Washington, USA - Developments in world Islam were picked as the top religion stories of the year in separate tallies by the Religion Newswriters Association and Catholic News Service.
The top two stories chosen by the Religion Newswriters were the violent reaction to publications of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in Denmark and elsewhere, and the speech by Pope Benedict XVI that quoted a Byzantine emperor who disparaged Muhammad's teachings.
The pope said the quote did not reflect his personal opinion and said he regretted that the speech caused offense. Catholic News Service took votes from Roman Catholic editors nationwide who said Islam, immigration and the situation in Iraq were the top religious news themes of the year.
For the top newsmaker of the year, the Religion Newswriters chose the Amish who responded to the Oct. 2 fatal schoolhouse shooting in their Pennsylvania community with forgiveness for the gunman's family.
For the Catholic editors, Pope Benedict was the leading newsmaker in 2006.