"I think there will be many Catholics out there who'll be cringing when they hear these comments," said Trad.

SYDNEY, May 5, 2006 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Australian Muslims on Friday, May 6, censured the country's highest-ranking Catholic cleric, saying his "ignorant" remarks about the Noble Qur'an undermine the message of tolerance and love promoted by late Pope John Paul II.

"I think there will be many Catholics out there who'll be cringing when they hear these comments, and they'll be saying 'what happened to the legacy of Pope John Paul II?'," Keysar Trad, spokesman for the Islamic Friendship Association of Australia, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

He hit out at the "ill-informed comments" of Cardinal George Pell, which he called a "totally subjective, an off-the-cuff dismissal of the teachings of one of the world's great religions."

Pell, the traditionalist archbishop of Sydney, made the comments about the Islamic holy book during a speech to a US audience earlier this year. The text of the address was posted on the archdiocese's website this week.

Speaking to a group of Catholic business leaders, Pell said the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States was "a wake-up call" that prompted him to read the Qur'an.

"In my own reading of the Koran (sic), I began to note down invocations to violence. There are so many of them, however, that I abandoned this exercise after 50 or 60 or 70 pages," he said.

"Considered strictly on its own terms, Islam is not a tolerant religion and its capacity for far-reaching renovation is severely limited," he said.

The Cardinal stood by his remarks, saying the criticisms were "clichés, smokescreens" to distract and divert attention from the real issues.

"Islamic terrorists are not a figment of anyone's imagination and the history of relations with Islam is full of conflict," he said in a statement carried by ABC News Online.

"I continue to be completely committed to dialogue with Muslims, to supporting moderate forces on all sides ... and recommend that people read the Koran (sic) ... and judge for themselves."

"Fear-Mongering"

"Islam is not a tolerant religion and its capacity for far-reaching renovation is severely limited," said Pell.

Islamic Council of NSW spokesman Ali Roude urged the Cardinal to exercise his leadership more carefully.

"We welcome Pell's personal efforts to understand Islam but we caution him to avoid making statements that he cannot support with evidence, and that which is likely to reinforce tensions and disharmony within Australian communities," Roude said in statements published by Australia's newspaper The Age on Friday.

Roude called on Pell to spread a message of love and understanding, and not of fear and hatred "in a climate full of mistrust (and) instability brought about by organized fear-mongering".

Peace, respect and understanding were the foundations laid by late Pope John Paul II for interfaith dialogue, Roude added.

"We reiterate the need to continue our life's journey of dialogue and engagement so that extreme views of any sort do not gain prominence in driving a wedge between all of God's creations," he said.

But Prime Minister John Howard defended Pell as someone who "brings a great intellect" to the debate among religions.

"I'm quite sure he is not trying to be unhelpful," Howard told Southern Cross Broadcasting.

"I know for a fact he's been a strong proponent of good relations between Christianity and Islam."

Australia is home to some 300,000 Muslims out of a population of 20 million.

Most Australian Muslims blame Howard for fostering an image of the minority as the enemy within through his hard-line policies.

Rights groups condemned as draconian Howard's new anti-terror law while pundits have blamed the law for creating an atmosphere of fear toward the Muslim minority.

Thousands of Australians in Sydney and Newcastle rallied in December against "hidden" racism in the country.