Pope Benedict XVI told Muslim diplomats today that the future depends on dialogue between Christians and Muslims, at a special summit meeting in his summer residence near Rome.

The Pope was meeting representatives from 21 Muslim countries and the Arab League at Castel Gandolfo in the Alban Hills, as part of his efforts to mend relations after his recent remarks about Islam and violence ignited the Vatican’s worst international crisis in decades.

The pontiff also quoted from his predecessor, John Paul II, who had close relations with the Muslim world, stating the need for "reciprocity in all fields", including religious freedom.

After his five-minute speech, in a salon in the papal palace, Benedict, greeted each envoy one by one. He clasped their hands warmly and chatted for a few moments with each of the diplomats.

"The circumstances which have given risen to our gathering are well known," Benedict said, referring to his remarks on Islam and violence in a speech in Germany on September 12. He did not dwell on the contested remarks, which set off protests and threats around the Muslim world.

Muslims in many cities around the world protested at Benedict's remarks at Regensburg University, where he once taught theology.

The quoted the words of a Byzantine emperor who characterised some of the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad as "evil and inhuman", particularly "his command to spread by the sword the faith."

Since his speech at the University of Regensburg, Pope Benedict has said that his remarks were taken out of context. He issued a unique public apology saying that he regretted that Muslims were offended, although he did not actually retract his words.

Addressing the diplomats today, Benedict said that dialogue between Christians and Muslims could not be reduced to an optional extra. "It is, in fact, a vital necessity on which in large measure our future depends," he said, quoting to a speech in gave to Muslims in Germany in 2005.

Benedict also quoted the words of his predecessor, John Paul II, who said that "Respect and dialogue require reciprocity in all spheres," particularly religious freedom. This is a major issue for the Vatican in Saudi Arabia and several other countries where non-Muslims cannot worship openly.

Among predominantly Muslim nations with diplomatic relations to the Vatican, only Sudan did not participate in the meeting.

Iran, Iraq and Egypt sent representatives, as did Indonesia, where Christian-Muslim tensions were further heightened last week by the execution of three Catholic militants. Pope Benedict had appealed for the men’s lives to be spared.

Turkey also accepted the invitation. The Pope’s planned visit to the predominantly Muslim but officially secular country in November was temporarily cast into doubt, after Turkish officials vigorously protested at the Regensburg remarks.

"The Holy Father stated his profound respect for Islam. This is what we were expecting," said Albert Edward Ismail Yelda, the Iraqi envoy, as he left the meeting. "It is now time to put what happened behind (us) and build bridges."

Last week, the Holy See’s ambassadors stationed in Muslim countries met local dignitaries to reassure them that the Pope respects Islam, and to urge them to read the whole speech, which was an exploration of the relationship between faith and reason.

The Reverend Federico Lombardi, a Vatican spokesman, said that the fact that Muslim countries had accepted the Pope’s invitation to today’s meeting reflected a "desire to work together for the great ideals, the great objectives of peace, justice."

Yesterday Pope Benedict praised an Italian missionary nun who was shot in Somalia on September 17, in an attack that might have been linked to Muslim fury at the Regensburg speech. Benedict noted that the nun forgave her attackers as she lay dying in Mogadishu, showing "the victory of love over hate and evil".

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