Rome, NU Online
Pope Benedict XVI was set to meet Muslim envoys as part of an unprecedented diplomatic offensive to show his desire for inter-faith dialogue after the outrage over his recent remarks on Islam.

The meeting at Castel Gandolfo, the pope's summer residence, will bring together Muslim ambassadors to the Vatican and Islamic representatives in Italy as well as a French cardinal, Paul Poupard, president of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue.

<>Envoys from Iran, Turkey -- where Benedict is scheduled to visit on November 28-30 -- and Morocco, whose Vatican ambassador had been recalled for consultations, have all confirmed their participation at the talks.

Cardinal Poupard said that he could not recall a similar initiative in the past 10 years, and declared that the get-together was "a signal that the Holy Father's call for a dialogue between cultures and religion has been widely welcomed."

A furore 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 criticised some teachings of the Prophet Mohammed as "evil and inhuman".

The lecture sparked days of sometimes violent protests in Muslim countries, prompting the pontiff to say that he was "deeply sorry" for any offence and attributing Muslim anger to an "unfortunate misunderstanding".

"The new and exceptional character of this meeting is evidence of the desire to get out of this crisis, and also of a wish to resume dialogue in a creative way," Italian daily La Repubblica's Vatican specialist, Marco Politi, told AFP.

"Apart from theological and philosophical reasons, the Catholic Church needs to maintain relations with 1.3 billion people," Politi added, referring to the number of Muslims in the world.

The pope made no direct comment on the controversy as he gave the traditional Angelus blessing Sunday at his country retreat, although he did pay tribute to a nun shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Somalia last week.

The murder came a day after a local Islamist leader in Mogadishu had urged Muslims to take revenge on the pope for his comments in Germany. (afp/dar)