Orthodoxy, Not Islam, Draws Pope To Turkey

Pope Benedict XVI urged leaders of all religions to "utterly refuse" to support any form of violence in the name of faith, while Turkey's top Muslim cleric complained to the pontiff of growing "Islamophobia" in the world.

As he began his first visit to a Muslim country — Benedict sought a careful balance as he extended friendship and brotherhood to Muslims, hoping to end the outcry from many Muslims over his remarks linking Islam to violence.

This is all good, but why did he really come to Turkey for? Here is an interesting article…

Taken from Philadelphia Inquirer, 11-28-2006
By David O'Reilly

While much of the world wonders whether Pope Benedict XVI will be met with violent Muslim demonstrations - or worse - when he visits Istanbul this week, it is Catholic relations with Orthodoxy, not Islam, that bring the pontiff to Turkey.

Muslims worldwide are still incensed by remarks Benedict made in September, when he linked Islam with violence and in the eyes of many insulted the prophet Muhammad.

Some don't want him to come at all; others are hoping for some words or signs that might repair the damage and restore Catholic-Islamic relations to the warmer days they knew under Benedict's predecessor, Pope John Paul II.

But unlike John Paul - who once kissed a copy of the Koran - Benedict is not a man of grand, theatrical gestures.

And, regardless of what assurances of respect and admiration for the Muslim world the pontiff might issue this week, the core of his visit will be a Thursday meeting with Bartholomew, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople and spiritual leader of the world's 270 million Orthodox Christians.

While Westerners tend to think of ecumenism as rapprochement between Catholics and Protestants, Benedict "sees the greatest commonality and hope for ecumenism as with the Orthodox, not the Protestants," said Benedict's biographer David Gibson.

"He sees little theological difference [between Catholicism and Orthodoxy], and he identifies very much with that Orthodoxy's dynamism, its polity, its liturgy, and the fact that it speaks one of the original languages of the church," said Gibson, whose book, The Rule of Benedict, came out in September.

Catholic author and columnist George Weigel, who wrote the definitive biography of John Paul II, agreed. "This is not about the pope's visiting an Islamic country," he said yesterday. "The pope is visiting the patriarch."

Both Benedict and Bartholomew are committed to resolving the bitter theological differences that have split their ancient churches for more than 1,000 years.

No major breakthrough is anticipated, but the two are expected to sign a proclamation of affection between Catholicism and Orthodoxy at the close of their meeting, according to the Rev. Dr. Frank Marangos, executive director for communications for the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.

"This is not a public-relations ploy or means to a political end," Marangos said in a phone interview from Istanbul. "The real intent of this trip, which was planned a year ago, was for the pope to visit the patriarchate and participate in prayer."

Weigel said he nevertheless expected the meeting to be eclipsed in news reports by any demonstrations, violence, or papal gestures to Islam.

In September, the pontiff incensed much of the Muslim world when, in a lecture to German theologians at Regensburg University, he warned against the demise of religious reason.

Most of his Regensburg remarks were directed at the collapse of Christianity in Europe, but he also pointed to Islamic jihadism, and quoted a 14th-century Byzantine emperor who called Islam "evil and inhuman."

Those remarks so incensed Muslims that Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan originally said his schedule would not permit him to meet with Benedict during this trip; yesterday, he agreed to greet him at Ankara's airport before departing for the NATO summit in Latvia.

Erdogan's reluctance to spend time with Benedict might also be based on concern that the pope will call attention to Turkey's repression of non-Islamic faiths, which has slowed its efforts to join the European Union.

While Turkey is officially secular, the government recently closed the nation's only Orthodox seminary and restricts public worship by non-Muslims.

Weigel said he hoped Benedict does not apologize for his September remarks and instead "lifts up for the attention of the world the very difficult circumstances in which the patriarchate is obliged to operate in Turkey."

But Ali Khan, executive director of the Islamic Council of America, said in a phone interview yesterday from Chicago that he had "great expectations" the pope would make a "significant gesture" toward the Muslim world.

"I think the [Muslim] reaction to his remarks was extreme," Khan said. But, he added - perhaps more hopefully than accurately - the comments "did not do permanent damage."

"He has not been pope for very long," Khan said. "If he admits he made a mistake, let's move on."