If the Pope is in Istanbul and facing east, he would figuratively be looking at Samarkand, then beyond to Beijing, then further beyond to Morioka. To face Mecca, he would have to look SSE. Of course, it's Yahoo! News, so they may have gotten the compass direction wrong.
>>If the Pope is in Istanbul and facing east, he would figuratively be looking at Samarkand, then beyond to Beijing, then further beyond to Morioka. To face Mecca, he would have to look SSE. Of course, it’s Yahoo! News, so they may have gotten the compass direction wrong.
I checked the map too. But, the common saying is, “facing east to Mecca” so I assumed that the fools from Yahoo News would assume that east always points to Mecca.