Pope calls for tolerance in meeting with Muslims

VATICAN CITY - Christians and Muslims must overcome their misunderstandings, Pope Benedict XVI told Muslim clergy and scholars yesterday as he pressed for greater freedom of worship for non-Muslims in the Islamic world.

His meeting in the Apostolic Palace with a delegation of scholars and other Muslim representatives capped a three-day conference in Rome involving Catholic and Islamic experts. Benedict told participants he had followed the progress of the talks closely.

The pope's baptism of a prominent Egyptian-born Muslim last Easter upset some Muslims. He also angered Muslims in 2006 with comments quoting a 14th-century emperor who criticized Islam; he since has expressed regret for that speech.

"Dear friends, let us unite our efforts, animated by goodwill, in order to overcome all misunderstanding and disagreements," the pope told delegates. "Let us resolve to overcome past prejudices and to correct the often distorted images of the other."

Beyond repairing strained relations, the Vatican views the talks as an opportunity to push for better treatment of Christians in parts of the Muslim world.

In Saudi Arabia, non-Muslims cannot worship in public and Muslims who convert face death. The pope also has spoken out about the plight of Christians in Iraq, where churches have been attacked and many people have been forced to flee.

Hamza Yusuf Hanson, a U.S.-based scholar who was among the Muslim participants, said the call for tolerance also applied to countries that were essentially "failed states" for their Muslim citizens.

"Muslims are suffering under the yoke of tyrannies where rights which should be afforded to anyone" are denied, Hanson told reporters.

The discussions at the Vatican made important strides, according to Abdal Hakim Murad Winter, an Islamic-studies lecturer at Cambridge University. "Both sides agreed to respect the sanctity" of each other's beliefs and to "not tolerate any mockery," he said.