ROMA, January 23, 2006 – Joseph Ratzinger has written little on the topic of Islam over the years. But it is a topic very much on his mind, and all the more so since he became pope. Last September, in Castelgandolfo (see photo), Benedict XVI dedicated two days of study to Islam, behind closed doors, together with two experts in Islamic studies and a group of his former theology students. The news of the meeting leaked out, but until last January 5 nothing was known about what was said there. But on January 5, one of Ratzinger’s former students...