VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI will host a ground-breaking “summit” of Catholic and Muslim leaders in November, the Vatican said Wednesday.
The conference from November 6 to 8 will take place just over a year after 138 Muslim leaders from various sects from 43 countries issued an open letter last year urging peace.
That move came one year after the pope gave a speech at Regensberg University in Germany which angered some Muslim leaders for using a quote which seemed to equate Islam with violence.
The Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, has underlined the pontiff’s “complete willingness” to meet with Muslim leaders “to see what unites us, without minimizing or ignoring our differences.”