Pope: Christian divisions a 'scandal'
By BRIAN MURPHY, AP Religion Writer Thu Nov 30, 7:53 AM ET
ISTANBUL, Turkey -
Pope Benedict XVI called divisions among Christians a "scandal to
the world" at a joint ceremony Thursday with the spiritual leader
of the Orthodox Christian church, which split from Catholicism
nearly 1,000 years ago.
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Reaching out to the world's 250 million Orthodox Christians is a
centerpiece of Benedict's papacy. He has set the difficult goal of
full unity between the two ancient branches of Christianity, which
divided over disputes including the extent of papal
authority.
"The divisions which exist among Christians are a scandal to the
world," the pope said after joining Ecumenical Patriarch
Bartholomew I to mark the feast day of St. Andrew, who preached
across Asia Minor and who is believed to have ordained the first
bishop of Constantinople, now Istanbul.
The pope also said all Christians should "renew Europe's awareness
of its Christian roots, traditions and values, giving them new
vitality."
In a joint communique, the pope and patriarch stressed the need to
"preserve Christian roots" in European culture while remaining
"open to other religions and their cultural contributions."
The pope avoided any direct mention of Islam after praying with
Bartholomew at the gilded St. George Church in Istanbul. But he is
expected to sharpen his calls for what the
Vatican labels "reciprocity" that Muslim demands for greater
respect in the West must be matched by increased tolerance and
freedoms for Christians in Islamic nations.
Too much pressure by the pope, who arrived in Istanbul late
Wednesday, could risk new friction with Muslims after broad
gestures of goodwill that sought to ease simmering Muslim anger
over remarks by the pope on violence and the Prophet
Muhammad.
A statement claiming to be from al-Qaida in
Iraq denounced the pope's visit as part of a "crusader campaign"
against Islam and an attempt to "extinguish the burning ember of
Islam" in Turkey. Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said
the declaration posted on several Islamic militant Web sites
shows the need for faiths to fight "violence in the name of
God."
He said "neither the pope nor his entourage are worried."
Still, Turkish authorities took massive security precautions for
the Istanbul stop, with thousands of police on the street and roads
cleared of all traffic for the papal motorcade.
Later Thursday, the pope plans to visit the 1,500-year-old Haghia
Sophia, a domed complex that was once a spiritual center of
Christianity and then converted to a mosque in the 15th century.
The site became a museum following the sweeping secular reforms
that formed modern Turkey in the 1920s.
About 150 nationalists demonstrated against the pope's planned
visit to the Haghia Sophia, gathering at a square less than a mile
from the site and urging the government to open the museum to
Muslim worship. Nationalists view the planned visit as a sign of
Christian claims to the site and a challenge to Turkish
sovereignty.
"Haghia Sophia is Turkish and will remain Turkish," one protest
sign read. Riot police surrounded the demonstrators to prevent them
from advancing toward the site.
Benedict also is expected to make a brief tour of the famous Blue
Mosque in the second papal visit to a Muslim place of worship
after
Pope John Paul II's historic stop in a mosque in
Syria in 2001.
Of Turkey's 70 million people, some 65,000 are Armenian Orthodox
Christians, 20,000 are Roman Catholic and 3,500 are Protestant,
mostly converts from Islam. Another 23,000 are Jewish.