I have been following the reports on Benedict XVI’s homecoming to Bavaria in the German press. The visit has received little coverage in the US media, which is preoccupied with the 9/11 commemoration and the "War on Terror". Yesterday the pope led a prayer for the victims of the WTC attack and for peace (Benedict. like his predecessor, is a critic of the Iraq War). Today, at an outdoor event in Regensburg attended by over 300,000, Benedict spoke out against religious extremism:
In a sermon before an estimated 300,000 people in Regensburg Sept. 12, the pope said it was necessary to recognize the modern "pathologies" associated with reason and religion and the ways that "God’s image can be destroyed by hatred and fanaticism."
In light of these distortions, he said, Christians need to "state clearly the God in whom we believe and proclaim confidently that this God has a human face."
"Only this can free us from being afraid of God, which is ultimately at the root of modern atheism. Only this God saves us from being afraid of the world and from anxiety before the emptiness of life," he said.
"Benedetto" also emphasized the need to actively resist injustice:
"Don’t we want the outrageous injustice and suffering which we see in human history to be finally undone, so that in the end everyone will find happiness, and everything will be shown to have meaning?" he said.
Faith is not meant to instill fear but to call people to accountability, he said.
"We are not meant to waste our lives, misuse them or spend them selfishly. In the face of injustice we must not remain indifferent and thus end up as silent collaborators or outright accomplices," he said.
Also, German Radio inteviewed the theologian Hans Küng – who recently reconciled with the pope – on religious intolerance and the "War on Terror". Küng is particularly critical of President Bush and his unholy alliance with fundamentalist evangelicals in pursuing militaristic solutions in the Middle East:
"Nein, das ist kein Konflikt einfach zwischen Christentum und Islam. Es ist übrigens auch richtig, dass einerseits die protestantischen Fundamentalisten mitgeholfen haben, aber auch sehr viele jüdische Intellektuelle, diese Neokons, die verantwortlich waren für diese Strategie. Man hat ja geradezu diese Strategie entworfen, schon 1993 zum ersten Mal ein Dokument veröffentlicht, man müsste ein neues, imperialistisches, geopolitisches Gesamtkalkül entwickeln. Das war vor allem ein Kalkül, um das militärische Gewicht einzusetzen, um die Oberherrschaft im Mittleren Osten zu gewinnen und über die Ölquellen."
In particular, Hans Küng – who spends a great deal of time in the Middle East pursuing peace – is dismissive of the Bush administrations use of the term "Islamofascism":
Das ist alles eine dröhnende Politrhetorik, die die falsche Politik von Bush verschleiern soll. Jetzt tut man so, wie wenn es da eine Front gäbe gegen die Vereinigten Staaten. Die Vereinigten Staaten waren ja lange Zeit doch auch in Arabien durchaus beliebt. Also das ist der falsche Begriff und soll nur wieder als ein Drohwort gebraucht werden, um diese wahnsinnige Politik, Militärpolitik der Bush-Administration zu rechtfertigen.
