The Vatican denied on Thursday that Pope Benedict had attacked Islam or Muslims during a speech given in the German city of Regensburg this week.
The pope wants to "cultivate an attitude of respect and dialogue towards other religions and cultures, including Islam obviously," Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said.
The statement came in response to negative reactions in parts of the Muslim world to the pontiff's speech on Tuesday, when he spoke out against the concept of Holy War, saying it was against God's will.
In his address, he also quoted the words of a 14th century Byzantine emperor who spoke negatively about the jihad, or holy war, in the context of Islam.
A range of Muslim figures have since expressed dismay over the pope's speech, accusing him of failing to understand Islam properly.
"There is a lack of comprehension and an attempt to generalise...you cannot consider extremism and violence among the principles of Islam," said an editorial in Egypt's Al Ahram daily.
Father Lombardi said the pope's words had been misinterpreted. "It should be pointed out that the thing closest to the pope's heart is a clear and radical refusal of religion as a motive for violence," he said. "It certainly wasn't the pope's intention to offer a study of the Jihad and Muslim thinking on it, nor did he want to offend the feelings of Muslim believers".
