At the start of his papacy, Benedict XVI expressed his desire to continue the encounters, dialogues, and collaborations with men and women of other religions, and in particular, with Islam. The theme of Islam, with the West and everything that has to do with dialogue between religions, has a very real importance. The misunderstandings, the wounds, the emergence of violence, revolutions and counterrevolutions in countries with predominately Muslim populations, and the confrontations with other religious groups--this reality is on the front page.