Vatican announces details of pope's visit to Turkey

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. The Associated Press

/The International Herald Tribune/