Check out this article!
Yet other Catholics feel he did make a slip in his speech.
"He should apologize," said Jennifer Ferreris, 20, a theology student at Boston College who went to see the pope on Wednesday during her trip to Rome.
"Too much emphasis is placed on the fundamentalists of Islam, the militants, and not enough on the faith. We adore the same God. They have respect for the Virgin Mary."
Even if he suggested something many believe is true - about a link between violence in Islam, especially after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 - critics say it is not necessarily the pope's job to say so. It could, they say, undermine his authority as a figure above conflict - or even feed a hatred against Muslims that they say is contrary to Christianity.
"I lost a little respect for him," Ferreris added. "Inadvertent as it might have been, he's the head of our church. He should be the most tolerant."
Did anyone catch the irony in the punch line here? Let me repeat it for you, and let me set the stage...a THEOLOGY student, referring to comments made by Pope Benedict XVI, thinks that he should be "THE MOST TOLERANT".
Apparently this "theology student" has never heard of a little gem by the title of "Truth and Tolerance", authored by none other than Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI.
Pherhaps some excerpts from the Pope's own words, when writing as the Cardinal, will assist this "student" in further understanding of what tolerance is really about:
" There is nothing else for it; reason and religion will have to come together again, without merging into each other. It is not a matter of preserving the interests of old religious bodies. It is for the sake of man and the world.... yet persuasion can only be achieved with difficulty amid the multitude of pressures and demands to which people are subjected. We must venture an attempt to find the way, however, so as to make plausible once more, through various converging indications, something that for the most part lies far beyond the horizon of our own interests. (p. 84)
Now, the following REALLY sums it up:
Yet even Islam, with all the greatness it represents, is always in danger of losing balance, letting violence have a place and letting religion slide away into mere outward observance and ritualism. And there are, of course, as we all know but too well, diseased forms of Christianity--such as when the crusaders, on capturing the holy city of Jerusalem, where Christ died for all men, for their part indulged in a bloodbath of Moslems and Jews. What that means is that religion demands the making of distinctions, distinctions between different forms of religion and distinctions within a religion itself, so as to find the way to its higher points. By treating all content as comparably valid and with the idea that all religions are different and yet actually the same, you get nowhere. Relativism is dangerous in quite particular ways: for the shape of human existence at an individual level and in society. The renunciation of truth does not heal man. How much evil has been done in history in the name of good opinions and good intentions is something no one can overlook. (p. 204)
"The renunciation of truth does not heal man"
That may very well be one of the best things anybody ever said. Thank you, Pope Bendict XVI. Stand strong, Holy Father! You owe no apology!
4 comments:
That absolutely rocks, and, from a less religious and more common sense angle, is so true. I will have to share his comments with others.
I still hold true to what I told Angela the other day: The Crusades were a little wack and more of a "turf war" than anything else. "Nanny Nanny boo boo! I control Jeruselum. Come and take it!" Someone did and the next thing that you hear is, "Nanny Nanny boo boo! I control Jeruselum. Come and take it!"
Thanks for reminding us that religion and reason must come together if we are ever going to solve anything.
JD
Great post, Adoro!
I don't think that "truth" is taught much these days. Sensitivity and compassion seem to be the by-words at universities.
It will be interesting to see if we can move the University of Minnesota off of that position as we wage our campaign against "The Pope and the Witch!"
Truth and Tolerance is an excellent work and one that all Catholics should read, particularly with so much syncretism and indifferentism taught from our cathechists.
I wonder if this "theology student" made any attempt to read the original lecture, or if she simply took what the MSM reported at face value.
Boston College, barely catholic. She probably loves Professor Thomas Groome.
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