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.

Quiz: Which patently public figure said that a few days ago? Clue: They don't work for the Daily Mail, or have the surname Kilroy-Silk however unlikely that might seem.

You guessed it, it was the current leader of Catholicism, Pope Benedict XVI. It has caused quite some dismay in some quarters. Before we unfairly slur him, it is important to note that the pope was actually quoting someone else; namely Manuel II Palaiologos, a Byzantine emperor from the 14th century AD.

The Pope spaketh these words during a public speech he did in Germany. It was a largely academic delivery entitled "Faith, Reason and the University", which to give him credit was supposedly an invitation to Muslims to join a "dialogue of cultures". In terms of reaching across boundaries between religious beliefs this could be seen as a very positive move,

The PopeThe problem is that whilst he did make clear that "evil and inhuman" was a quote, the general consensus amongst many seems to be that he did not do enough to add context or distance himself from the remarks. Furthermore in his speech he also at times appeared to be saying that Islam was an irrational and unreasoning religion, in contrast to his own Christianity which was entirely compliant with reason and has the built-in logic to move with the times. This is probably as well, given, just like the Islamic Holy Qur'an, the Christian bible has its fair share of violence, sexism, cruelty and so on, especially in the Old Testament. More recently, and less reassuringly, the "leader of the free world" George Bush has claimed that invading Iraq - a war deemed by many to be illegal and has brought many innocent Iraqi civilians to a violent, tortuous death - was a mission given to him by the Christian God.

The Papal speech has therefore angered many, especially those who themselves practice Islam. After the violent protests surrounding the publication of cartoons featuring Muhammad in a non-too favourable way, there is fear that dangerous riots instigated by extremists could once again happen.

Muslim leaders, and indeed everyone else, should do all they can to prevent this happening. Whether the Pope's speech was simply an unthinking slip (the Vatican insists that he did not mean to cause upset), or indicative of him having an entirely negative view of Islam, there is no excuse for violence. Furthermore, should violent trouble break out and the media, as is usual, do not do all they can to show that not all Muslims agree with the actions of a tiny minority who claim to follow their religion, it will give the anti-Islam crusaders ammunition to say that of course the Manuel II Palaiologos was right.

Given the situation, the Pope should also seriously consider explaining the context of his speech that day more clearly. He was due to visit Turkey, a country with 98% Muslim population, in November, a visit that may now be in jeopardy. There were no doubt already tensions anticipated during that time, thanks, not least, to the Pope's previous comments that Turkey should not join the EU because of its vast Muslim majority.