Pope Benedict has urged Muslim religious leaders and scholars to join Christians in defending their common moral values.
In an unprecedented Vatican audience, he said they should also promote their respect for human rights despite theological differences between them.
The Pope made the call after receiving a 29-strong delegation representing global Islam who last year invited Christian churches to redouble efforts to improve interfaith relations.
The meeting came two years after the Pope’s Regensberg address which hinted that Islam was violent and irrational.
It sparked angry protests in the Middle East.