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There has been some discussion over on Gerald Augustinius' The Cafeteria is Closed Blog about Cardinal Karl Lehmann, head of the German Catholic Bishops Conference, who accused Muslim critics of running a campaign against the Pope and said the Pontiff had nothing to apologize for.
This is not the kind of language that Cardinal Lehmann has been noted for, with respect to Muslims, with whom he had been exceedingly friendly or the Pope, who as Cardinal Ratzinger, was not one of his close personal friends.
A commenter from Europe to the post noted that other changes have been seen since the Regensburg Lecture was given by Pope Benedict and then blown up way out of proportion by the Islamic mobs in the streets:
Yes, considering just how far to the left Lehmann has long been, this really is news. And it confirms my growing feeling that a corner in Europe has really been turned as far as Muslim intimidation is concerned. In a few days, we have had the following news: a French police trades union denouncing without mincing words the "intifada" unleashed by lawless Muslim youths in France; Angela Merkel and assorted German politicians demanding that a rotten Mozart staging should go ahead rather than give in to supposed Muslim intimidation; Italian Interior Minister Giuliano Amato (one of the few respectable people in a putrid majority) proposing that applicants for citizenship should subscribe to a "charter of Italian values" based on the Bill of Rights of the Italian Constitution; riots against Muslim intimidation in Preston and Windsor, England; and, most astonishing of all, the previously most unctuously pro-Muslim politician in Britain, Jack Straw, asking that Muslim women should not wear full-face veils that leave only the eyes uncovered, and describing it as somewhat hostile. I reckon that the series of open displays of aggression of the last few months, including Cartoon Rage and Pope Rage, have tipped the scales towards an uncompromising attitude to Muslim violence - moral and physical.
An associated phenomenon is what I have called the fresh Bavarian wind blowing through the Church. When one hears of Roger Mahony - Roger Mahony! - sending a strong pro-life mesage to all his parishes, one has to suspect that the prow of the great ship has finally begun to turn in the right direction, and that our liberal friends are due for a lot more wailing and gnashing of teeth in the years to come.
Those of you who read Stella Borealis regularly probably noted my surprise after attending the presentation by retired Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Gumbleton at the Basilica of St Mary in Minneapolis on Tuesday. He wasn't at all what I expected. You can read my post Here.
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