The grovelling continues

A Church newspaper in Wales has been withdrawn, and an apology embarassing by Church of England standards issued, after one of the Mohammed cartoons was published. Specifically, not a cartoon from Jyllands-Posten, but a relatively benign one from France-Soir:

The Church in Wales printed the cartoon to illustrate an article in the February edition of Y Llan - or Church in English - about the shared ancestry of Christianity, Islam and Judaism.

The drawing - which was from the French magazine France Soir - shows the Prophet Muhammad sitting on a heavenly cloud with Buddha, and Christian and Jewish deities.

He is being told "don't complain... we've all been caricatured here".

The Archbishop of Wales Dr Barry Morgan told the BBC: "The article was perfectly OK, but for some reason, the editor decided to print one of these cartoons which was a gross error of judgement.

"It no way reflects the policy of the church in Wales and when I saw it I was totally horrified.

"We recalled all the papers, I personally picked up some from some churches and they have all been pulped.

"I've unreservedly apologised to my Muslim colleagues and they've been very gracious and I've said to them this in no way reflects the policy or attitude in the Church in Wales."

Dr Morgan also personally contacted Saleem Kidwai, the Muslim Council of Wales' general secretary, to apologise and to assure him that no offence had been intended.

And then there's that walking argument for republicanism, Prince Charles, sucking up to his hosts at Al-Azhar University in Cairo:

Prince Charles on Tuesday criticized the Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad as well as the "ghastly" violence that followed their publication, and he called on all to respect the religion of others.

The prince toured Al-Azhar University in Cairo, the foremost Islamic institution in the Sunni Muslim world, on the second day of his visit to Egypt. He was accompanied by his wife, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, who donned a headscarf as she went through the mosque.

"The true mark of a civilized society is the respect it pays to minorities and to strangers," the Prince of Wales told about 800 people at Al-Azhar.
[...]
"Responsible men and women must work to restore mutual respect between faiths," Charles said in his speech, which referred to Muslim, Jewish and Christian scholars and quoted the holy books of the three religions.

"The recent ghastly strife and anger over the Danish cartoons shows the danger that comes of our failure to listen and to respect what is precious and sacred to others," he said, referring to the cartoons first published in Denmark and later reprinted in several European nations that provoked riots in many Muslim countries.

Some of the caricatures depicted the seventh century Prophet Muhammad as a man of violence, including one that showed him wearing a turban that looks like a bomb.

The prince deplored the sectarian nature of the violence in
Iraq, Israel and the Palestinian territories. "Images of communities torn apart by religious conflict are deeply harrowing," he said.

He also criticized what he said was the prejudice shown to people of other faiths.

"I think of the experience of Muslims living in Europe who are subject to varied and continuous expressions of Islamophobia by fellow Europeans. I think of Christians living within some Muslim nations, who find themselves fettered by harsh and degrading restrictions, or subject to abuse by some of their fellow citizens," he said.

If the Prince of Wales were really concerned about the promotion of religious harmony and tolerance, he would have told his hosts to clean up their own currinculum.

Posted by damian at March 21, 2006 01:49 PM | TrackBack