Will the pope's comments trigger a reaction similar to — or worse than — the Danish Mohammed cartoon riots? The Daily Telegraph of Australia writes:

Muslim fanatics burned an effigy of the Pope, a Catholic nun was shot dead and terrorist organisation al-Qaeda called for holy war as protesters against Benedict XVI's comments linking Islam with violence resorted to just that.

Meanwhile:

Rome's La Repubblica newspaper said the Pope had set back a quarter of a century of efforts by his predecessor John Paul to improve ties with Islam.

The Vatican has instructed its envoys in Muslim countries to explain Pope Benedict's words on Islam but Church experts said on Monday the furore has probably set back relations between the two faiths by decades.