The Regensburg lecture or Regensburg address was delivered on 12 September 2006 by Pope Benedict XVI at the University of Regensburg in Germany, entitled "Faith, Reason and the University – Memories and Reflections" (). The address was a source of international controversy for its criticism of Islam.
Pope Benedict XVI's lecture The lecture on faith and reason, with references ranging from ancient Jewish and Greek thinking to Protestant theology and modern secularity, focused mainly on Christianity and what Pope Benedict called the tendency to "exclude the question of God" from reason. Islam features in a part of the lecture: the Pope quoted a strong criticism of Islam, a criticism Pope Benedict disclaimed as being stated with an "unacceptable" "startling brusqueness, a brusqueness which leaves us astounded".
The author of this criticism was the Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaiologos (or Paleologus) in a 1391 dialogue with an "educated Persian" (who remained unnamed in all the dialogues), as well as observations on this argument made by Theodore Khoury, the scholar whose edition of the dialogue in question the pontiff was referencing. Pope Benedict used Manuel II's argument in order to draw a distinction between a Christian view, as expressed by Manuel II, that "not acting reasonably is contrary to God's nature", and an allegedly Islamic view, as explained by Khoury, that God transcends concepts such as rationality, and his will, as Ibn Hazm stated, is not constrained by any principle, including rationality, although it is known in Islamic thought that this does not imply the intended meaning as used by the editor.
As a part of his explication of this distinction, Pope Benedict referred to a specific aspect of Islam that Manuel II considered irrational, namely the practice of forced conversion. Specifically, the Pope (making clear that they were the Emperor's words, not his own) quoted Manuel II Palaiologos as saying: "Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new and there you will find things only bad and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."
The pontiff was comparing apparently contradictory passages from the Qur'an, one being that "There is no compulsion in religion", the other being that it is acceptable to "spread the faith through violence". The pontiff argued the latter teaching to be unreasonable and advocated that religious conversion should take place through the use of reason. His larger point here was that, generally speaking, in Christianity, God is understood to act in accordance with reason, while in Islam, God's absolute transcendence means that "God is not bound even by his own word", and can act in ways contrary to reason, including self-contradiction. At the end of his lecture, the Pope said, "It is to the great logos, to this breadth of reason, that we invite our partners in the dialogue of cultures."
Paragraphs about Islam In his lecture, the Pope, speaking in German, quoted a passage about Islam made at the end of the 14th century by Byzantine (Eastern Roman) emperor Manuel II Palaiologos. The controversial comment originally appeared in the seventh of the 26 Dialogues Held with a Certain Persian, the Worthy Mouterizes, in Anakara of Galatia, written in 1391 as an expression of the views of Manuel II, one of the last Christian rulers before the Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453, on such issues as forced conversion, holy war, and the relationship between faith and reason. The passage, in the English translation published by the Vatican, was:
Many Islamic politicians and religious leaders protested against this passage the pope quoted, and which they perceived as an insulting mischaracterization of Islam.BBC Article. "In quotes: Muslim reaction to Pope", last accessed 17 September 2006BBC News Article: "Pope sorry for offending Muslims", last accessed 17 September 2006 Mass street protests were mounted in many Islamic countries. The Pakistani parliament unanimously called on the Pope to retract "this objectionable statement".Telegraph
The Pope maintained that the comment he had quoted did not reflect his own views, arguing that he was in agreement with the broader point about the importance of reason and non-violence that Manuel II developed later on in the text, but not with the characterisation of Islam as inherently evil or violent. His statement has been included as a footnote in the official text of the lecture available at Vatican website:
Quoted below are the three paragraphs (of sixteen total) which discuss Islam in Pope Benedict's lecture:
Initial reactions
Political leaders
Africa – Foreign minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said: "This was a very unfortunate statement and it is a statement that shows that there is a lack of understanding of real Islam. And because of this we are hopeful that such statements and such positions would not be stated in order to not allow tension and distrust and recriminations to brew between the Muslim as well as the west." The Vatican envoy was also summoned."In quotes: Muslim reaction to Pope", BBC News, 16 September 2006 – Morocco recalled its ambassador to the Vatican."Ambassador recalled over Pope row". The Australian, Agence France-Presse, 17 September 2006.
Americas – Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice praised the Pontiff's "love of humanity", and said: "We all need to understand that offense can sometimes be taken when perhaps we don't see it.""Muslims seek fuller apology". The Boston Globe, 20 September 2006.
Asia – The Guardian Council said the Pope was part of "a series of Western conspiracy against Islam" and had "linked Islam to violence and challenged Jihad at a time when he apparently closed his eyes to the crimes being perpetrated against defenseless Muslims by the leaders of power and hypocrisy under flag of Christianity and Jewish religion"."Guardian Council condemns Pope's anti-Islam statement". . Islamic Republic News Agency, 17 September 2006 President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stated that "Regarding the issue of the Pope's comments, we respect the pope and all of those who are interested in peace and justice.""Iranian president expresses respect for pope". , The Jerusalem Post, 19 September 2006 – Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said that "The Pope's remarks reflect his misunderstanding of the principles of Islam and its teachings that call for forgiveness, compassion and mercy", but also called on Iraqis not to harm "our Christian brothers"."Iraq calls for calm after Pope's remarks". The Scotsman. Reuters. 16 September 2006 – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono stated that the Pope's comments were "unwise and inappropriate","Pope says he's sorry about strong reaction, says speech didn't reflect his personal opinion". , The Jakarta Post, 17 September 2006 but also that "Indonesian Muslims should have wisdom, patience, and self-restraint to address this sensitive issue. ... We need them so that harmony among people is not at stake.""Amid criticism and violence the first balanced views about the Pope’s speech appear". – Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said, "The Pope must not take lightly the spread of outrage that has been created. The Vatican must now take full responsibility over the matter and carry out the necessary steps to rectify the mistake." – President Pervez Musharraf, in a speech at the United Nations, called for legislation against "defamation of Islam"."Pakistan calls for ban on 'defamation of Islam' in veiled attack on pope". Yahoo News. Agence France-Presse. 19 September 2006 Pakistan's parliament issued a statement, saying, "The derogatory remarks of the Pope about the philosophy of jihad and Prophet Muhammad have injured sentiments across the Muslim world and pose the danger of spreading acrimony among the religions." Pakistan's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasneem Aslam said, "Anyone who describes Islam as a religion as intolerant encourages violence.""Pakistan's Parliament Condemns Pope", Fox News Channel, 17 September 2006 – Hamas leader and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh condemned the Pope's remarks: "In the name of the Palestinian people, we condemn the pope's remarks on Islam. These remarks go against the truth and touch the heart of our faith." He also denounced the Palestinian attacks on churches in the West Bank and Gaza. – Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said: "I believe it is a must for [the Pope] to retract his erroneous, ugly and unfortunate remarks and apologise both to the Islamic world and Muslims. ... I hope he rapidly amends the mistake he has made so as not to overshadow the dialogue between civilizations and religions.""Turkish PM urges pope to apologise for Islam remarks", Turkishpress.com, 16 September 2006 – President Ali Abdullah Saleh threatened to sever diplomatic ties with the Vatican.
Australia – Prime Minister John Howard backed the Pope's comments, saying that angry response from the Islamic world is "disproportionate, strange and disappointing". He also stated that Muslims should "move on", adding that, "I don't, at the moment, note terrorist groups killing people and invoking the authority of the Catholic Church".Interview with John Howard
Europe – President Jacques Chirac warned against "anything that increases tensions between peoples or religions". – Chancellor Angela Merkel said: "Whoever criticises the Pope misunderstood the aim of his speech ... It was an invitation to dialogue between religions and the Pope expressly spoke in favour of this dialogue, which is something I also support and consider urgent and necessary.""Merkel defends Pope amid Muslim fury", ABC News, Reuters, 16 September 2006 – Prime Minister Romano Prodi said: "There cannot be any controversy ... Religious dialogue and respect for every faith are essential today and religion does not justify any type of violence.""Prodi, religions must be committed to Dialogue", Agenzia Giornalistica Italia, 16 September 2006 – Former Prime Minister José María Aznar, in response to the demonstrations asking the Pope to apologize, asked why Muslims had not apologized for occupying Spain for 800 years as Al-Andalus, and then called the Alliance of Civilizations initiative "stupid". – Interior Minister Pascal Couchepin stated the Pope's speech was "intelligent and necessary"."Le ministre suisse de l'Intérieur défend Benoît XVI", Associated Press, 17 September 2006 – The director of the Vatican press office stated: "Pope Benedict's remarks about jihad may have been taken out of context but they were not an aberration. On the contrary, they stem from his thinking about Islam and the West in the one and a half years since he became Pope. It was certainly not the intention of the Holy Father to undertake a comprehensive study of the jihad and of Muslim ideas on the subject, still less to offend the sensibilities of Muslim faithful. Quite the contrary, what emerges clearly from the Holy Father’s discourses is a warning, addressed to Western culture, to avoid 'the contempt for God and the cynicism that considers mockery of the sacred to be an exercise of freedom'.""Islam not condemned in papal speech, Vatican spokesman says", Catholic World News, 13 September 2006
International The Organisation of the Islamic Conference said "The OIC hopes that this sudden campaign does not reflect a new trend for the Vatican policy toward the Islamic religion ... and it expects the Vatican to express its real vision of Islam", called it "character assassination of the Prophet Mohammed" and a "smear campaign","Pope Offends Muslims Worldwide", ABC News, 15 September 2006 and asked the United Nations Human Rights Council to address the Pope's remarks."Muslim countries ask U.N. Human Rights Council to address Pope's remarks", AP, 18 September 2006