Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/popes-comments-on-islam-incite-outrage-and-protest Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript Pope Benedict XVI's comments that link Islam and the Prophet Muhammad to violence has sparked protest and criticism from the Muslim community. Experts analyze the broader implications of these remarks and the state of relations between Catholics and Muslims. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. GWEN IFILL: The pope's comments about Islam and holy war have ignited outrage and protests around the Muslim world, from Iran to Pakistan to Indian- controlled Kashmir and Indonesia.And despite the pope's attempts to calm Muslim sentiment yesterday, that anger spilled onto the streets of Iraq today; 500 protesters marched on the streets of Basra and burned a papal effigy.The controversial remarks that sparked the outcry were made last Tuesday, when the pontiff delivered an academic lecture on faith and reason at Germany's Regensburg University, where he once taught. In it, he quoted a dialogue between a 14th-century Byzantine emperor and an educated Persian on Christianity and Islam.The pope described an exchange where the emperor "addresses his interlocutor with a startling brusqueness on the central question about the relationship between religion and violence in general, saying, 'Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.' The emperor, after having expressed himself so forcefully, goes on to explain in detail the reasons why spreading the faith through violence is something unreasonable."The Vatican said the speech was intended to open a dialogue and to reject the use of violence in the name of any religion. Instead, the pontiff's comments set off days of protests, some violent.At least seven churches were firebombed in the West Bank and Gaza this weekend. And in Somalia, a 65-year-old Italian nun was shot yesterday; it remains unclear if her murder was retaliation for the pope's comments.On Sunday, amid heightened security, the pontiff expressed regret about the reaction to the remarks. POPE BENEDICT XVI (through translator): I'm deeply sorry for the reactions provoked by a part of my speech at Regensburg University considered offensive to the sensibility of Muslim believers, but these words were, in fact, a quotation from a medieval text which do not in any way express my personal thought. GWEN IFILL: While some Muslim leaders welcomed the pope's statement, others said it didn't go far enough and demanded the comments be retracted. MAHMOUD ASHOUR, Former Egyptian Deputy (through translator): I don't think what he did is enough, because the pope didn't apologize for the misunderstanding, and he accuses Muslims with misunderstanding him, though what he said was clear and a direct insult to Islam. GWEN IFILL: The comments have also stirred up discussion among some Catholics, including those who watched the pope's mass yesterday from St. Peter's Square. ITALIAN CITIZEN (through translator): I think the pope did not offend Islamic religion. I believe he preached for peace and fraternity among all these people. Perhaps he was misinterpreted.