Pope hopes church can play role in Mideast peace

From the Associated Press:

Amman, Jordan (AP) - Pope Benedict XVI said Friday he hopes the Catholic church can play a role in the Middle East peace process as he began his first trip to the region with a stop in Jordan, where he hopes to improve frayed ties with Muslims.

The pope rankled many in the Muslim world with a 2006 speech in which he quoted a Medieval text that characterized some of the Prophet Muhammad's teachings as "evil and inhuman," particularly "his command to spread by the sword the faith."

The pope has already said he was "deeply sorry" over the reaction to his speech and that the passage he quoted did not reflect his own opinion. But his comments continue to fuel criticism by some Muslims.

Jordan's hard-line Muslim Brotherhood said Friday that its members would boycott the pope's visit because he did not issue a public apology ahead of time as they demanded...

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