Pope and Saudi king to hold talks

Pope and Saudi king to hold talks

A Saudi monarch is set to meet the head of the Roman Catholic Church at the Vatican for the first time.

King Abdullah arrived in Italy on Monday for a two-day visit that also involves meetings with Italian government officials.

But all eyes are on Tuesday's encounter between Pope Benedict XVI and the custodian of Islam's most holy sites.

The Vatican has diplomatic ties with Muslim states, but not Saudi Arabia, home to Islam's most sacred mosques.

The historic encounter is expected to focus on two issues: the rights of Christians in Saudi Arabia and the wider relations between Christianity and Islam.

Reciprocity

Most of the 1.2 million Christians in the kingdom are Catholics who are allowed to worship only in private places.

The Vatican has often stressed the need for reciprocity in its request to build churches, noting that Muslims are free to worship in many Christian countries.

In September last year, the pontiff incurred the wrath of many Muslims around the world for comments associating Islam with violence.

He later apologised and made efforts to reach out to other religions.

Last month, 138 Muslim religious leaders wrote to the Pope, stressing that the time for polite ecumenical dialogue had passed, with religious violence on the rise, and saying that the common future of the two faiths was at stake