At the same time, Benedict is concerned about relativism. He fears that ecumenism and interreligious dialogue will lead some Catholics to think that all religions are the same and that it does not matter what religion you belong to. For him there is no question about the centrality of Christ and his uniqueness in the salvation of the world. And as a former German professor he believes that doctrine should be expressed clearly and unambiguously.

With this said, we must admit that sometimes the pope speaks in a way that our dialogue partners find insensitive even when this is not his intention. He sometimes uses words or phrases that for him have highly technical meanings but are interpreted very differently on the street. In his Regensburg address he quoted negative comments from a Byzantine emperor without clearly noting that he disagreed with the emperor. He acknowledged this later but by that time the media was on to another story.

One must acknowledge that the pope is not an expert on Islam. This was not his field of study as an academic. One should not expect a pope to be an expert on everything. Sadly, the Vatican people dealing with Islam are not as qualified as those who worked on Islam under John Paul II. After Benedict’s election, the most qualified Vatican expert on Islam, Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald, was sent away to be nuncio to Egypt. His replacement, Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, is a highly qualified diplomat but not an expert on Islam.

With regards to the baptism of the Italian Muslim, Magdi Allam, one must begin by acknowledging that every human being has the right to choose his or her own religion. Catholics have the right to baptize people who want to join their church, just as Muslims have the right to accept Catholics who want to become Muslims. Whether it is prudent to do it in a highly public setting is another question, especially when the convert has a tendency to make inflammatory statements. But Christians also have a right to raise questions about the limits on religious liberty in some Muslim countries.

The good news is that Muslim and Cathoic leaders are not letting any of this get in the way of further dialogue. Last October, 138 Muslim scholars wrote the pope asking for dialogue. In March, a Catholic-Muslim Forum was established by the Vatican and these scholars to provide for ongoing dialogue. In November, the forum will sponsor a seminar in Rome with 24 scholars from each side to talk about theological and spiritual foundations of Christian and Muslim teachings about the obligation to love God and one's neighbor. They will also discuss the importance of human dignity and mutual respect.