"In his speech, Benedict insulted both Islam and Prophet Muhammad," said Chen Guangyuan, president of the Islamic Association of China.

"This has gravely hurt the feelings of the Muslims across the world, including those from China," Chen said.

"Both the Islamic Association of China and Chinese Muslims hereby express their anger and condemnation over Benedict's words," he said.

"We strongly request Pope Benedict to immediately retract his words and apologize openly and in person," he said.

Chen said Islam is a religion which advocates peace, tranquility and tolerance.

"Prophet Muhammad is an emissary of peace who devoted his whole life to promoting the mission of peace and tolerance," he said.

Prophet Muhammad also made it clear that his only task is to "guide and exercise mercy" to people from across the world, Chen explained.

"We will adhere to the spirit promoted by Prophet Muhammad and hope that different religions and civilizations respect each other, have a dialogue and exist peacefully," he said.

Pope Benedict said on Sunday that he was "deeply sorry" for his speech last week in Germany that offended Muslims, particularly his quoting of the medieval text that characterized some of the teachings of Islam's founder as "evil and inhuman" and referred to spreading Islam "by the sword."