Following the eruption of controversy over the speech given to scientists and academics by Pope Benedict XVI at the University of Regensburg in Germany on 12 September 2006, following is the complete text in English (For related article, see Muslim reaction proves Pope’s point)

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It is a moving experience for me to be back again in the university and to be able once again to give a lecture at this podium. I think back to those years when, after a pleasant period at the Freisinger Hochschule, I began teaching at the University of Bonn.

That was in 1959, in the days of the old university made up of ordinary professors. The various chairs had neither assistants nor secretaries, but in recompense there was much direct contact with students and in particular among the professors themselves.

We would meet before and after lessons in the rooms of the teaching staff. There was a lively exchange with historians, philosophers, philologists and, naturally, between the two theological faculties. Continue Reading ...