In a ground breaking move Pope Benedict XVI has approved the setting up of a
permanent Catholic-Muslim Forum - the first of its kind - which is to hold
its inaugural summit meeting in the Vatican in November.
The historic move follows three days of talks in Rome between Vatican
officials and a Muslim delegation representing 138 Muslim scholars who last
year wrote an open letter to the Pope and other Christian leaders calling
for dialogue, a move inspired by Prince Ghazi bin Muhammed bin Talal of
Jordan.
The Muslim initiative was a reponse to the Pope's controversial speech at
Regensburg University in his native Germany in 2006, where he appeared to
describe Islam as inherently violent and irrational by quoting a Byzantine
Emperor. He later said he had been misunderstood, and prayed alongside an
imam at the Blue Mosque in Istanbul during a visit to Turkey.
