Pope seeks Christian-Muslim reconciliation

Amman: Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday called for an end to tensions between Muslims and Christians and warned against the misuse of religion for political ends in an address to Muslim leaders in Amman during his maiden Middle East tour.

The appeal from the leader of the world's 1.1 billion Catholics came as US President Barack Obama fast-tracked his bid to mend America's image in the Islamic world, scheduling a long-awaited address to Muslims in Egypt on June 4.

The speech, fulfilling an Obama campaign promise, will focus on how Americans and Muslims abroad can secure the “safety and security" of their children in a more hopeful future, Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said. The trip will represent Obama's most significant attempt yet to engage the Muslim world.

In Amman, Benedict told Muslim leaders, diplomats and rectors of universities in Jordan in a keynote address at King Hussain Mosque that Muslims and Christians today, “because of the burden of their mutual history full of misunderstandings, have to strive to be seen and recognised as believers truly loyal to the commandments".

"Often it is ideological manipulation of religion, sometimes with political goals, that is the catalyst for tensions and schisms and at times even violence in society," he added.

His wide-ranging speech and call for inter-faith reconciliation, however, disappointed a section of Muslim clerics by failing to offer a new apology for remarks seen as targeting Islam. In a 2006 address, the pontiff quoted a medieval Christian emperor who criticised some teachings of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) as “evil and inhuman''.

“What the pope said was not an apology,'' said Hammam Said, the overall leader of Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood and University of Jordan professor. Other Muslim leaders echoed his comments.

“We wanted him to clearly apologise,'' Shaikh Yousuf Abu Hussain, mufti of the southern city of Karak, said.

But Prince Gazi Bin Mohammad, the Jordanian King's adviser on religious affairs, thanked the Pope “for expressing regret over the lecture in 2006, which hurt the feelings of Muslims''.

Analysts said the Pope is keen to improve ties with the Islamic world during a tour that will also take him to Israel and to Bethlehem.

As he arrived in Amman on Friday, Benedict described himself as a “pilgrim of peace" and stressed his "deep respect" for Islam.

In Washington, Gibbs said the exact venue for Obama's speech had yet to be decided, but most speculation will centre on Cairo.

"On June 4, the president will give a speech in Egypt. The speech will be about America's relations with the Muslim world," he said.

Arabs and Muslims across the world have been alienated by the war in Iraq, abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib jail outside Baghdad and the Guantanamo Bay "war on terror" camp which Obama has ordered closed.

Entering mosque with shoes? No comment.
Yassir
Dubai,UAE
Posted: May 10, 2009, 12:14