Tuesday - November 28, 2006

Into The Lion’s Den

The Pope Visits A Muslim Country - Turkey

The Muslims There Are Offended And Want To Kill Him

So The Turkish Government Has To Call Out The Army To Protect Him

Pope’s Visit to Turkey Highlights Tensions
_{ANKARA, Turkey (NY TIMES) - November 28, 2006}

Pope Benedict XVI offered a message of brotherhood and of support for Turkey’s membership in the European Union today as he began a visit to Turkey, amid lingering anger over his remarks about two months ago that were widely interpreted as suggesting that Islam was prone to violence.

The Pope’s trip is mainly aimed at reaching out to Orthodox Christians. But after he apologized for the way the speech mentioning Islam was received, expectations are high for him also to reach out to Muslims while he is here — though with measured words that are unlikely to express the full range of his complex concerns about Islam or the possibilities of meaningful dialogue with Christians.

“All feel the same responsibility in this difficult moment in history — let’s work together,” Benedict said during his flight to Ankara from Rome, according to The Associated Press. We know that the scope of this trip is dialogue and brotherhood, and the commitment for understanding between cultures,” and for reconciliation, he told reporters on his plane.

The Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, greeted the pope at the Ankara airport and held a short meeting with him the popebefore leaving on a journey of his own, to the NATO summit in Riga, Latvia. I asked his support for our membership into the European Union,” said Mr. Erdogan after the talks. “The Pope said they did not have the political power to intervene but they would like to see Turkey as a member of the E.U.”

In another relevant event on his schedule, Benedict met today with Turkey’s chief Muslim religious figure, Ali Bardakoglu, who had been one of the most outspoken critics of the Pope’s speech about Islam. Street protests and anger over Benedict’s the popeearlier speech continued in the hours before the pope’s arrival, complicating the event for Turkey, which has to ensure his safety during the four-day visit and to maintain the image of a secular and moderate Muslim nation that wants to join the European Union.

Although the Vatican had never opposed Turkey joining the E.U., Benedict had personally expressed reservations about the idea before he was elected Pope, telling the French newspaper Le Monde in 2004 that Turkey stood in “permanent contrast” to Europe. The shift in his tone today seemed intended as a small, specific gift of reconciliation, blunting the criticism and enhancing the stature of Mr. Erdogan at home.

The Rev. Federico Lombardi, the chief spokesman for the pope, said: “The Holy See has neither the power not the specific political task of intervening on the exact point regarding the entry of Turkey into the European Union. It is not its scope.” Before the visit, some experts said Benedict could go far in pleasing Turks merely by being friendly, and the pope seemed to want to do that. On Sunday, he sent “cordial greetings to the dear Turkish people.”

Benedict originally wanted to visit Turkey a year ago, in hopes of helping to heal the 1,000-year rift between the Roman church and Orthodox Christians, who now number 220 million around the world. The pope planned to celebrate the Feast of St. Andrew on Nov. 30 with Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual head of the worldwide Orthodox Church, who lives in Istanbul, and then return to Rome.

But for various reasons having to do with the Turkish government’s own complex relationship with Orthodox Christianity, officials raised objections and the trip was postponed. No doubt the nation’s leaders now wish they had approved a Papal visit then, before the controversial remarks about Islam that the pope made in September in a speech to academics and theologians in Regensburg, Germany.

Posted by The Skipper     on 11/28/2006 at 12:59 PM   
Filed Under: • Religion •  
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Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:

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It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.

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