Pope says words 'misunderstood' by Muslims

VATICAN CITY: Pope Benedict XVI told thousands of pilgrims at the Vatican on Wednesday that worldwide Muslim anger over his speech in Germany last week was the result of an "unfortunate misunderstanding".              

The 79-year-old head of the Roman Catholic Church reiterated that parts of the speech which offended Muslims did not reflect his personal opinion.         

He also expressed respect for followers of all religions, "particularly Muslims" during his weekly general audience in St Peter's Square.   

The Pope said he wanted to use the speech at Regensburg University "to invite the modern world and all religions to dialogue with the Christian faith".   

He said he hoped that on various occasions during his six-day visit, he had made clear his "profound respect for all religions, particularly Muslims, with whom we worship one God and collaborate in defending rights, peace and freedom".   

On Sunday, the Pope said he was "deeply sorry" for the reaction to the speech, in which he quoted a medieval Byzantine emperor criticising some teachings of the Prophet Mohammed as "evil and inhuman."        

The speech sparked several days of protests in Muslim countries against the leader of the world's 1.1 billion Roman Catholics.