DAKAR, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- The disagreement between Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade and the Catholic church following his comments on the Christian religious practices "has been finally concluded," Jean-Noel Diouf, the bishop of the eastern region of Tambacounda, said on Sunday.

    "The head of state realized his mistake and in Africa, we say that if the leader admits his error, he must be forgiven," the bishop said at the end of a meeting at the Presidential Palace between Wade and the Senegalese bishops.

    "The issue has finally been concluded," the bishop announced on Senegalese state television.

    In late December, Wade told a group of teachers from his party, that "in the churches, people pray (in front of a statue) of Jesus who is not a real God. Everyone knows this but no one says anything against it."

    The comments were made in response to the critics of Muslim religious leaders against the Monument for African Renaissance, a huge statue constructed in Dakar at the initiative of Wade.

    Reacting two days later, Cardinal Theodore Adrien Sarr said Christians "felt bruised and humiliated" by those comments.

    "It was so embarrassing and humiliating that the head of state could find some semblance between the Monument for African Renaissance and the Jesus representations that are in our churches," the head of the church in Senegal pointed out.

    "We felt humiliated because of the risk of divisions that such comments can bring in a national community which has always been characterized by exemplary harmony between Christians and Muslims," the prelate noted.

    He also welcomed the spontaneous reaction "of support and solidarity" from the Muslim brothers and sisters.

    A few hours after the remarks by the prelate, the young Catholics who wanted to march towards the Presidential Palace were dispersed by police. In the evening, the son to the head of state, Karim Wade, accompanied by five ministers visited the home of the cardinal "to apologize."

    In his New Year message, the Senegalese president regretted his comments on the Christian religious practices.

    "If my comments were offensive to some members of the Christian community, I am the first to regret it," he said. The church in a press statement acknowledged the regrets of Wade.