Associated Press Worldstream
November 11, 2006 Saturday 7:36 PM GMT
Benedict to meet in Turkey with Islamic cleric who denounced him for
speech
By FRANCES D’EMILIO, Associated Press Writer
Pope Benedict XVI will meet in Turkey later this month with a top
Islamic cleric who denounced the pope’s remarks on Islam and
violence.
During the pope’s Nov. 28-Dec. 1 visit to the predominantly Muslim
nation, he will also visit a symbol of Turkey’s official commitment
to secularism the mausoleum of the Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who is
honored as the founder of the modern Turkish state.
The Vatican on Saturday released details of the trip, which was
originally planned so that Benedict could meet with Ecumenical
Patriarch Bartholomew I, the Istanbul-based spiritual leader of the
world’s Orthodox Christians, as the pontiff pursues closer relations
among Christians.
But the trip quickly turned into a test of Catholic-Muslim relations
after much of the Muslim world reacted angrily to a Sept. 12 speech
in which Benedict quoted a 14th-century Byzantine emperor describing
Islam as a religion spread by the sword.
One of the first to decry Benedict’s speech was Turkey’s president
for religious affairs, Ali Bardakoglu, a top Islamic cleric who said
criticism of Islam threatened world peace. Benedict and Bardakoglu
will meet within hours of the pope’s arrival in Ankara, the Turkish
capital, on Nov. 28. The pope will also deliver a speech during his
encounter with the cleric, the Vatican said.
Benedict has offered his regrets that the quotes from the emperor
caused offense and has stressed they did not reflect his personal
opinion. He has also expressed esteem for Islam.
Immediately after the pope’s arrival at Ankara’s airport, he will
head to the mausoleum of Ataturk, revered as a hero in Turkey by
those who share his fierce dedication to secularism.
Earlier this month, thousands of nationalist Turks rallied at the
mausoleum, vowing to defend Turkey’s secular government.
The pontiff will meet with Turkey’s deputy premier. Turkey’s prime
minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has already said he won’t be meeting
the pope because he will be attending a NATO summit in Latvia.
Erdogan has denied he was trying to avoid an encounter with the
pontiff. His Islamic-rooted party faces elections next year.
Benedict will spend much of his first papal visit to a Muslim country
in ceremonies and meetings with Orthodox leaders. The visit was timed
to coincide with the Nov. 30 feast day of a special saint for the
Orthodox, Andrew, who is considered the father of the patriarchate of
Constantinople, the Byzantine name for present-day Istanbul.
The pope will pray in the patriarchal Church of St. George in
Istanbul on Nov. 29.
On Nov. 30, Benedict will meet with other Christian leaders: Armenian
Patriarch Mesrob II, who is based in Istanbul, and Assyrian
Metropolitan Yusef Cetin.
While in Istanbul, Benedict will meet Turkey’s chief rabbi. Two
synagogues in the city were destroyed in twin suicide bombings in
November 2003.
The pope will also dine on his last evening in Turkey with Catholic
clerics. In February, an Italian priest was slain as he prayed in his
church in the Black Sea town of Trabzon, and a 16-year-old Turk was
charged with the murder.
Benedict will tour the Haghia Sophia, the magnificent ancient church
that became the main mosque of Istanbul when Sultan Mehmet took the
city in 1453. The Turkish government made it a museum in 1935.
Other details of the trip were given previously, including a stop in
Izmir, a port city near Ephesus, which is an ancient Christian
community.
An Algerian intellectual and Muslim scholar, Mustapha Cherif, had a
private meeting with Benedict on Saturday at the Vatican, people
close to Cherif said. Cherif could not be immediately be reached for
comment.
The Vatican press office did not list the meeting, but the daily list
of the pope’s audiences does not always include all the people paying
calls on him.
That was the case of a private audience Benedict granted in 2005 to
Italian intellectual and writer Oriana Fallaci, who said the pontiff
shared her concerns about relations between the Muslim world and the
West.