Pope Benedict XVI, with the Rev. José Rodriguez Carballo, in Jordan on Saturday atop Mount Nebo, where the Bible says Moses saw the Promised Land. Carsten Koall/Getty ImagesFrom The New York Times:
AMMAN, Jordan — Visiting a mosque on the second day of his closely watched first visit to the Holy Land, Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday denounced the “ideological manipulation of religion” and called for greater understanding between the Christian and Muslim faiths.
Speaking outside Al-Hussein bin-Talal mosque in Amman, Benedict said that because of “the burden of our common history so often marked by misunderstanding,” Christians and Muslims alike should “strive to be seen” as faithful worshipers of God.
In a speech that also touched on a central theme of his papacy and thought, the tension between faith and reason, Benedict said that “the ideological manipulation of religion, sometimes for political ends,” was often “the real catalyst for tension and division, and at times even violence in society.”
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My Comment: From my vantage point, it appears that Pope Benedict XVI is being critical of Muslim leaders who use Islam to push for a radical and extremist agenda. Maybe I am reading too much in his speech, but that is the impression that I am receiving.