unknown perpetrators on September 17, 2006 in Mogadishu together with her bodyguard. This act gave rise to speculation about the motives. Yusuf Mohamed Siad , the security officer of the Union of Islamic Courts which controls Mogadishu , put the crime in connection with the papal speech - quote: "We assume that the crime is connected with the statements of the Pope." Willy Huber opposes this , the regional director of SOS Children's Villages: "A place like Mogadishu is unpredictable, and it is difficult to say what the motive is." Leonella Sgorbati, who had worked in the Austrian SOS hospital for four years, had lived in Mogadishu and Nairobi . Two suspects have since been arrested.

Analyzes

After the scandal surrounding the quote, the Regensburg speech became the subject of more extensive analysis. Jobst Paul from the Duisburg Institute for Linguistic and Social Research put the speech in the context of Ratzinger's previous academic work on Hellenistic Christianity , which was included in his inaugural lecture in Bonn in 1959, in the encyclical Fides et ratio (1998) by John Paul II. , in numerous publications by Ratzinger and in the declaration Dominus Iesus (2000). Taking into account church-political and theological aspects, Jobst Paul comes to the conclusion that “(t) the Regensburg speech appears as an indication of the escalation of an internal church conflict between incompatible, between the Jesuan and Thomistic understanding of religion, between Christian-Jewish ethics and church power at times Church's loss of power ”.

The controversy seems to have paid little attention to why the Pope quoted a Byzantine emperor, i.e. a Greek, to clarify his understanding of religion. As the (Eastern) Roman emperor, Manuel II was the then secular head of the Orthodox Church and was authorized to issue instructions to the Patriarch and the Orthodox Church. He is also considered to be one of the most educated rulers of the Byzantine Empire. The Pope, as head of the Catholics, in his speech, quoting a head of the Orthodox Church, not only notes considerable differences between the Catholic understanding of religion and the Protestant and Islamic one, but also a virtually identical view of the essence of God between the Catholic and Orthodox Church, regardless of the Schism of 1054. It is irrelevant that this quote is over 600 years old. It is only important that it dates back to the time after the schism and, moreover, from a proven advocate of Greek Orthodox independence.

The Regensburg speech is therefore, especially in anticipation of the visit to the Ecumenical Patriarch at the end of 2006, an important, albeit subtle, signal of respect and appreciation for the Orthodox churches. In view of Benedict's efforts to restore church unity with Orthodoxy, this aspect of the speech should not be underestimated.

The seminar for general rhetoric at the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen selected the Pope's lecture on December 18 as the “speech of the year 2006”. The jury determined that the speech was deliberately misunderstood . In the age of religious fundamentalism, the speech means "a highly committed, argumentatively precise and historically saturated location of Christian faith from the Greek spirit" and is "masterfully built in its polyphonic and yet straightforward composition".

Especially after Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Turkey. many initially critical voices reassessed the speech. The Islamic newspaper “Zaman” spoke of the fact that “the dialogue between the religions has really got underway” and Die Zeit - initially very harsh in its criticism - now spoke approvingly of the “wise men in the Orient” and “the most important in the Islamic world Authority of the West becomes ”.

In conclusion, Karl Cardinal Lehmann , the chairman of the German Bishops' Conference , said in relation to the Regensburg lecture that there was nothing to take back or to excuse . If the discussion about the speech was supposed to have served to make the dialogue between Christianity and Islam more serious, it had its good purpose.

literature

  • Faith and reason. The Regensburg Lecture . Herder Verlag, Freiburg / Breisgau 2006, ISBN 978-3-451-29597-3 . (Text of the lecture and comments by Gesine Schwan , Adel Theodor Khoury and Karl Lehmann )
  • Christoph Dohmen (Ed.): The "Regensburg Lecture" Pope Benedict XVI. in the dialogue of the sciences . Verlag Friedrich Pustet, Regensburg 2007, ISBN 978-3-7917-2073-9 .
  • Wolfgang Krebs: The Pope quote from Regensburg. Benedict XVI. in the 'clash of civilizations' . Rhombos-Verlag, Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-938807-54-5 .
  • Haider Ali Zafar (ed.): Faith and reason from an Islamic perspective. Answer to the Regensburg lecture by Pope Benedict XVI. Verlag der Islam, Frankfurt 2007, ISBN 978-3-932244-87-2 .
  • Safaa M. Afifi El-Sheikh: Western Churches in the Image of Contemporary Egyptian and Arab Religious Scholars: A Contribution to the Open Letter to Pope Benedict XVI. (Doctorate from HU zu Berlin) Dissertation to obtain the academic degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2012, hu-berlin.de (PDF; 1.8 MB)

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ In addition Werner Thiede : The crucified reason. The Regensburg Pope Lecture in the mirror of Wolfgang Huber's reply . In: ders. (Ed.): The Pope from Bavaria . Leipzig 2010, pp. 131–150.
  2. ↑ See Controverse VII 2c; in Khoury pp. 142/143; Förstel Vol. I, VII. Dialog 1.5 pp. 240/241
  3. ↑ Vatican: Address by Pope Benedict XVI. Faith, Reason and University. Memories and reflections. , September 12, 2006; youtube: Faith, Reason and University. Speech by Pope Benedict XVI in Regensburg , September 12, 2006
  4. ↑ Muslims outraged by Benedict's scolding against Islam. In: Spiegel Online , September 14, 2006; Retrieved October 19, 2017.
  5. ↑ Turkish critic had not read speech. In: Spiegel Online , September 16, 2006, accessed October 19, 2017.
  6. ↑ Ks. Piotr Kaczmarek: Benedykta XVI zmaganie o dialog z islamem (The struggle of Pope Benedict XVI in dialogue with Islam). In: Studia Theologica Varsaviensia 2/2012, pp. 245–262 [1–18] (here: pp. 255 [12] f., Note 37), ISSN  0585-5594 .
  7. ↑ "The quote only applies to a minority of Muslims." . Interview with Adel Theodor Khoury, in: FAZ September 17, 2006, accessed on October 19, 2017.
  8. ↑ Kurt Flasch: Religion and willingness to use violence: Pope Benedict not only quoted in Regensburg in a misleading way - but simply wrong. Reason is not a jacket. In: Berliner Zeitung , September 22, 2006.
  9. ↑ Rolf Schieder: Pope Benedict attacked the Protestant Church much more radically than Islam. When do the Protestants protest? . In: Berliner Zeitung , September 23, 2006.
  10. ↑ Quoted from: Safaa M. Afifi El-Sheikh: The Western Churches in the Image of Contemporary Egyptian and Arab Religious Scholars. A contribution to the dialogue in the Open Letter to Pope Benedict XVI. (PDF; 1.7 MB) (Dissertation, Humboldt University Berlin , July 24, 2012), p. 29.
  11. ^ Vatican: Cardinal Bertone, "Regensburg Fall" closed. ( Memento of October 11, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Message on Vatican Radio of December 30, 2006, accessed on October 19, 2017.
  12. ↑ Abdal Hakim Murad: Benedict XVI and Islam ; Aref Nayed: A Muslim's Commentary on Benedict XVI's Regensburg lecture . ( Memento of September 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF) Islamica Magazine, January 2007
  13. ↑ Muslim theologians and grand muftis accept Pope's clarification . kath.net, October 14, 2006. islam.de (PDF; 224 kB) islam.de; German translation of the open letter
  14. ↑ Jörg Lau: When Muslim scholars embrace the Pope. Spectacular document of a new dialogue between Muslims and Christians - the magazine »Islamica« analyzes the Regensburg speech of Benedict XVI . In: Die Zeit , February 2, 2007
  15. ↑ ahmadiyya.de (PDF)
  16. ↑ a b Ahmadinejad: “We respect the Pope.” Zeit online , September 19, 2006; Retrieved November 23, 2006
  17. ^ Radiovaticana.org
  18. ↑ Al Qaeda calls for the Pope to be murdered . verkehrsinfo.at, September 17, 2006
  19. ↑ "Islam was born with violence" . In: Die Zeit , No. 39/2006; Interview with Meddeb
  20. ^ "A Common Word Between Us and You"
  21. ↑ Christian W. Troll: "Our souls are in danger" . In: Die Zeit , No. 43/2007, p. 14
  22. ↑ Ingo Koll: Sleepy Dialogue? ( Memento from June 30, 2007 in the Internet Archive ), religious and educational Internet platform of the Evangelical Church in Germany
  23. ^ Reply of the Pope to the letter from Muslim religious leaders, November 19, 2007, vatican.va
  24. ↑ a b For many Muslims, the Pope's regret is not enough . Deutsche Welle , September 18, 2006
  25. ^ Italian nun shot dead in Somalia . ( Memento from September 30, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Basler Zeitung, September 17, 2006
  26. ↑ Speculation after the murder of a nun
  27. ^ Jobst Paul: On the way to the "robust" ecumenism. Reason and Faith in Regensburg. Diss Journal 15 (preprint) diss-duisburg.de
  28. ^ Sailing to Byzantium . In: International Herald Tribune , September 29, 2006
  29. ^ Calculated Risk . ( Memento of December 9, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Deutsche Welle , September 27, 2006
  30. ↑ uni-tuebingen.de
  31. ↑ University of Tübingen: Regensburg Papal Lecture is “Speech of the Year 2006” . Kath.net , December 18, 2006
  32. ↑ Cf. Benedict XVI. (2010): Light of the World: The Pope, the Church and the Signs of the Times - A Conversation with Peter Seewald, Città del Vaticano, Freiburg 2010. p. 124.
  33. ↑ Kath.net : Lehmann: During the interreligious dialogue "careless and too naive" December 29, 2006