Roman Catholic Pope Benedict XVI returned to Rome Thursday from his home country of Germany, and was greeted an increasing international furor over remarks he made about "historical Muslim violence." The Times of London reports that Muslim clerics and community leaders around the world condemned his remarks, accusing the pope of displaying "of displaying ignorance and bigotry."

The president of Germany's central council of Muslims went further, saying that Catholicism's murderous and compromised history left it with no moral leg to stand on to criticise other religions.

"After the blood-stained conversions in South America, the Crusades in the Muslim world, the coercion of the church by Hitler's regime, and even the coining of the phrase 'holy war' by Pope Urban II, I do not think the church should point a finger at extremist activities in other religions," said Aiman Mazyek.

The Los Angeles Times reports that the uproar came after the pope attacked the Muslim concept of holy war (jihad) as "a violation of God's will and nature."

He used the word "jihad," a politically and emotionally charged Arabic term for holy war or struggle. And he quoted a 14th century Byzantine emperor who derided Islam and its founder, the prophet Muhammad. The emperor, Manuel II Paleologus, said, according to Benedict, that Muhammad had introduced "things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."

Benedict, in the same speech, held up Christianity as the "profound encounter of faith and reason."

The Guardian carried a transcript of the pope's complete remarks.

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CNN reports that the Vatican issued a press release Thursday night saying that the pope was not trying to offend Muslims when he quoted the emperor. "It was certainly not the intention of the Holy Father to ... offend the sensibilities of Muslim faithful," said Federico Lombardi, the Vatican press officer. No doubt aware of the delicacy of the nature of the remarks he was about to make, the pope twice said "I quote," before introducing the comments made by Byzantine emperor Manuel Paleologos II.

The Guardian reports that the statement, however, has failed to dampen the anger among Muslims. In one case, the Pakistani parliament unanimously adopted a resolution condemning the pope saying he had "insulted Islam and the Prophet Muhammad by making 'derogatory remarks'." But the former Archbishop of Canterbury came to the defense of the pope.

Asked about the Pope's remarks, [Lord Carey] said: "I cannot comment on a few phrases in what was clearly a long speech. The Pope is a distinguished scholar and one unlikely to say offensive things. If he quoted something said 600 years ago, we should not assume that this represents the Pope's beliefs about Islam today.

"But Muslims, as well as Christians, must learn to enter into dialogue without crying foul. We live in perilous times, and we must not only separate religion from violence but also not give religious legitimacy to violence in any shape or form."

Stephen Bates, the Guardian's religious affairs and royal correspondent, also defends "poor old Pope Benedict," saying he believes the pontiff is "innocent of the charges of stirring up hatred against Islam being made against him."

Benedict's offence, of course, was recklessly to quote this 600 year-old expression of the point of view of a medieval Middle Eastern potentate. He didn't endorse it, didn't say that it was his own view, attributed it in context. And is now told that he has "aroused the anger of the whole Islamic world." Most of which, probably, had never heard of Manuel II Paleologue before this morning. Perhaps the pope should be careful of bringing such subversive ancient texts to light.

On the other hand, if you cannot, as part of a lengthy and profound academic lecture, cite a 600 year-old text for fear of stirring the aggravation of noisy politicians half way around the world, what CAN you do? We might as well all retreat into obscurantism. And keep our mouths shut, for otherwise, who knows who we might offend. And if, as a result of the outrage, some Catholics get killed or their churches burned down by offended scholars and textual exegesists it might be thought that Manuel's original point had rather been made.

But British Muslims also condemned the pope's remarks. The Ramadhan Foundation, a youth organization, reacted angrily to the comments. The Scotsman reports that the organization compared the Pope unfavorably with his predecessor John Paul II.

"The late Pope John Paul II spent over 25 years to build bridges and links with the Muslim community. He showed the world that its perception of Islam was false and that we are peace-loving people."

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Feedback appreciated. E-mail Tom Regan.