Until the advent of materialism and 19th c. dogma, Western Civilisation was superior to anything Islam had developed. Islam has not aided in the development of the modern world; in fact civilisation has only been created in spite of Islam. Proof of this resides in the 'modern' world and the unending political-economic and spiritual poverty of Muslim states and regions. Squatting on richer civilisations is not 'progress'. Islam is pagan, totalitarian, and irrational.
Pope Frank is a creature of Vatican II. A Marxist, devoted apparently to the non science of Evolution [read grade 9 bio chemistry as to why genetic software code does not 'mutate' to form new species]; globaloneywarming and other vacuity, Pope Frank is also weak on Islam. He imbibed this from Vatican II.
Vatican II opened wide the doors of 'progressivism' or humanist-Atheism and Marxism [which is what the 'progressive' theology is all about]. An example of the weakening of the Church, and appeasing the dark forces of 'liberalism' [a euphemism for 'progressivism']; is the redacted affirmation of Islam, an anti-Christian cult, dedicated to the eradication of Christianity [read Mein Koran or link here for more details]. As scholar Atila Sinke Guimaraes summarizes:
“In 1965, Vatican Council II promulgated an official document – the Declaration Nostra Aetate, which contain these words about Islam: 'The Church also has a high regard for the Muslims. They worship God, who is one, living and subsistent, merciful and almighty.....Over the centuries many quarrels and dissensions have arisen between Christians and Muslims. The sacred Council now pleads with all to forget the past....” [The Return of the Moslem Threat, p.20]
What a pathetic ode to ignorance. 'The sacred Council now pleads' which when translated means, 'The scared council now begs Moslems to please like the Church'. Or not. It is your choice dear, kind, benevolent, always compassionate Moslems, as devotees of 'God'. Allah of course means the Lord, not God, and it references Baal of Mecca, the moon deity. Arabs pre-Muhammad, were celestial worshipers, venerating as most Near Eastern cults [and indeed MesoAmerican] did, Venus, the Moon, and the Sun. Islam or submission has nothing whatsoever in common with Christianity. Not a damn thing. Anyone who understands Mein Koran, Mein Muhammad, and Moslem history knows this.
Since 1965 there have been over 250.000 Catholics killed by Moslems. In Nigeria in 2014 alone, some 12.000 Christians were murdered. That is one country, in just one year. Sex trading of Christian girls runs into the tens of thousands since Vatican II. Forced conversions abound in the hundreds of thousands. Hundreds of Catholic churches, monasteries and sacred places have been demolished, pulled down or set to fire. The 'pleading' from Vatican II in 1965 did nothing but convince Moslems that the Church was weak, its leadership illiterate and effeminate, and Christianity – as described in the Koran – as corrupt, wayward and inferior. No wonder the Jihad is so strident, so ruthless and so utterly immoral. Not even the Church deigns to protect Christianity.