Pope Benedict XVI said that he is "deeply sorry" his remarks on Islam and violence offended Muslims,...?

Yes, yes I do. He is a man of peace (you can tell from his other speeches and writings). Also, if you read his speech, it was a very obtuse address that argued that rational thought must be part and parcel of religious understanding, just as faith is a necessary component to learning. He then went on for the duration of the speech to relate the development of the classical Greek philosophical synthesis of faith and reason, and its inculcation into Catholic doctrine over the millenia. He used the example of a writing from a 14th century Byzantine Emperor whose city was under seize by the Persian Empire to make two points:

1) Religion does not support any form of warfare.

2) Religion without rational thought goes against God's nature.

There are probably better texts, but this was a tongue-in-cheek way of condemning religious violence as an aside to an otherwise obtuse speech that would have gone largely unnoticed.

Read for yourself (if you can stay awake through it)

Sara,

Be careful about what you say. Words have nuances that sometimes escape to people.

The pope didn't say he WAS DEEPLY SORRY ABOUT HIS REMARKS ON ISLAM (Also because he had no remarks on Islam on that topic...as what he mentioned and caused so many troubles is an extract of a late middle age document in which an emperor - Manuel the Paleologist - discusses with a muslim leader telling him Islam didn't bring any positive thing on the world for non muslims and the muslims had the habit to spread their religion by the sword rather than by the peace, which is an historic fact widely proved for that specific historic period).

What he actually said on TV (live in Italy, where i live) was that he was DEEPLY SORRY TO NOTICE HOW HIS WORDS OF PEACE AND DIALOGUE HAD BEEN DEEPLY MISUNDERSTOOD BY SOME MEDIA AND BY ISLAMISTS.

To add on something you should know men of church talk in a specific jargon, which can sometimes be very sublte so you need to read between the lines.

And the message in this case was that WHOEVER APPLIES VIOLENCE to get to his goals IS NOT A BELIEVER (Be it catholic, muslim, indu or anything else)

The news media accounts of Pope Benedict's words were not in there full context. The web site of the Holy See has the speech in question in its entirety translated into many languages. In full context, the speech calls for an understanding that no religion should "convert by the sword.'' In short, the Holy Father was calling for an end to religious violence and asking Muslims to be a part of the equation. Tragically, his words were parsed by radicals to foment violence. Muslims shot a 60 your old Catholic nun to death (in the back) outside the Somalia hospital where she worked, in response to the Pope's words. Where are the Muslims demonstrating in the streets against the murder of this little old lady? Where are the Muslims preaching against shouting nurses in the back four times? Their extreme reaction to the Pope's words, coupled with their complicit silence at the violence against this missionary sister speaks volumes about them.

I believe the Pope was deeply sorry if he offended anyone; and he said so; and I think the intent of his message was misunderstood. Whether a person is a Catholic or not, I truly believe the Pope represents world peace and wishes world peace for everyone. The people who were supposedly "offended" by the Pope's remarks are ignoring his genuine apology. They have an agenda so they won't accept the apology. To accept his apology means they have to shut up and the spotlight on them fades away. To be mad and get some press out of this adds fire to their agenda. There are plenty perpetrators of evil in this world, but the Pope is not one of them. It makes me sick to my stomach to see that one more gentle well meaning soul is being crucified for their motives. Righteous people in righteous religions must practice forgiveness and appreciate when men and women apologize for their mistakes.

One thing is sure... "We are all Papists now."

And this shout also comes from Hindus, Buddhists and Sikhs alike...

Last year when there was a major convention lead by the leadership of the Iranian governemnt, all major Islamic organizations in the world, enthusiastically attended the conferences... that is:

-The Muslim League,

-the Muslim Brotherhood,

-The Arab League,

-leaders of major Islamic countries such as Saoudi Arabia, Egypt and Syria and many more all attended this conference pro-actively and with willingness to feed this blatant insult on humanity's collective memory...

The subject of the conference:

"Why did the West made up the Holocauste ?"

I haven't seen anyone rioting or killing for that one yet ! Nor have I seen anyone rioting to stop the Arabo-Muslim tribes killing other black muslims and non muslims in Darfour, nor have I seen an rioting or excuses by any, and I mean any Islamic clerics who insulted westerners, christians or Hindus on a weekly basis.....

Now regarding the Pope's lecture,

What the Pope argued last week is not strikingly original. Many of the contemporary critiques of Islam have dwelt at length on the fact that the apparent finality of the Koran has made it difficult for Islam to experience a Reformation. What is also undeniable is that whereas the claims of Islam to be a religion of peace have been unceasingly made, almost all the Islamists have justified their terrorism in terms of religious obligation.

Heinous crimes have been committed and justified in the name of religion. Concern has also been voiced that the tenets of brotherhood in Islam do not always extend to non-believers, making them incompatible with multi-religious existence.

These are issue which warrant dispassionate debate and dialogue. The Pope may have been injudicious in citing a 14th century assessment by a Byzantine emperor but the questions he has raised are relevant both in theological and political terms. What is alarming is the fierce reaction to his lecture. They suggest that any debate on Islam based on critical scrutiny is bound to be accompanied by threats and intimidation. Far from encouraging sympathetic understanding of Muslim societies, this climate of intolerance is certain to fuel Islamophobia

Pope Benny Dick does not understand the Bible or he would see that Christ prophesied the coming of Muhammad as one of his own when he said:

"THINK NOT THAT I AM COME TO SEND PEACE ON EARTH; I CAME NOT TO SEND PEACE BUT A SWORD". Matthew 10:34

Pope Benedict xvi worships Zeus the Father, Zeus the Son, and Zeus the Holy Ghost and is only pushing George W Bush deeper into the Fire when he incotes hatred against Muhammad and Christ and Abraham and all prophets of Islam.

Pope Benedict xvi is a Witch Doctor of the Evil arm of Democracy.

It certainly was not an apology for what he said. In this instance, he has nothing to apologize about. He may say he is sorry only in the sense that his remarks were only reinforced by the actions of the Muslims that followed. Perhaps this is sort of an embarrassment too, because the Catholic church as of late has been smooching up to the Muslims to the point of calling them "brothers".

Perhaps the Pope is beginning to see that they cannot be called "brothers" as of the same faith.

I honestly do not think he should have needed to apologize. He was quoting someone else's works from like the 14th centure or so and he said that several times. Not only that but the Muslim faith is one of violence and conversion by the sword. I have read the passages my self and seen it's doctrine. Then they turned around today and shot an Italian nun and rejected his apology anyway. As far as I am concerned they have only proven the popes point.

Pope John Paul II would have never said it ... As others are pointing out, he (BenedictXVI) is apologising for the "reactions" rather than the substance of his statement ...

When a Pope given the volatility of the current global situation quotes a 14th century emperor in denouncing a major world faith as "evil and inhuman" ... he has all the vatican editing resources to proof his statements ... one wonders how such a statement can be without agenda and intent ... A foolish quiet nod to religion based saber rattling ...

Pope Benedict xvi is a Terrorist if he can use the media to incite hatred against Islam and Muslims while he desires to stay with the craze that grew to become into set with the aid of the Vatican while it supported Adolf Hitler in his attempt to exterminate the Biblical Jews. If Pope Benedict xvi sees in George W Bush the comparable Messiah that the Vatican observed in Adolf Hitler then he has to settle for the blame for the loss of existence of the nun or whoever suffers for his stupidity in his Terrorist declarations of the Catholic Church. The Pope has been shown to be very fallible in any utterances they make regarding human behaviour because of the fact they stay a subhuman existence in shirking the duty for which guy grew to become into created. Muhammad had his honest share of alternative halves and the Vatican seems on women because of the fact the curse of mankind and for this reason encourages the evils of Christian society to women and their toddlers and the imprisonment of ladies of their nunneries and their monastries the place youthful girls and boys are sexually abused as an conventional effect of Christianity. The Pope ought to keep his evil mouth out of the Scriptures and supply up his envy of prophets and Islam. He ought to stay along with his Greek mythology.