The Vatican's top official on inter-religious dialogue will meet Rome's Muslim and Jewish leaders on Tuesday in a bid to underline the pope's respect for other religions, including Islam .
The meeting, organised by Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni, comes after several days of Muslim anger over Benedict's remarks last week on Islam. One of the most common charges leveled at the pontiff by Muslims around the world is that he does not understand and respect Islam. Cardinal Paul Poupard will meet the imam of Rome's mosque Sami Salem, the head of the city's Islamic cultural centre Abdallah Redouane, and Rome's chief rabbi, Riccardo Di Segni .
The cardinal said he would take a "message of dialogue and respect" to the meeting. He said there would also be an appeal "to consider all the positive signs that Benedict XVI has shown with regard to Islam". Only two weeks ago, the pontiff sent "words of peace" to an inter-religious meeting attended by Muslim representatives in the Italian town of Assisi, Card. Poupard said .
Referring to the tensions over Benedict's comments on Islam, Cardinal Poupard put part of the blame on the media for simplifying the pope's message. He said people present at the lecture had understood his meaning "perfectly" .
In another bid to reach out to Muslims, the Vatican daily Osservatore Romano, on Monday printed the text of the pope's Angelus address in Arabic as well as English and French .
In that address the pope said he had never intended to offend Muslims and that his speech was intended as an invitation to dialogue .
'DIFFICULT SITUATION' .
However, the distance between the Catholic view and even that of moderate Muslims on the controversial text was underlined by Rome imam Sami Salem, one of the key Muslim figures invited to Tuesday's meeting in Rome .
"The pope's words have taken us back many years. We are in a very difficult situation. We have to work for dialogue," he said .
But the imam also cautioned: "Word's aren't enough to resolve this situation. You have to demonstrate that you are people of peace" .
Meanwhile, the pope garnered clear support from the Anglican Church. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, appealed for calm and said that Benedict's words had been misunderstood and taken out of context .
"The pope has already said sorry and I believe his point of view should be judged in the context of the entire speech, in which he talked about the need for dialogue," he said .
'AVOID OFFENCE' .
From Turkey, the Orthodox patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholemew I, said he was "deeply saddened" by the recent tensions between Christians and Muslims .
But his statement also appeared to hint at criticism of the pope. "In a moment when humanity must face such dangers it is essential to avoid situations which could offend the faith of others," he said .
Benedict is scheduled to visit Turkey, on the invitation of Bartholemew himself, at the end of November. Despite widespread speculation in the media that the visit is at risk, Turkey's Catholic bishops on Monday confirmed the visit .
Turkey's Premier Tayyip Erdogan was one of several political and religious figures in the country who demanded an apology from the pope after his speech in Regensburg last Tuesday .
