Popes Non Apology Pope Stopped Short

Juan Cole 09/17/2006

The Pope’s non-Apology

The Pope stopped short of an apology on Saturday. He did say he was sorry that Muslims took offense to his quotation of a medieval authority who alleged that the Prophet Muhammad had brought only evil.

Morocco withdrew its ambassador to the Vatican as a result of the speech. The Iraqi government, with its half a million strong Chaldean population, uniate Catholics, asked for clarifications.

The pope will say something on the issue later today. Will blog it.

About the Author

Juan Cole is the founder and chief editor of Informed Comment. He is Richard P. Mitchell Professor of History at the University of Michigan He is author of, among many other books, Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires and The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Follow him on Twitter at @jricole or the Informed Comment Facebook Page