Madam, - I am dismayed that messages of regret from the Holy See have not subdued the clamour for an outright apology, an absolute retraction, an expression of the pope's personal contrition, if not for his humiliation.
This is bewildering, especially in view of the conspicuous absence of Islamic clerics of a stature even approaching that of the head of Roman Catholicism stepping up to renounce the noxious calumnies heaped by many high-ranking Muslim spiritual leaders on Jews, Christians or any they deem infidels. Innumerable Islamic preachers have railed against Jews - often from state television pulpits - called them pigs, informed their followers that Jews are descended from monkeys and dogs, that Jews are subhuman, incorrigible and undeserving of any consideration.
Such hate-mongering clerics are not ostracised by their fellow Muslim spiritual leaders, by those attending their services, not even by their governments. Much of the Muslim world as a whole, one is led to believe, doesn't take issue with such savage incitement. Yet the very same Muslims who evince the most glaring insensitivity to abuses hurled at others are ultra-sensitive about any purported disrespect to themselves, be it in the form of Danish-commissioned caricatures or a lecture by the bishop of Rome. - Yours, etc,
BEN WEATHERILL,
Dun Laoghaire,
Co Dublin.
Madam, - The Emperor Manuel Paleologus II, quoted by Pope Benedict, reigned from 1391 to 1425. He had his troubles with the Ottomans and he visited Italy, France, Germany and England to canvass military aid in facing down his Muslim enemies, whose virtues one would hardly expect him to extol in the circumstances. His mission was in vain.
When Manuel became Emperor, what became known as the Spanish Inquisition had been in full swing for 160 years, having been launched by papal bull in AD 1232. It was not revoked until 637 years later. The Inquisition saw some beauties on the throne of St Peter, such as Alexander VI (1492) - Roderigo Borgia who was the archetype of Renaissance Popes and a notable scoundrel. These gentlemen far outdid Islam in mindless bloodshed and ingenious torture to spread by the sword the faith that they preached.
It is difficult to understand how the leader of a church with two millennia of tradition in diplomacy and a vast administrative, research and intelligence-gathering empire could produce a gem of such destructive possibility at this critical time when the Islamic pot threatens to spill over. That the Pope used and expounded the provocative quotation strongly suggests that he endorses its sentiments and that he believes himself to be speaking from the moral high ground, when this couldn't be further from the truth.
It seems that since about AD 600, when Islam came into being, no Christian church ever considered the idea of establishing a "Christian" relationship with it. Christians were too busy spreading by the sword the faith which they preached but did not practise, until they had to find new weapons because of social development.
Had fellowship with Islam been anywhere on the Pontiff's agenda it would have prompted him to find quotes within his own jurisdiction and thus have saved him very serious and revealing embarrassment - if embarrassment is not too trivial a term. - Yours, etc,
SEAMUS WARD,
Blackrock,
Co Dublin.
Madam, - Having watched the coverage of Pope Benedict's visit to Germany on Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN), I was very impressed by his homilies. I appeal to you to publish more of them, so we can take them to heart and not be diverted by controversy. - Yours, etc,
AIDEEN COLLINS,
Holycross,
Co Tipperary.
Madam, - In his column on the Regensburg controversy Vincent Browne reserves all criticism for the Pope and the Catholic Church (Opinion, September 20th). He has a decidedly blinkered view. The Bishop of Rome, who most likely hears plaintive reports from Christian minorities all over the Islamic world, just might have a better awareness than Mr Browne of vicissitudes of daily life in those countries. The truth is that there is clearly established within the Islamic world a profound and violent intolerance of peaceful criticism of Islam.
If, as he claims, Islam has historically been more tolerant than Christianity, where are these beacons of tolerance today? - Yours, etc,
MÁIRTÍN Ó SÚILLEABHÁIN,
Blackrock,
Co Dublin