“No problem. We knew for a long time of the premier’s prior commitment at Riga in Latvia, to attend the NATO summit. So there can be no question of any snub to the Pope”, explained the spokesman of the Turkish bishops, Monsignor Georges Marovitch, dismissing all the conjectures made by various organs of the press on the fact that there will be no meeting between Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Benedict XVI during the Holy Father’s visit to Turkey from 28 November to 1st December. “After the Pope’s lecture at Regensburg – said Marovich in a briefing to SIR – the Turkish press wrote that the President of the Republic would not meet the Pope, but another government representative in his stead. We were astonished by this news. Later, however, it was corrected: Turkish president Necdet Sezer will receive Benedict XVI, but without premier Erdogan who will be in Riga for the NATO summit. So, no problem. Benedict XVI is visiting Turkey as the guest of the President of the Turkish Republic, not of the premier”. Preparations for the visit are meantime continuing. “The Turkish Church is eagerly awaiting Benedict XVI. We are preparing the inter-ritual celebration of 1st December, the day on which the Pontiff will meet our Catholic faithful and all their pastors in the cathedral of the Holy Spirit in Istanbul. We are receiving many requests to attend this liturgy, but places are limited. That’s why we have decided to install a mega-screen in the church of St. Anthony, so that everyone can participate”. The Pope’s meeting with the ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, and the joint declaration they will sign together, are also eagerly awaited.
