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Pope set to visit Turkish mosque | Pope set to visit Turkish mosque |
(about 3 hours later) | |
Pope Benedict XVI is due to visit one of Turkey's most famous mosques in what is being seen as an attempt to mend relations with the Muslim community. | Pope Benedict XVI is due to visit one of Turkey's most famous mosques in what is being seen as an attempt to mend relations with the Muslim community. |
His tour of the Blue Mosque in Istanbul will be only the second papal visit in history to a Muslim place of worship. | His tour of the Blue Mosque in Istanbul will be only the second papal visit in history to a Muslim place of worship. |
The Pope's trip has been overshadowed by his recent comments about Islam. | The Pope's trip has been overshadowed by his recent comments about Islam. |
His plans to visit the Hagia Sophia Museum, a site heavy with Christian and Muslim symbolism, brought protesters onto the streets. | |
Dozens of people linked to an Islamist-nationalist party demonstrated against the Pope's plans to visit the domed complex that was once a Christian centre before becoming a mosque and eventually, a museum. | |
They claimed the Pope's visit was an affront to the secularism enshrined in Turkey's constitution, as well as an attempt to stake a Catholic claim to the Hagia Sophia site. | |
They have said any hint of a prayer there would be deeply offensive. | |
Prayer watch | Prayer watch |
The third day of the Pope's trip to Turkey began with a mass celebrated by the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I. | |
A prime reason for Pope Benedict's visit to Turkey has been to heal the centuries-old rift between the two Churches. | |
See a map of where Orthodox and Catholic Europe meet | See a map of where Orthodox and Catholic Europe meet |
"The divisions which exist among Christians are a scandal to the world," the Pope said after the meeting. | |
The BBC's Sarah Rainsford in Istanbul says this day's activities are heavy with symbolism. | The BBC's Sarah Rainsford in Istanbul says this day's activities are heavy with symbolism. |
HAVE YOUR SAY This visit is an opportunity to show that a Muslim country can be secular, free and democratic Onur, Istanbul href="http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?threadID=4818&edition=1&ttl=20061128091957" class="">Send us your comments href="/1/hi/talking_point/6189398.stm" class="">Read our online debate | |
The tour of the Blue Mosque - across the square from Hagia Sophia - was a last-minute addition to the schedule and is seen as a major gesture of goodwill to Muslims. | |
It is part of efforts by Pope Benedict to mend the damage his comments on Islam in September caused across the Muslim world. | It is part of efforts by Pope Benedict to mend the damage his comments on Islam in September caused across the Muslim world. |
Speaking to an academic audience in Germany, the Pope quoted a Byzantine emperor who characterised Islam as a violent religion. | Speaking to an academic audience in Germany, the Pope quoted a Byzantine emperor who characterised Islam as a violent religion. |
While the Pope insisted the remarks did not reflect his own views, the speech was widely reported and caused anger across the Islamic world. | While the Pope insisted the remarks did not reflect his own views, the speech was widely reported and caused anger across the Islamic world. |
WHERE EAST MEETS WEST Kosovo is an overwhelmingly Muslim province of Serbia, pushing for independenceIn Lviv and other western parts of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church predominates - a church that follows Eastern rites but vows allegiance to RomeRepublika Srpska is the Serb part of BosniaCyprus is divided between the Greek, Orthodox south and the breakaway Turkish, Muslim north | WHERE EAST MEETS WEST Kosovo is an overwhelmingly Muslim province of Serbia, pushing for independenceIn Lviv and other western parts of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church predominates - a church that follows Eastern rites but vows allegiance to RomeRepublika Srpska is the Serb part of BosniaCyprus is divided between the Greek, Orthodox south and the breakaway Turkish, Muslim north |
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