In an effort to quell the controversy caused by Pope Benedict XVI's recent comments on Islam, the Vatican this week invited ambassadors from Muslim countries to a special papal audience at the summer residence of Castel Gandolfo.
During the 39-minute session last Monday, which was broadcast live on the Arab-language network Al Jazeera, the Pope said that he had wanted to arrange the gathering "in order to strengthen the bonds of friendship and solidarity between the Holy See and Muslim communities throughout the world".
Vatican officials were hopeful that the unusual initiative would finally put an end to Muslim protests against a speech the Pope made two weeks ago in Germany.
"The circumstances which have given rise to our gathering are well known," the Pope told the 22 diplomats and 17 representatives of Muslim religious and cultural groups from Italy. But he avoided any direct reference to his 12 September lecture at the University of Regensburg, which provoked outrage by Muslims. He said he had already dwelt on that in the previous week.
"I should like to reiterate today all the esteem and profound respect that I have for Muslim believers," the Pope said in his five-minute address, delivered in French. For the second time in four recent statements on the topic, he assured his listeners that he was "firmly within the perspective" of the Second Vatican Council's teaching on the Church's relations with Islam. And he pledged to continue "the work undertaken" by Pope John Paul II, expressing hope that it would "develop further in a spirit of sincere and respectful dialogue" between Muslims and Christians. "Interreligious and intercultural dialogue is a necessity for building together this world of peace and fraternity ardently desired by all people of goodwill," he declared. But he said that the relationship could not be one-sided. "Respect and dialogue require reciprocity in all spheres," he said, quoting a line from a famous speech John Paul II that gave in 1985 in Casablanca.
However, Benedict XVI and Cardinal Paul Poupard - the head of the Vatican's office for culture and interreligious dialogue - were the only ones to actually speak during Monday's audience. After the two speeches, TV cameras flanked the Pope as he individually greeted each of the 39 people who were in attendance.
A prominent Muslim columnist who writes in Italy's most respected broadsheet, Corriere della Sera, noted that seven of the ambassadors were actually Christians and five were women "elegantly dressed in Western clothing". Magdi Allam wrote: "[This] is a witness to the complexity of a [Muslim] world that we erroneously see as a monolithic, integralist and immutable bloc."
Muslim reaction to the Pope's latest initiative remained mixed. There were still those who were demanding he apologise more directly for having offended them. But others were eager to move beyond he controversy and resume a suddenly uncertain dialogue that had been going on painstakingly at various levels for more than four decades.
However, the gathering left few clues as to how the Vatican, from this point onwards, planned to jump-start the talks or how it wanted to conduct them.
After the cardinal and the Pope gave their speeches, there was a series of cordial handshakes and a group photograph. At that point Benedict XVI immediately left the hall and the ambassadors went directly to waiting cars.