AUSTRALIA’S religious leaders have called for calm and dialogue after a speech by Pope Benedict XVI in Germany on September 12 stirred Muslim protests and threats of violence.
The Pope has since apologised, saying he was “deeply sorry” for any offence to Muslims that he may have caused.
He said the 14th century passages of a Christian emperor he referred to during his address, which explored the historical and philosophical differences between Islam and Christianity and the relationship between violence and faith, in no way reflected his own views.
Chairman of the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Committee for Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations, Bishop Michael Putney of Townsville, said he hoped the furore would die down so the Church could continue to build relationships with the Muslim community.
Archbishop John Bathersby of Brisbane said he was saddened by the reaction to Pope Benedict’s speech.
He said he hoped the uproar did not damage relationships between Queensland’s Catholic and Islamic communities.
Cardinal George Pell of Sydney defended the Pope saying he did nothing wrong in making the speech.
The cardinal said it was a sign of hope that no organised violence had flared in Australia following the Pope’s comments.
Archbishop Mark Coleridge of Canberra and Goulburn, who worked at the Vatican during John Paul II’s papacy, said there was a vast overreaction to the Pope’s comments, but it had to be taken seriously.
He said it revealed hypersensitivity and volatility in the Muslim world, which the West ignores at its peril.
Some Australian Muslim groups accepted the Pope’s apology.
Dr Ameer Ali, of the Prime Minister’s Muslim Reference Group, said the Pope’s apology should be accepted and the matter ended.
