"I was quoted out of context"

Or at least so Pope Ratz in this "apology", which comes on the heels of giving this speech at the University of Regensburg.

Here is a snapshot of the controversial part of the Pope's speech. I've provided a fair bit of context around it so that you can start to assimilate the Pope's line of argument:



It is not the quote itself that I see as the problem. A quote of anything from several centuries ago is going to ring quite differently in modern ears. It is certainly a phrase that in today's world is little more than a ringing condemnation of a particular faith. I find myself much more troubled by the way in which the Pope has paraphrased the source material he is referring to. In paraphrasing the way that he has, the Pope has created the impression that he is in fact adopting the argument itself.

Typical of this Pope, reading his writing is like going back to some of the Medieval era writings I studied in an undergraduate course on the evolution of science. The arguments are often quite circuituous. (Basically, the arguments often depend on citing some other authority who cites numerous predecessor authorities - often with the appearance that those authorities are necessarily correct because of who they are). While his intent may not have been to offend Islam, when he turfed out Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald from a position running a department that fostered inter-faith communication, the Pope certainly removed one of his faith's authorities on Islam. The very man who could, and likely would, have pointed out the danger of the Pope's speech.

I'm not so sure that this was an "out of context" thing for the Pope. He has shown himself on other matters to be something of an absolutist. It's his way or no way on quite a number of issues, something that suggests that this is more of a "slip of the veil", letting us see what he would otherwise attempt to hide.