What the Pope intended by

opening his address on “Faith

and Reason”
Prepared by:Dr.Ismail 02-10-2006

Dear readers,

Having read the full transcript of the Papal address, and seeing
the response it elicited and the apology which followed, a few
things are worth mentioning. *

What the Pope intended by opening his address on “Faith and

Reason” to a German university with a quotation from a debate
between Emperor Manuel and a Persian we will never know, but
we can be sure it has little to do with “Faith and Reason”.
Emperor Manuel was fully entitled to feel embittered on seeing
his entire world under siege. Clearly a man of the age, he should
perhaps be given a lot more airtime. His modern counterpart,
whose efforts to cast Christianity as a religion based entirely
upon reason, has landed in what can only be described as a well-
deserved pickle. Not least of all because he has jeopardised the
efforts of his predecessor Pope John Paul II to bridge the gap
between Catholics and other faith communities. Also, in a world
where rulers on all sides are justifying the dispatch of thousands
of innocents into oblivion, the Church is really expected to act
as a force for good.

Rather like Emperor Manuel in 1391, Muslims have seen their

lives cheapened, their lands confiscated and their cities
besieged. Muslims are fully entitled to take exception to their
religion being called bellicose or inhuman.

On the other hand, I wish Muslims could express this in a less

emotional way, because media images make us look an angry
and uncaring people. There is so much scope for positive debate
here, not only on ‘faith and reason’, but also on ethics, history
and theology. This Pope clearly decries the use of the sword in
jihad; yet I wonder what he thinks of Thomas Aquinas’ Treatise
on Just War – which was ‘smuggled’ verbatim into Christianity
from Classical Islamic thought.

In a historical discussion on faith and the sword Pope Benedict

should need look no further than his own faith – Pope Innocent’s
Fourth Crusade which sacked Constantinople in 1203* with the
decimation of its civilian population is one of history’s worst
atrocities. Or perhaps he should consider the forced
“christianisation” of Muslim Spain through the Inquisition.

In stark contrast, the Pope might also consider the enduring

civilization founded after Muslims conquered Constantinople,
one which for centuries provided exile to Jews and other ethnic
minorities escaping religious persecution in Europe.

Related Links: *

www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2006/septe
mber/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20060912_university-
regensburg_en.html