A Talk in Regensburg

Pope offers mea culpa
— Headline in the Albany times Union, September 18, 2006.

Is the media’s misreporting of the pope ignorant or intentional?

Pope Benedict XVI did not offer a “mea culpa” for anything he said in his academic talk at the University of Regensburg. As any Catholic of sufficient age would know, “mea culpa” means “my fault.” The Pope did not say that he was at fault. Rather, he said that he was deeply sorry, that is, sorrowful, at the reaction to his talk. It is rather the media, which have misreported the Pope’s talk from the beginning, and the rabble-rousers who have incited threats and mob violence, who should issue mea culpas.

Pope Benedict XVI, Faith, Reason and the University: Memories and Reflections, Aula Magna of the University of Regensburg, Tuesday, 12 September 2006.

See also:

Sandro Magister, Islam’s Unreasonable War Against Benedict XVI and Why Benedict XVI Did not Want to Fall Silent or Backpedal

Spengler, Jihad, the Lord's Supper, and eternal life