Pope's reconciliatory message continues in Turkey
The Pope prayed with Muslim clerics in Istanbul's Blue Mosque
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Thursday, 30, Nov 2006 07:59
Pope Benedict XVI today continued his tour of Turkey by becoming only the second pontiff in history to visit a mosque, while also urging Christians themselves to erode century-old divisions.
The Pope spent the penultimate day of his four-day tour by attending the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, one of Turkey's holiest Muslim sites.
John Paul II, the current pontiff's predecessor, is the only other head of the Catholic church to have visited a Muslim place of worship in the papacy's near two millennia long history.
The original intention of Pope Benedict's trip to Turkey was to build bridges with the Orthodox Christian church, but it has been overshadowed by a row over comments made by the Pope earlier this year.
In a speech to academics he quoted a Byzantine emperor, the ruins of whose medieval capital lies under modern-day Istanbul, who accused Islam of being founded upon violence.
Despite more than a hundred demonstrators protesting outside the Hagia Sophia, which is now a museum after being converted from an Orthodox church into a mosque, opposition towards the Pope appears to be ebbing following silent prayers alongside Muslim clerics at the Blue Mosque today.
Pope Benedict also met with Bartholomew I, the leader of the Orthodox diaspora, which has more than 300 million followers mainly across eastern Europe.
Following talks with the ecumenical patriarch, the Pope said: "The divisions which exist among Christians are a scandal to the world."
He went on to say that all Christians should "renew Europe's awareness of its Christian roots, traditions and values, giving them new vitality".
Earlier this week in a brief meeting with Turkish premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan the pontiff indicated that he supported the country's proposed accession to the EU, despite previously saying voicing concerns over any such move.