Pope's visit to Turkey

ObiterDicta SG

http://www.catholicexchange.com/node/7855

The whole question of prayer and adoration is a mysterious one. How should men and women worship? Who is worthy of worship? How should men and women pray, and when, and where... and why?

Yesterday, here in Istanbul, in a remarkable way, these questions were highlighted - if not answered - by two very different moments of Pope Benedict XVI's historic trip to Turkey.

The first "moment" was the solemn, majestic, three-hour Orthodox liturgy (a Mass according to the ancient Byzantine rite) filled with solemn chants and gestures.

Benedict attended the liturgy yesterday morning to celebrate the Feast of St. Andrew (November 30) at the Orthodox Patriarchal Cathedral of St. George in the Phanar district of Istanbul - the same place where he prayed together with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew two days ago.

ObiterDicta SG

Peter Visits Andrew And Prays at the Blue Mosque

ROMA, December 1, 2006 On the feast of saint Andrew, Benedict XVI entered the Blue Mosque in Istanbul with the cross of Jesus clearly visible upon his chest. He paused before the mihrab facing Mecca, and prayed in silence beside the grand mufti, who murmured the opening words of the Quran: all this took place with the freedom and clarity marked out by his lecture in Regensburg.

But a no less symbolic gesture took place shortly before this, with the popes entrance into the Hagia Sophia, now a museum, previously a mosque, and before that the cathedral church of the patriarch of Constantinople, in the land where early Christianity flourished.

........

ObiterDicta SG

In Turkey, Benedict XVI Becomes a Defender of Freedom

ROMA, November 28, 2006 On his first day in Turkey, Benedict XVI did not again quote sura 2:256 of the Quran, which he had taken as the launching point for his lecture in Regensburg: There is no compulsion in religion.

But it was as if he had referred to it again. In speaking in Ankara, first to the Diyanet for religious affairs, and then to the diplomatic corps, pope Joseph Ratzinger placed the question of freedom at the center of both addresses.

......

SingaporeMacross SG

This site will be useful.

http://www.patriarchate.org/

Honeybunz SG

This morning I was talking to two friends and one of them is a Muslim.
We were talking about Popes and she commented that Pope Benedict shouldn't have made that kind of comment about Muslims. She asked whether the Pope said it to catch media's attention.

Frankly, I can't quite remember what Pope Benedict said. But I know he has taken on a difficult role, especially when he has a precedessor that was so loved by all religions. People will tend to compare and so he will have to work really hard and put in lotsa efforts to gain the same kind of respect that people have for Pope John Paul II.

Let us pray for his good health and wisdom in leading the world's biggest Christian denomination.

ObiterDicta SG

You should tell your Muslim friend that catching the media's attention was the last thing on the Pope's mind.

The things he said was too complicated for the simple-minded media that we have today, which thrives on soundbites and simplistic reasoning. He would know very well that the modern media is an enemy of the Catholic Church, and there would be no reason for him to purposely provide ammunition for the enemy.

You should also invite your friend to read the full text of the Pope's speech at the www.chiesa website. The Pope did not make 'that kind of comment about Muslims'. As a scholar, he was quoting someone else in another historical context. Assuming that your Muslim friend has some basic tertiary-level education, this kind of distinction should not be too subtle for her to appreciate.

regards,
obiterdicta

Fingolfin_Noldor SG

If one were living in the Medieval Ages, one would immediately be lulled into the sense that the Muslims were out to conquer Europe and try to influence people into converting into Islam by imposing a tax on non-believers. The Byzantine Empire back then was under constant attack by Muslims for hundreds of years until it fell.

The fact of the matter is, that as usual people have selective memory. Whereas the Koran says no, the people following the Koran decided to adopt religious superiority and convert the non-believers. There was perhaps only a few Islamic empires back then who did follow the principle of tolerance as much as they could but the zealots always say nay.