Archbishop Martin: Pope didn’t mean to offend

The Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin has said he believes the Pope never intended to offend people with last week’s speech.

The Pope sparked angry reaction from the international Muslim community when he quoted a 14th century Byzantine emperor who claimed the prophet Mohammed brought only 'evil' into the world.

Dr Martin said he now hopes that people will accept the Pope's genuine sense of regret regarding the way in which the speech was interpreted.

The Archbishop said he hopes the Pope's apology today will enable a frank and open dialogue to take place between Muslims and Christians.

“I hope that Irish Muslims, that they will understand that Pope's intentions were positive, that it was a text about dialogue,” he said.

“I would like to see greater dialogue. We have a good and important Islamic community in Ireland, and relations have been very good.”