PAPAL BULL

Pope comment 'linked to crusade'

The Pope's statement has failed to defuse the anger of many Muslims.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said recent remarks by the Pope on Islam were in line with what he called a "crusade" against Muslims.

The background to the controversy, he said, was the "wish of powers whose survival depends on creating crises".

The furore over the Pope's remarks about Islam has left many Catholics inside and outside the Vatican shaking their heads in disbelief over concerns about the Pope's attitude towards the Church's relations with the Islamic world.

The previous Pope, John Paul II, wanted to reach out to other religions and in 2001, on a visit to Syria, he became the first pope to set foot in a mosque.
Benedict XVI undoubtedly wants to achieve better relations with Islam, but there is an important proviso.
It can be summed up in a single word: reciprocity. It means that if Muslims want to enjoy religious freedom in the West, then Christians should have an equal right to follow their faith in Islamic states, without fear of persecution.


[The row began last week, when Pope Benedict XVI repeated criticism of the Prophet Muhammad by a medieval scholar.]