Pope regrets Muslim speech 3 years ago

Prince Ghazi bin Mohammed spoke after giving Benedict a tour of the biggest mosque in Amman, his second visit to a Muslim place of worship since becoming pope in 2005. Benedict is in Jordan on his first Middle East tour in which he hopes to improve strained ties with both Muslims and Jews.

The pope angered many in the Muslim world in 2006 when he quoted a Medieval text that characterized some of Muhammad's teachings as “evil and inhuman,” particularly “his command to spread by the sword the faith.”

Shortly after giving the speech, Benedict said he regretted the comments offended Muslims.

Ghazi, who is also King Abdullah II's cousin, thanked Benedict for the clarification he issued after the speech that the views did not reflect his own opinion but were instead “simply a citation in an academic lecture.”

Benedict told the audience of religious leaders and government officials assembled at the King Hussein mosque Saturday that Muslims and Christians must strive to be seen as faithful worshippers of God “because of the burden of our common history” that has often been marked by misunderstanding.

The pope said it is often “ideological manipulation of religion sometimes for political ends that is the real catalyst for tension and division and at times even violence in society.”

Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said the pope did not pray during his visit to the mosque but did stop in a “respectful moment of reflection.” He was not asked to take his shoes off when he entered the mosque, which is customary for Muslims, said Lombardi.

Ghazi, who was dressed in a white robe and red and white-checkered headscarf, asked the pope to speak up for Muslim minorities in parts of the Philippines and sub-Saharan Africa who he said were “hard-pressed by Christian majorities.”

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