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Pope hailed for praying toward Mecca like Muslims
Reuters ^ | December 1, 2006 | Philip Pullella and Tom Heneghan

Posted on 12/01/2006 7:10:53 AM PST by jan in Colorado

Pope Benedict ended a sensitive, fence-mending visit to Turkey on Friday amid praise for visiting Istanbul's famed Blue Mosque and praying there facing toward Mecca "like Muslims."

The Pope, who sparked protests across the Muslim world with a speech two months ago seen as criticizing Islam, looked relaxed and pleased as he entered the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit for a mass at the end of the four-day trip.

His first visit to a mostly Muslim country, held under tight security for fear of protests by nationalists and Islamists, was highlighted by a series of conciliatory gestures culminating in a stop on Thursday afternoon in Istanbul's famed Blue Mosque.

Istanbul Grand Mufti Mustafa Cagrici, who prayed with him there, said Benedict had faced Mecca and stood like Muslims do when they pray aright. "These were very nice gestures," he told NTV television.

"The Pope's dreaded visit was concluded with a wonderful surprise," wrote daily Aksam on its front page. "In Sultan Ahmet Mosque, he turned toward Mecca and prayed like Muslims," the popular daily Hurriyet said, using the building's official name.

Just before leaving, Benedict said he hoped his visit was seen as "a sign of friendship between religions" that helps bring countries and cultures closer together.

His gestures, including support for Ankara's bid to join the European Union and praise for Islam as a peaceful faith, seem to have persuaded the Turks to move beyond the tension following his speech quoting a Byzantine emperor as calling Islam violent.

But in Islam's Middle Eastern heartland, Arab commentators still call for Benedict to issue a full apology for his speech. Shocked by the protests it triggered, the Pope has said he did not agree with the controversial quote but has not apologized.

Catholic officials also presented the mosque visit as a key moment of reconciliation.

"I would compare the Pope's visit to the mosque to Pope John Paul's gestures at the Western Wall," said veteran Vatican mediator Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, referring to Pope John Paul II's prayers at Jerusalem's Western Wall in 2000.

"Yesterday, Benedict did with the Muslims what John Paul did with the Jews."

TRIP BRINGS OUT THE DIPLOMAT

Benedict told Istanbul Governor Muammer Guler at the city's airport before leaving for Rome that his visit to the Blue Mosque and the nearby Aya Sofya museum, once a Christian church and then a mosque, had "left a lasting impression" on him.

"A part of my heart stays here in Istanbul," he said, describing the city as "profoundly European" and a bridge between Europe and Asia. "I hope (my visit) "has the effect of bringing structures and civilizations progressively closer."

The trip brought out the diplomat in the theologian who was expected to take a tougher stand on Islam than his more outgoing predecessor John Paul.

Benedict did press during the trip for more freedom of religion in Turkey and by extension in other mostly Muslim countries, but not in the confrontational way some Church officials expected after he was elected Pope in April 2005.

About 30,000 of Turkey's 100,000 Christians are Roman Catholic, mostly living in Istanbul and Izmir.

There were only scattered protests against the visit


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: catholic; elvisbinladen; islam; istanbul; pope
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1 posted on 12/01/2006 7:10:56 AM PST by jan in Colorado
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To: jan in Colorado

Who is he being hailed by? Osama Bin Laden?


2 posted on 12/01/2006 7:12:00 AM PST by Patrick1
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To: Patrick1

If we are living in the end times, then we know a one world religion is coming.


3 posted on 12/01/2006 7:13:21 AM PST by hsmomx3 (Steelers in '07--Go BIG BEN!!!)
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To: jan in Colorado

Color me dubious. I'd like to see something other than al-Reuters on this subject.


4 posted on 12/01/2006 7:13:40 AM PST by tdewey10 (Can we please take out iran's nuclear capability before they start using it?)
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To: jan in Colorado

I hope is just lying back to liars.....


5 posted on 12/01/2006 7:13:45 AM PST by isthisnickcool (If you can't light a fire in the vacuum of space what's the deal with the Sun?)
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To: jan in Colorado
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus
6 posted on 12/01/2006 7:15:43 AM PST by jan in Colorado ("Show me just what Mohamed brought that was new & you 'll find only evil and inhuman")
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To: jan in Colorado

Our landlord almost kicked us out of our house in Kabul because we installed the toilet in the most sensible way, in which the backside faces Mecca. But it's just the way we like it.


7 posted on 12/01/2006 7:16:11 AM PST by The Truth Will Make You Free
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To: jan in Colorado

I would just love to know the content of his prayer. Was it this? "Lord, help these people realize that Islam is a sham and come to you. Amen."


8 posted on 12/01/2006 7:17:27 AM PST by Right Wing Assault ("..this administration is planning a 'Right Wing Assault' on values and ideals.." - John Kerry)
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To: Right Wing Assault

Maybe he was praying to cast out demons.


9 posted on 12/01/2006 7:19:29 AM PST by Tao Yin
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To: tdewey10; jan in Colorado

He wasn't "praying to Mecca." When he visited the mosque, the person giving him the tour told him that that was how Muslims pray, and turned around and faced Mecca (which is also the East, the sacred direction of Western Christianity). The Pope folded his hands and stood silently next to him, looking towards the East. We can all imagine what he was praying...


10 posted on 12/01/2006 7:20:19 AM PST by livius
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To: jan in Colorado
My guess - the Pope was facing Mecca, and fervently praying that everything that it stood for would be eliminated from the world, in one, bright flash of light.

Good grief, I'm not even Catholic, and even I figured this one out.
11 posted on 12/01/2006 7:21:01 AM PST by horse_doc
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To: jan in Colorado

If he faced Mecca and prayed, did he fart in the general direction of the West too?


12 posted on 12/01/2006 7:21:08 AM PST by toddlintown (Six bullets and Lennon goes down. Yet not one hit Yoko. Discuss.)
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To: USF; Fred Nerks; Dark Skies; AmericanArchConservative; backtothestreets; Former Dodger; ...
The religion of Peace ping!
.


13 posted on 12/01/2006 7:23:03 AM PST by jan in Colorado ("Show me just what Mohamed brought that was new & you 'll find only evil and inhuman")
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To: hsmomx3
Everything is falling into place. I believe the Pope strengthened Christianity and made a splendid example.

The Pope signifies the head of the future dominate religion while Islam will continue to follow the path of the overly aggressive and destabilizing religion in the future.

The contrast is becoming to great to hidden and the globalists and moral relativists can deceive the world much longer.

God Bless the Pope
14 posted on 12/01/2006 7:23:22 AM PST by KingArthur305
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To: KingArthur305

I totally agree that everything is falling into place for the end times. Let the fun begin.


15 posted on 12/01/2006 7:24:57 AM PST by hsmomx3 (Steelers in '07--Go BIG BEN!!!)
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To: jan in Colorado

Catholics, when praying in Church, also face east. This is much ado about nothing.


16 posted on 12/01/2006 7:25:05 AM PST by mockingbyrd (Good heavens! What women these Christians have-----Libanus)
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To: jan in Colorado
I wonder if the muslims visiting the Vatican for the big conciliatory conference arranged by the Pope prayed with him?
17 posted on 12/01/2006 7:27:11 AM PST by Brad C.
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To: KingArthur305

"Can't"


18 posted on 12/01/2006 7:27:24 AM PST by KingArthur305
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To: Tao Yin
Maybe he was praying to cast out demons.

LOL!

19 posted on 12/01/2006 7:27:40 AM PST by SuziQ
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To: jan in Colorado

Mosques are oriented toward Mecca....it would be natural, and merely polite in any house of worship (term used loosely) regardless of faith, to face the front of the building. Imagine an imam at a Christian state funeral in any western nation turning toward the back or side of the church so he could pray toward Mecca. It would have been rude for the Pope to face any other direction.


20 posted on 12/01/2006 7:27:44 AM PST by Joe 6-pack (Voted Free Republic's Most Eligible Bachelor: 2006. Love them Diebold machines.)
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