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POPE MEETS WITH TURKISH CHRISTIANS
By Tracy Wilkinson, Times Staff Writer
Los Angeles Times
Nov 30 2006
The pontiff joins Orthodox leader in prayer and calls for more
protections for religious minorities
EFES, TURKEY - Invoking the name of a martyred priest, Pope Benedict
XVI on Wednesday made a pointed plea on behalf of Turkey's beleaguered
Christian minority and celebrated Mass in an ancient shrine revered
as the last home of the Virgin Mary.
Benedict ended his second day in Turkey with another solemn gesture
of religious unity: He joined the spiritual leader of the world's
250 million Eastern Orthodox Christians for prayer and blessings in
Istanbul - the former Constantinople, which once served as a seat of
medieval Christian power.
The day saw the pope shifting his focus from Muslim reconciliation
to Christian solidarity.
The Vatican on Wednesday also responded to a statement from Al Qaeda
in Iraq denouncing the "crusader campaign" of the pope in Turkey as an
affront to Islam. Spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said such threats
were precisely the reason violence must be separated from religion,
which he said was the core of the pope's message. Lombardi added that
the pope was not worried about the threat.
Security was already extremely tight for Benedict's first visit to a
Muslim country. In Istanbul on Wednesday evening, miles of streets
were closed to protect the convoy, with police in riot gear posted
along the route.
The pope had intended his Turkey pilgrimage to highlight Christian
unity and the bridging of the 1,000-year-old rift between Catholics
and the Orthodox, who do not recognize the authority of the pope. But
comments he made in September critical of Islam enraged much of the
Muslim world and forced him to change the agenda, using this visit
to reach out to Muslims and attempt to repair the damage.
In that vein, Benedict reversed his opposition to Turkey's attempt to
join the European Union, among other gestures. But the EU bid suffered
a setback Wednesday when the European Commission recommended that
negotiations with Turkey be partially suspended because of continued
dispute over the country's dealings with EU member Cyprus.
Turkey has refused an EU demand to open its ports to Cyprus until the
European bloc makes good on a promise to end the economic isolation
of the Turkish-occupied part of the divided island nation.
Olli Rehn, EU enlargement commissioner, said in Brussels that Turkey's
aspirations to enter the organization were not dead but would move
at a much slower pace.
Following on a day spent attempting to promote reconciliation with
Turkey's overwhelmingly Muslim majority, the pope Wednesday turned to
"the little flock of Christ" living in the midst "of a great nation."
He traveled to southwestern Turkey, to the ruins of the ancient Greek
city of Ephesus, known in Turkish as Efes, and to the squat stone
house where some Christians believe the Virgin Mary lived out her
final days. Parts of the foundation date to the 1st century, and
legend has it that St. John brought her here from Jerusalem after
Jesus' crucifixion.
Mary is revered by Muslims as well as Christians. The Koran mentions
the mother of Jesus numerous times, and the shrine here, at the end of
a winding road, attracts pilgrims from both faiths. Benedict stressed
that common bond Wednesday.
Standing on a stone altar festooned with carnations, a few yards
from Mary's purported house and enveloped in towering pines, Benedict
celebrated Mass for several hundred Christians and others who managed
to brave a battery of metal detectors and security gauntlets. It
may have been one of the smallest public audiences ever seen on a
papal trip, and was largely imported, at that. There were Turkish
Christians but also many who had arrived from Spain, Italy and other
parts of Europe.
It was an unusually intimate celebration. No one was farther than a
few dozen yards from the pope, close enough to see his eyes.
Benedict offered his "personal love and spiritual closeness" and
"a word of encouragement" to Christians in Turkey, "a small minority
which faces many challenges and difficulties daily."
"Let us sing joyfully, even when we are tested by difficulties
and dangers, as we have learned from the fine witness given by the
Roman priest Don Andrea Santoro, whom I am pleased to recall in this
celebration," the pope said.
Santoro was shot to death in February as he knelt in prayer at his
church in the Turkish city of Trabzon. He was attacked amid the furor
over Dutch newspaper cartoons that had satirized the prophet Muhammad.
Aishe Urturk, a fireplug of a woman in a tweed coat, pushed her way
to the front of the crowd to catch a glimpse of the pope. "I love
all the Christians," the 70-year-old Muslim said.
Several in the audience gave the pope high marks for his efforts to
soothe Muslim anger.
"He prayed here for peace and happiness for all mankind," said
Konstantinos Cedolini, a 39-year-old Turkish businessman and Roman
Catholic. "He never mentioned a single word against Turkey. His speech
was proof of his respect to all the Muslim world."
Later Wednesday, the pope flew to Istanbul where he joined the
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I for a prayer service inside the
Cathedral of St. George, headquarters of Greek Orthodox worship. The
two religious leaders, in flowing robes and sparkling capes, followed
a procession of priests who held long candles the color of honey and
sent wafts of smoky incense into the air.
The city called Constantinople was the capital of the Byzantine Empire
for nearly a millennium, and the center of eastern Christianity. Turkey
today is a country of about 70 million Muslims.
Christians are dwindling in number, to perhaps 100,000, and those
that remain complain of harassment and discrimination.
Among the problems they suffer are severe restrictions on their
ability to buy and sell property and run schools to train their
clergy. Most Christians are also ethnic communities, people of Greek
or Armenian heritage and viewed by some Turks as "foreigners" who
cannot be trusted.
The EU has consistently pushed Turkey to strengthen freedoms for
religious minorities. But on Wednesday, at about the same time the EU
was slowing talks with Turkey, Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer
vetoed a law required by the EU that would have enhanced property
rights for non-Muslims.
The dilemma for Benedict is that as he offers support for Christians
he risks again offending the Muslims he is seeking to engage.
By Tracy Wilkinson, Times Staff Writer
Los Angeles Times
Nov 30 2006
The pontiff joins Orthodox leader in prayer and calls for more
protections for religious minorities
EFES, TURKEY - Invoking the name of a martyred priest, Pope Benedict
XVI on Wednesday made a pointed plea on behalf of Turkey's beleaguered
Christian minority and celebrated Mass in an ancient shrine revered
as the last home of the Virgin Mary.
Benedict ended his second day in Turkey with another solemn gesture
of religious unity: He joined the spiritual leader of the world's
250 million Eastern Orthodox Christians for prayer and blessings in
Istanbul - the former Constantinople, which once served as a seat of
medieval Christian power.
The day saw the pope shifting his focus from Muslim reconciliation
to Christian solidarity.
The Vatican on Wednesday also responded to a statement from Al Qaeda
in Iraq denouncing the "crusader campaign" of the pope in Turkey as an
affront to Islam. Spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said such threats
were precisely the reason violence must be separated from religion,
which he said was the core of the pope's message. Lombardi added that
the pope was not worried about the threat.
Security was already extremely tight for Benedict's first visit to a
Muslim country. In Istanbul on Wednesday evening, miles of streets
were closed to protect the convoy, with police in riot gear posted
along the route.
The pope had intended his Turkey pilgrimage to highlight Christian
unity and the bridging of the 1,000-year-old rift between Catholics
and the Orthodox, who do not recognize the authority of the pope. But
comments he made in September critical of Islam enraged much of the
Muslim world and forced him to change the agenda, using this visit
to reach out to Muslims and attempt to repair the damage.
In that vein, Benedict reversed his opposition to Turkey's attempt to
join the European Union, among other gestures. But the EU bid suffered
a setback Wednesday when the European Commission recommended that
negotiations with Turkey be partially suspended because of continued
dispute over the country's dealings with EU member Cyprus.
Turkey has refused an EU demand to open its ports to Cyprus until the
European bloc makes good on a promise to end the economic isolation
of the Turkish-occupied part of the divided island nation.
Olli Rehn, EU enlargement commissioner, said in Brussels that Turkey's
aspirations to enter the organization were not dead but would move
at a much slower pace.
Following on a day spent attempting to promote reconciliation with
Turkey's overwhelmingly Muslim majority, the pope Wednesday turned to
"the little flock of Christ" living in the midst "of a great nation."
He traveled to southwestern Turkey, to the ruins of the ancient Greek
city of Ephesus, known in Turkish as Efes, and to the squat stone
house where some Christians believe the Virgin Mary lived out her
final days. Parts of the foundation date to the 1st century, and
legend has it that St. John brought her here from Jerusalem after
Jesus' crucifixion.
Mary is revered by Muslims as well as Christians. The Koran mentions
the mother of Jesus numerous times, and the shrine here, at the end of
a winding road, attracts pilgrims from both faiths. Benedict stressed
that common bond Wednesday.
Standing on a stone altar festooned with carnations, a few yards
from Mary's purported house and enveloped in towering pines, Benedict
celebrated Mass for several hundred Christians and others who managed
to brave a battery of metal detectors and security gauntlets. It
may have been one of the smallest public audiences ever seen on a
papal trip, and was largely imported, at that. There were Turkish
Christians but also many who had arrived from Spain, Italy and other
parts of Europe.
It was an unusually intimate celebration. No one was farther than a
few dozen yards from the pope, close enough to see his eyes.
Benedict offered his "personal love and spiritual closeness" and
"a word of encouragement" to Christians in Turkey, "a small minority
which faces many challenges and difficulties daily."
"Let us sing joyfully, even when we are tested by difficulties
and dangers, as we have learned from the fine witness given by the
Roman priest Don Andrea Santoro, whom I am pleased to recall in this
celebration," the pope said.
Santoro was shot to death in February as he knelt in prayer at his
church in the Turkish city of Trabzon. He was attacked amid the furor
over Dutch newspaper cartoons that had satirized the prophet Muhammad.
Aishe Urturk, a fireplug of a woman in a tweed coat, pushed her way
to the front of the crowd to catch a glimpse of the pope. "I love
all the Christians," the 70-year-old Muslim said.
Several in the audience gave the pope high marks for his efforts to
soothe Muslim anger.
"He prayed here for peace and happiness for all mankind," said
Konstantinos Cedolini, a 39-year-old Turkish businessman and Roman
Catholic. "He never mentioned a single word against Turkey. His speech
was proof of his respect to all the Muslim world."
Later Wednesday, the pope flew to Istanbul where he joined the
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I for a prayer service inside the
Cathedral of St. George, headquarters of Greek Orthodox worship. The
two religious leaders, in flowing robes and sparkling capes, followed
a procession of priests who held long candles the color of honey and
sent wafts of smoky incense into the air.
The city called Constantinople was the capital of the Byzantine Empire
for nearly a millennium, and the center of eastern Christianity. Turkey
today is a country of about 70 million Muslims.
Christians are dwindling in number, to perhaps 100,000, and those
that remain complain of harassment and discrimination.
Among the problems they suffer are severe restrictions on their
ability to buy and sell property and run schools to train their
clergy. Most Christians are also ethnic communities, people of Greek
or Armenian heritage and viewed by some Turks as "foreigners" who
cannot be trusted.
The EU has consistently pushed Turkey to strengthen freedoms for
religious minorities. But on Wednesday, at about the same time the EU
was slowing talks with Turkey, Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer
vetoed a law required by the EU that would have enhanced property
rights for non-Muslims.
The dilemma for Benedict is that as he offers support for Christians
he risks again offending the Muslims he is seeking to engage.