VATICAN CITY (CNS): Pope Benedict XVI called his visit to Turkey an unforgettable experience and said he hoped it would lead to improved relations between Christians and Muslims.
The Pope made the remarks at his noon blessing on December 3 at the start of Advent, addressing pilgrims two days after returning from a pilgrimage of dialogue to Turkey.
The Pope thanked the organisers of the four-day trip, including Turkish authorities, for ensuring that the visit was “peaceful and fruitful”.
He said the visit was “an unforgettable spiritual and pastoral experience, which I hope will help produce an increasingly sincere co-operation among all the disciples of Christ and a beneficial dialogue with Muslim believers”.
The papal visit was designed as a primarily ecumenical trip and featured important encounters with Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople.
But the Pope generated the most interest in Turkey and in the world by meeting with Muslim leaders and visiting the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, where he prayed alongside a Muslim cleric while facing Mecca.
At the end of his four-day pilgrimage, Pope Benedict celebrated Mass with the tiny Christian community in Istanbul and encouraged it to live in harmony with the Muslim majority.
