Pope Benedict at Blue Mosque
צילום: רויטרס
Turkey: Pope makes historic mosque visit
Benedict XVI visits Istanbul's Blue Mosque, appears to pray alongside Islamic cleric
Pope Benedict visited Istanbul's Blue Mosque on Thursday and appeared to pray alongside an Islamic cleric during the visit that made him only the second Roman Catholic Pontiff to enter a mosque.
The dramatic gesture was seen as yet another attempt by the pope at reconciliation after he infuriated much of the Muslim world with comments taken as indicating he believed Islam was violent and irrational.
The pope took off his shoes and donned what looked like white cloth slippers when he entered the mosque and was told about its history and architecture by Istanbul's Grand Mufti Mustafa Cagrici.
Toward the end of the visit, which lasted about 20 minutes, the two stood side by side for about a minute. The pope kept his arms crossed at his waist. His lips could be seen moving silently.
The Muslim cleric prayed aloud and touched his faced in the traditional Islamic gesture at the end of prayer. The pope nodded and the two exchanged gifts before Benedict left.
Asked if the pope had prayed, Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi would only say: "The pope paused in meditation and certainly addressed his thoughts toward God."
Benedict's predecessor Pope John Paul II made the first papal visit to a mosque during a trip to Damascus in 2001.
"This visit will help us find the means and the ways of peace for the good of all humanity," the pope told the Mufti as the visit was drawing to a close.
The Blue Mosque, known officially as the Sultan Ahmet mosque, opened in 1616 and is the most famous in Turkey. It got its popular name from the fine blue Iznik tiles in the main prayer room.
It stands in Sultan Ahmet Square in the old center of Istanbul, opposite the Aya Sofya museum which was once the Christian church Hagia Sophia. The pope visited the mosque after a short tour of Aya Sofya.
'Minorities must be protected'
Benedict's visit was a late addition to his schedule meant as a gesture of respect for Islam after he angered Muslims with apparently critical comments in a speech in September.
The German-born pope has already defused much of the tension linked to his visit, his first to a mostly Muslim country, by supporting Ankara's bid to join the European Union and praising Islam as a religion of peace.
Earlier, Benedict and the spiritual leader of Orthodox Christians prayed together and signed a common declaration that appeared to jointly support Turkish membership if it protected religious liberties.
In the declaration after a prayer service, Benedict and Patriarch Bartholomew rejected the concept of killing in God's name, denounced terrorism and re-committed their Churches to the quest for unity and condemned violence in the Holy Land.
Such declarations usually stick to theological issues so its content was politically significant.
"We have viewed positively the process that has led to the formation of the European Union," the statement said.
"In every step toward unification, minorities must be protected, with their cultural traditions and the distinguishing features of their religion," adding that all members had to respect human rights and religious freedom.
The EU wants Turkey to ensure full religious freedom for its non-Muslim minorities.
Patriarch Bartholomew, spiritual leader of the world's 250 million Orthodox Christians, strongly supports Turkey's membership in the EU and two days ago the pope did an about-face from his previous opposition to Ankara's bid.
