In a very rainy early afternoon in Castelgandolfo, the Holy Father personally acknowledged that he is "vigorously distressed" by the reactions to misunderstandings regarding a "small passage" of his lecture at the University of Regensburg, which was "considered offensive to the sensitivity of the Muslim faithful", that the "Medieval text" quoted by him did not reflect his personal opinion, and he offered the declaration issued yesterday by the Cardinal Secretary of State as the definitive explanation of his intentions.He added that the speech must be seen as part of a "frank and sincere dialogue".
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Update: the Vatican official translation is presented below, with this substantial mistranslation: "greatly" or "vigorously distressed" or "embittered" (vivamente rammaricato), which the Pontiff said very clearly in the live address, is translated as "deeply sorry". This would not make sense: how would the Pope be "sorry" for the reactions of others!? He could have said he was "sorry" for what he said (which is not what happened); or he could say he is upset, or distressed, or feels personal bitterness for the reactions the "small passage" of his lecture caused; but he would not (and, in fact, did not) say that he is "sorry for the reactions"...
Naturally, the Holy See Press Office hopes the whole mess, which was started by inaccurate soundbites, will be closed by new inaccurate soundbites (such as "I am deeply sorry")... As we said yesterday, it is clear that "the lives and property of countless Christians in Muslim lands could depend on it".
Dear Brothers and Sisters,The Pastoral Visit which I recently made to Bavaria was a deep spiritual experience, bringing together personal memories linked to places well known to me and pastoral initiatives towards an effective proclamation of the Gospel for today. I thank God for the interior joy which he made possible, and I am also grateful to all those who worked hard for the success of this Pastoral Visit. As is the custom, I will speak more of this during next Wednesday’s General Audience. At this time, I wish also to add that I am deeply sorry for the reactions in some countries to a few passages of my address at the University of Regensburg, which were considered offensive to the sensibility of Muslims. These in fact were a quotation from a medieval text, which do not in any way express my personal thought. Yesterday, the Cardinal Secretary of State published a statement in this regard in which he explained the true meaning of my words. I hope that this serves to appease hearts and to clarify the true meaning of my address, which in its totality was and is an invitation to frank and sincere dialogue, with great mutual respect.
(Picture: Inside of a Greek Orthodox church in Tulkarm this Sunday, part of the Muslim "frank and sincere dialogue" in the Holy Land.)
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Update 2: We see that Father Zuhlsdorf partly shares our disagreement with the simple translation of "rammaricato" as "sorry". We would add that the words were very carefully chosen (as were the words chosen for the Regensburg lecture...) and that there are dozens of truly straightforward ways of simply stating "regret" and of expressing an apology ("sorry") for personal mistakes in Italian.
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Update 3: Sister Leonella (Rosa) Sgorbati, a 65-year-old Italian nun, of the Consolata Missionaries, who worked in a hospital in Mogadishu, Somalia, was martyred today by Muslim forces (picture provided and hosted by Corriere della Sera). She was also one of four nuns who cared for approximately 400 children in the main orphanage of the city.
Sister Leonella had been in Africa for more than three decades.
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Update 3: Sister Leonella (Rosa) Sgorbati, a 65-year-old Italian nun, of the Consolata Missionaries, who worked in a hospital in Mogadishu, Somalia, was martyred today by Muslim forces (picture provided and hosted by Corriere della Sera). She was also one of four nuns who cared for approximately 400 children in the main orphanage of the city.
Sister Leonella had been in Africa for more than three decades.
