What the Pope should say

Cliff May over at The Corner has a list of things that would be just about perfect for the Pope to say.

“Some of our Muslims friends have taken offense at my remarks. We understand that and we are distressed by it.

“We would hope our Muslim friends also understand that there are Christians and Jews who also may believe they have cause for offense at a time when there are Muslims who routinely justify mass murder in the name of Islam.

“And the other day in Gaza, two journalists, both Christians, were forced to convert at gunpoint. If there was outrage over this in Muslim communities, word of it did not reach our ears.

“We would ask that violence and anger subside and that serious dialogue begin.

“We are therefore planning to invite several leading Muslim religious leaders to visit us here in the Vatican where we can have detailed and inter-faith discussions"

“After that, we would like Muslim religious leaders to invite us to continue the conversation in their holy places: Mecca, Medina, Qum and Najaf for example. Our Jewish brothers should be invited to attend, too. And why not add in people of faith from the Buddhist and Hindu communities?

“This would, we believe, be both productive and historic.”