- Pope Benedict had quoted a medieval Christian Emperorʼs question to an
Islamic scholar.
A transcript of the popeʼs remarks obtained by The Associated Press
television network reads: “In the seventh (sura, or chapter of the Quran),
the emperor comes to speak about jihad, holy war. The emperor certainly
knew that Sura 2, 256, [sic] reads: ʻNo force in matters of faithʼ. It is one
of the early suras, from a time – as experts say – in which Mohammed
himself was still powerless and threatened. However, the emperor of
course also knew the requirements about the holy war that were later
formulated in the Quran. Without going into details like the handling of
the owners of the scriptures, or non-believers, he (the emperor) turned to
his interlocutors – in a surprisingly brusque way – with the central
question after the relationship between religion and violence. He said, I
quote, ʻShow me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there
you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to
spread by the sword the faith he preachedʼ”. --“Popeʼs Islam comments
condemned”, CNN, 15 Sept 2006.
Around the time of The Crusades, in the early eleventh century Pope
Benedict IX abdicated. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Benedict_IX
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