Pope reassures Muslims of his esteem and respect

(Sept. 25, 2006) Pope Benedict on Monday re-assured the world’s Muslims of his esteem and respect for them and called for greater cooperation for peace and for the good of humanity. The Pope’s assurance came in a high-profile meeting with some 22 ambassadors from Muslim nations and leaders of Islamic communities in Italy, who gathered at his summer residence of Castelgandolfo, south-east of Rome.
The Pontiff convoked the meeting following bitter protests by Muslims worldwide over a misunderstanding of a remark in a speech he delivered on Sept 12 at Regensburg University in Germany. In that address the Pope quoted 14th century Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaeologus, who said the Prophet Mohammad commanded "to spread by the sword the faith he preached", depicting Islam as a violent religion. Ever since the uproar began the Pope has twice made public declarations personally expressing regret over the hurt caused to Muslims by the misinterpretation of his remark. He stressed that it was a quotation from a Medieval text, which did not in any way express his personal thought regarding Islam.
In his meeting with ambassadors and Islamic leaders on Monday the Pope reiterated his esteem and the profound respect for Muslim believers, saying he wished to proceed and continue in establishing bridges of friendship with the adherents of all religions, showing particular appreciation for the growth of dialogue between Muslims and Christians. He said that Christian-Muslim dialogue cannot be reduced to an optional extra as on it depended the future of the two communities to a large measure. “In a world marked by relativism and too often excluding the transcendence and universality of reason,” the Pope said, “we are in great need of an authentic dialogue between religions and between cultures, capable of assisting us, in a spirit of fruitful co-operation, to overcome all the tensions together.” “Christians and Muslims must learn to work together, as indeed they already do in many common undertakings, in order to guard against all forms of intolerance and to oppose all manifestations of violence,” the Pope said and urged religious authorities and political leaders on both sides to guide and encourage their followers in this direction. He urged them to forget centuries-old dissensions and enmities and train themselves towards sincere mutual understanding and together maintain and promote social justice and moral values as well as peace and freedom for all people. He further encouraged Christians and Muslims to engage in the defence and promotion of the dignity of the human person and of the rights ensuing from that dignity.