Analysts Criticize Pope

A furor erupted in the Muslim world when the pope made a speech on September 12 at the University of Regensburg in Germany, in which he quoted a medieval Christian emperor who equated Islam with violence.

While insisting that the content of his lecture had been misinterpreted, the pope sought to calm the situation, saying he was "deeply sorry" for any offence Muslims might have taken from his comments.

The Vatican also organized a Sept. 25 meeting between the pope and 22 Muslim envoys in an effort to patch up diplomatic relations and reiterate his desire for inter-faith dialogue. But the meeting merely served to confirm that Benedict does not see dialogue in the same way as his predecessor, analysts charge.

Meeting with Muslim leaders underlines point

The day after this very formal audience -- which lasted barely half an hour -- the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) issued a statement still calling for the head of the Roman Catholic Church to "retract or redress" his comments.

"The pope's address reinforced in the Muslim world the impression that they can expect nothing from the West," French academic Olivier Roy, author of "Globalized Islam," told reporters.

"His speech also shrank the room given to Christian minorities in the East who live among a Muslim majority (when) John Paul II knew how to put across the idea that not all Christians align themselves with the policies of (US President) George (W.) Bush."

Middle East unrest should be taken into account

For Jean-Jacques Perennes, secretary general of the Dominican Institute for Oriental Studies (IDEO) in Cairo, "the hyper-sensitivity of mentalities has to be taken into account," particularly in light of events in Iraq, Lebanon and between Israel and the Palestinians.

"These comments, felt by many Muslims (to be)... tactless and hurtful, risk encouraging extremists everywhere, both Christian and Muslim, and jeopardizing the advances of dialogue over the past several decades," IDEO said last month.

The pope's decision to sideline Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald, responsible for inter-faith dialogue in the Vatican, was interpreted as a sign that "Catholics don't consider Muslims as important partners," Perennes also believes.

Muslims remember John Paul's gestures

Among Muslims, these gaffes "are contrasted with John Paul II who knew how to make grand gestures in favor of dialogue," Perennes added, such as an inter-faith meeting in the central Italian town of Assisi and his mosque visit in Damascus.

Belgium's envoy to the Vatican, Benoit Cardon de Lichtbuer, agreed, saying he was also hoping for "gestures of good will" to relaunch dialogue. "The affair is not buried and the wound has not healed," he told news agency I-Media.

But a Jesuit priest with long experience in the Middle East thinks differently: "We should not close one's eyes from the truth: the major confrontation that we are living with is the one between Islam and the rest of the world."

During his traditional Angelus blessing on Sunday, Benedict called on believers to pray for "peace and understanding" in war-torn Iraq where, he said, Christians and Muslims have lived together for 14 centuries.