Pope Defends "Christian" Asylum Seekers

"The Holy See calls on the competent authorities not to deport foreign Christians persecuted for their faith in their home states," Germany's new Ambassador to the Vatican, Hans Henning Horstmann, told ANSA news agency after presenting his credentials at the papal summer residence south of Rome.

According to a resume of the meeting between, Benedict XVI - himself German - "recalled that Germany has become a new homeland for many people threatened in their countries of origin for religious and political reasons."

Pope Benedict also suggested "that the right to asylum should be guaranteed by law" in Germany.

He said the Holy See, while naturally concerned about the fate of Christians around the world, wanted to work "with all people of good will to serve people, their dignity, their integrity and their freedom."

Recent reports by German civil rights groups have criticized Berlin's record on asylum seekers.

ProAsyl group said Germany expelled40 , 000asylum seekers, most of them from Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq, during the past three years.

Pope Benedict also defended religious education in schools, which certain German regions are planning to replace with lessons on ethics.

He said such a move would "evacuate the great spiritual traditions which have marked European history and culture and continue to inspire it."

Forced Conversion

Still under a cloud for recent remarks about Islam, Pope Benedict said the Roman Catholic Church would never force anyone to accept the teachings of Jesus Christ.

"Tolerance and cultural openness must characterize meetings with other people," he told the German ambassador.

"The Church does not impose itself, because the faith in Jesus Christ that it proclaims can only occur in freedom."

Muslims worldwide have criticized Pope Benedict for a speech two weeks ago hinting that Islam had been spread by the sword and brought only evil to the world.

Delivering a lecture in his home country Germany, he quoted14 th century Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaeologus as saying that everything Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) brought was evil and inhuman "such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."

Coming short of a clear apology, the pontiff said the Muslim reaction to his statements was the result of "unfortunate misunderstanding" and that the quotes did not reflect his personal opinion.

Dissatisfied with his response, the56 -member Organization o Islamic Conference (OIC) on Tuesday, September26 , asked the pope for a retraction.

Theologians and scholars agree that Pope Benedict's remarks on Islam dealt a blow to the dialogue between the Muslim world and the Roman Catholic Church that his predecessor John Paul II did much to encourage.

The influential Dublin-based International Union for Muslim Scholars (IUMS), which brings together prominent Sunni and Shiite scholars from across the world has halted inter-faith dialogue with the Vatican and cancelled an Islamic-Christian summit slated for November or December in protest.

Al-Azhar, the highest seat of learning in the Sunni world snubbed a papal invitation to visit the Vatican and a proposal to invite the pontiff to deliver a lecture on Islam, insisting on a clear-cut apology.

http://www.islamonline.net/English/News/2006-09/28/06.shtml