Apology Of The Crusades

[Lex]

I find it absurd that the Vatican has made such an apology. They have nothing to apologise for. North Africa, Egypt, Turkey, Greece, parts of Eastern Europe and the Middle East were all invaded by hordes of fanatical Moslems.

 

The Crusaders set out to reclaim and protect territories that had been forcibly taken away by Arabs and Moslems. Apologising for things that occurred centuries ago is insane. But if the Vatican condones such talk, then surely it is expected that the Turks apologise for conquering Constantinople and eradicating a nation and culture off the face of the Earth and for ending the Roman Empire. Maybe they then should also apologise for their incursions into Europe and maybe the Moroccans should apologise for invading Spain and the Arabs for the rest.

 

This would of course be pointless and stupid but I can't understand why the Vatican has made an apology for the Crusades. Maybe by calling the Crusades "barbaric" they are actually intending to imply that the fanatical Jihadi Moslem followers and a large portion of the Arab and Moslem world, who still believe in "jihad", are barbaric. I hope so. In other words the Vatican might be implying that the concept of Jihad/Crusade is primitive and backwards and that Europeans consider themselves above such outdated thought.

Edited April 26, 2006 by Lex

[Favonius Cornelius]

The only thing they should be sorry for is sacking Constantinople rather than supporting it.

[Lex]

The only thing they should be sorry for is sacking Constantinople rather than supporting it.

 

The Vatican in 2001, under Pope John Paul II apologised to the Greek Orthodox Church for the Fourth Crusade and and for the the sack of Constantinople and also for the senseless slaughter of fellow Christians.

 

This really was the death-blow of the Byzantine Empire. Constantinople and the Empire was only a shadow of its former self when the Greeks liberated its territories, but never really fully recovered.