The Vatican added an annotated edition of Pope Benedict XVI's September speech to its website on Monday, offering clarifications after the address provoked widespread anger across the Muslim world.
The controversy centered on Benedict's citation of 14th-century Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaeologus, who had characterized Islam as linked to violence. In a note accompanying the new posting, the pope stressed that the passage reflected the emperor's views, not his own, calling any contrary reading an unfortunate misinterpretation.
Benedict explained that his purpose in quoting the medieval ruler was to illustrate the relationship between faith and reason, specifically the principle that acting against reason runs contrary to God's nature. He stated clearly that he does not share the emperor's polemical tone toward Islam or the Koran.
Following the initial uproar, the pope had already expressed that he was "deeply sorry" for any offense caused, while maintaining that his words had been taken out of context. The annotated text posted Monday included 13 footnotes, most of them bibliographical references. The document was available on the Vatican website only in Italian at the time of publication.
TurkishPress summary of a October 2006 wire report.