Pope Benedict XVI canceled a planned visit to a prestigious Italian university after students attacked his views on Galileo. The Pope was suppose to give a speech at La Sapienza University in Rome to open the academic year, but everything changed when the academics wrote a letter saying that they did not want the Pope to come and give the speech because of his speech given to the University as a cardinal in 1990, he argued that Galileo’s belief that the Earth revolved around the Sun was in contradiction to the church teachings of that time. He also quoted an Austrian philosopher by saying that at the time of Galileo, the church remained more loyal to reason than to Galileo himself.
In this article it also mentions Pope Benedict’s visit to the University in Turkey last year and how it was also a very controversial visit. He also visited a predominantly Muslim country despite the strained relations between the Vatican and the Islamic world also following a lecture the pope had given to a German University in which he said some very unflattering things about the Islamic Faith.
Once I read this article I wondered why the Pope is going around giving these lectures to all these University’s and how come he always has to start a controversy. I understand that because he is the Pope and everything he must stand by what he believes and what his faith leads him to, but what I don’t understand is why the Pope during these lectures or speeches has to put down the other religions. Its kind of closed minded of him not to see that where he’s giving speeches are places of different religions and of different beliefs. He should be more considerate of the people he is lecturing because he could bring a bad rep for the Vatican.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/01/15/pope.protest/index.html
1 comment:
The Pope is close-minded? NO WAY!
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