Vatican, Muslims prepare historic meeting with Pope
By Philip Pullella Mon Mar 3, 10:10 AM ET
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Muslim representatives and Vatican officials begin talks this week that they hope will lead to an unprecedented Catholic-Islamic meeting. 
Five representatives from each side will meet on Tuesday for two days in Rome to work out the details of a larger meeting that will include Pope Benedict later this year.
"We have to bring the dialogue up to date following the great successes of the pontificate of John Paul II," said Yahya Sergio Yahe Pallavicini, vice-president of the Italian Islamic Religious Community.
Catholic-Muslim relations nosedived in 2006 after Benedict delivered a lecture in Regensburg, Germany, that was taken by Muslims to imply that Islam was violent and irrational.
Muslims around the world protested and the Pope sought to make amends when he visited Turkey's Blue Mosque and prayed towards Mecca with its Imam.
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