‘The church does not impose. It doesn't force anyone to accept the message of the gospel’. So proclaimed Pope Benedict XVI on September 28, 2006. The pontiff was in full damage-control mode that day, confronted with the tumultuous and global reaction to a speech that he had delivered about two weeks prior. Muslims around the world were understandably outraged when Benedict quoted fourteenth-century Byzantine emperor Manuel II Paleologus: ‘Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith that he preached’. The overarching objective of Benedict's speech, to promote inter-religious dialogue and renounce religious violence, was irretrievably lost in this poorly chosen citation.