An expected visit” “

Turkish president Ahmet Necdet Sezer has invited the Pope to pay an official visit to Turkey in 2006. News of the invitation was given on 15 September by the Turkish Foreign Minister who in a communiqué underlined that “Turkey is closely following Benedict XVI’s efforts to reinforce dialogue and toleration between the religions… In this context the President, to contribute to his efforts aimed at promoting dialogue between the civilizations, has invited the Pope to pay an official visit [to Turkey] in 2006”. Already on the cards, the announcement of the invitation of the Turkish authorities smoothes the way to Benedict XVI’s visit to the Anatolian country. On the 1st May this year the Pope had already received the same invitation from the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I. We discussed the forthcoming visit with the president of the Turkish bishops, Archbishop Ruggero FRANCESCHINI of Smyrna. After the formal invitation of Ankara, the Pope’s visit seems certain… “We were expecting this news. The Turkish Bishops’ Conference, in a letter dated Monday 12 September, also invited the Pope to come and visit the Church in Turkey. A letter that complements the invitation of the Turkish State”. What did you write in your letter? “Let’s say it contained three hopes: first a meeting with the Turkish State; second, a meeting with the Turkish Church; and third, a visit to the Orthodox communities. In particular, we express the wish that the Pope should meet the Turkish authorities to speak with them especially about the legal recognition of the Church. At the same time we express the need for the universal Church to get to know the Turkish Church, its bishops, its many religious, its priests and faithful. We have a need not to be forgotten spiritually and materially. We lack material resources. It will be a meeting that will involve our spiritual and material life”. And what about ecumenical and interfaith dialogue? “Our wish is also to see the Pope in Smyrna, where Muslims, Catholics, Protestants and Orthodox live amicably together. Here a liturgy of the Word, presided over by the Pope, could be celebrated. It’s a visit already made in the past by John XXIII and Paul VI. At Smyrna we shall celebrate the Theotokos and commemorate the Council of Ephesus within the ruins of the basilica and over the tomb of St. John; and hence amid the ruins of the ancient Ephesus”. The Pope’s visit will also be charged with political motivations, it’s enough to think of Turkey’s bid to enter the EU… “A certain psychological rejection of the Turks by Europe can be noted. The burden of history is heavy and full of accusation, so there’s fear. I think the Pope could help to steer Turkey towards Europe by emphasizing not the diversities but the common and shared rules that exist on both sides of the Bosphorus”. There are those who recall an interview in “Le Figaro” in which the then Cardinal Ratzinger, speaking of Turkey’s admission into Europe, had, according to many commentators in the country, expressed some misgivings, especially bearing in mind the fact that the population of Turkey has a large Islamic majority… “The Turks are not naturally Muslims. They are Nestorians; they come from the borders of Mongolia and Christians too have a role in their history that we have in some way brought to light. It’s enough to say that throughout Anatolia we had male and female boarding schools, praised by the Sultan himself, and that our former properties bore his “firman”, in other words, a title of ownership granted by the sultan himself. Today it’s no longer recognized but it remains a title. With the advent of the Republic, it was necessary to convert the titles of the Sultan into those of the Republic. But the respect has remained. Let’s not forget that Turkey is the only country with an Islamic majority in which a statue of a Pope has been erected: that of Benedict XV, to commemorate his efforts to foster peace and the rights of Christians. The visit of Benedict XVI could mark a resumption of this tradition and at the same time help the Turkish Church”.