Sister Leonella devoted her humble life to helping the sick in Africa. She died Sunday, gunned down in Somalia. Her dying words were reported to be, "I forgive, I forgive."
Somalia is so unstable that her murderer might never be found. However, it is not against the odds that she was murdered in retaliation for Pope Benedict XVI's reference to an obscure medieval text which, according to The Associated Press, characterized some of the teachings of Islam's founder as "evil and inhuman."
The context of the pope's reference to Mohammad is important. He was not singling out Islam for special criticism. The quote he used was part of a broad talk on any religious motivation for violence.
The new Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, told The AP the pontiff sought in his speech to condemn all religious motivation for violence "from whatever side it may come."He also noted that earlier in his trip to Germany the pope had warned "secularized Western culture" against holding contempt for any religion or believers. Sadly, far too many in the Islamic world overlooked the historical context of the speech - Pope Benedict was citing an exchange between a 14th-century Byzantine ruler and an educated Persian on the truths of Christianity and Islam - or its overall intent. As always seems to happen, hard-line Muslims took the initiative. When news of the speech got out, Muslims took to the streets, with at least four West Bank churches being attacked. Moderate Muslims either chided the pope for his comments or remained silent, as they so often do.
There are no calls to avenge the death of Sister Leonella and her bodyguard. That would be un-Christian. Even her own last words utterd, "I forgive, I forgive."The contrast between the two faiths could not be more compelling - or damning.
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