ROME — In his first public appearance since igniting a firestorm in the Islamic world, Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday said he was "deeply sorry" that Muslims were offended and outraged by his use of a medieval citation critical of their faith, saying it did not "in any way express my personal thought."
The pope used his weekly Angelus blessing, at the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo outside Rome, to confront the most serious controversy of his 17-month-old papacy. For a pope, it was a highly unusual gesture of regret.
By making a personal and public apology, Benedict hoped to calm the fury that exploded after he delivered a major address last week at Germany's University of Regensburg in which he quoted a 14th century Byzantine emperor who regarded some of the prophet Muhammad's teachings as "evil and inhuman."
Major Arab television networks gave considerable coverage to the pope's Sunday message; the Al Arabiya network carried it live. Initial reaction from Islamic groups was mixed, with many saying they still wanted a fuller apology.
In Somalia, gunmen shot an Italian nun to death outside a children's hospital in the capital. It was not immediately clear whether the shooting of Leonella Sgorbati, 64, was related to the papal controversy, but Somalian Islamic extremists had threatened to attack Catholics.
"We hope this remains an isolated act," Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi told the Italian news agency ANSA. But he said he feared it could be "the fruit of the violence and irrationality" that have arisen from the pope's speech "without motive or justification."
The Italian Interior Ministry, meanwhile, said it had raised the level of the security alert in parts of the country in reaction to the international protests. National Police Chief Gianni De Gennaro, in a statement, called on authorities to be especially vigilant of Catholic sites, noting the presence in Italy of a radical Islamic minority.
At Castel Gandolfo, security was tighter than usual. Police sharpshooters overlooked the piazza where the crowd assembled to hear the pope. Guards screened the estimated 2,000 pilgrims, ushering them through metal detectors and checking purses and backpacks.
The pope, who had emerged on the balcony of his \o7palazzo, \f7had begun addressing the crowd when a huge downpour drenched everyone in sight. He chuckled and apologized for the weather, adding that rain was also a sign of God's work. Then he continued with the more serious matter at hand.
