ITALY/KUWAIT: Vatican top official meets muslim and Jewish leaders following Pope's comments

The Vatican's top official on inter-religious dialogue has met with Rome's Muslim and Jewish leaders on Tuesday (September 19) in a bid to underline the pope's respect for other religions, including Islam. The meeting, organised by Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni, comes as Pope Benedict faced a growing chorus of demands for an unequivocal apology for remarks seen as portraying Islam as a violent faith, despite attempts by Western leaders and churchmen to defuse the crisis. But for many Muslims, the Pope's attempt to explain himself on Sunday did not go far enough and observers were waiting to see if he would speak about it again at his general audience at the Vatican on Wednesday. "Rome's name is Love and this name isn't just a word it is a promise for the future in which all of us wish to work together in a profound and true dialogue with great respect and the ability for self criticism." the Vatican culture minister and head of the Holy See's department for inter-religious relations, Cardinal Paul Poupard said during a news conference at Rome's town hall. Abdallah Redouane, president of the capital's Islamic cultural centre, said the Italian Muslim community accepted the Pope's apology and considered the episode "a closed chapter". "We hope that with this dialogue it will be possible to overcome this difficult moment to calm people down and placate high tensions," he said. "We invite everybody, especially the Muslims of Italy, to work on every level in this dialogue with other religions and institutions," he said. Sami Salem, imam of Rome's mosque, said all religious leaders had a right to be "proud of their faith but they must be obliged to respect other religions". The Pope enraged Muslims in a speech a week ago in Germany quoting 14th century Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaeologus, who said everything the Prophet Mohammad brought was evil "such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." In Kuwait city, muslims gathered in a peaceful protest outside a catholic church late onm Tuesday. "The response of the Pope is actually worse than the original mistaken comments he made. He accused the Muslim people of not understanding his comments. It was as if he stabbed Islam and the Prophet Mohammed at first and then went on to stab Muslims a second time," said Walid Tabtabai, who is a member of Kuwait's parliament. "It is clear that this is part of the war against Islam that is taking place today. The Vatican has entered this war, giving it a political and economic dimension as well as religious one," Mohamed Al Bassery, who is also a MP.

ITN Source | September 21, 2006

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