U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo wrote a letter to Pope Benedict XVI today, asking him to resist calls to apologize for his recent remarks about Islam that offended many Muslims around the world.
“It is not surprising that your statements prompted such a visceral reaction in much of the Islamic world, where the free exercise of religion is largely proscribed,” said Tancredo, R-Littleton, in his letter.
“Whether we want to admit it or not, the western world is locked in a struggle against radical Islam whose practitioners and adherents are inextricably linked to terrorism.”
In a Sept. 12 address in Germany, the pope quoted a Byzantine emperor who centuries ago described some teachings of the Prophet Muhammad as “evil and inhuman.” The remarks were denounced across the Islamic world and by some U.S. Muslims.
The pontiff has since said that he did not mean to give offense to Muslims or their faith, but he has not directly apologized as asked by some Muslim leaders.
Tancredo, who was raised a Roman Catholic, now attends Cherry Hills Community Church in Highlands Ranch when he’s not in Washington.
![Newspaper advertisement offering reward for the return of an escaped man to his oppressors, Princess Anne, Maryland, April 1, 1861. Text reads: “0 Reward. Ranaway from the subscriber on Tuesday Morning, 26th Ultimo [last month], My negro boy calling himself Severn Black. The said negro is about 5 feet six inches in height, chesnut color, has a scar on his upperlip, downcast countenance when spoken to, blink-eyed, showing a great deal of white, long bushy hair, is about twenty years old, had on when he lefta [sic] blue fustian Jacket, pantaloons of a greyish color, blue striped shirt, a Black slouch hat and shoes nearly worn out. The above reward will be paid by me for the apprehension and delivery of the said negro in the county jail at Princess Anne, Somerset County, Maryland. April 1, 1861. Richard E. Snelling. Somerset Herald Print, Princess Anne, Md.’ The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 obliged citizens and lawmen of free zones to return escaped men to those whom they fled. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)](/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/GettyImages-53262583-16x9-1.jpg?w=620 "GettyImages-53262583-16x9-1")
