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This week, the Pope stood in the Blue Mosque in Istanbul and prayed alongside senior Muslim clerics. It was the most dramatic gesture of Benedict XVI's visit to Turkey, a visit so controversial that the Popemobile was replaced by an armoured car, and the security operation was reckoned to be greater than that mounted for President Bush.

Death threats and street protests had followed a lecture in September when the Pope quoted a 14th century Byzantine emperor's description of Islam as a religion that offered only death and destruction.

He subsequently apologised for causing offence, but there were real fears for his first venture into a mainly Muslim country.

In the event, it's passed off peacefully. But how important has this visit been for interfaith relations - with Orthodox Christians, as well as with Muslims?

To what extent has it really succeeded in building bridges and what does the whole episode reveal about the complexities of dealing with religious difference?

Joining Roy Jenkins to discuss these issues are Archbishop Peter Smith, Dr Mashuq Ally and Sunday Times Correspondent Christopher Morgan.