Europe, centre and periphery ” “

Two intense, committing journeys abroad at a few days’ distance, not exempt from possible “surprises” on the diplomatic, political and religious planes. Pope Francis will visit European institutions in Strasbourg on November 25, after which he will be travelling to Turkey, November 28-30. These two “missions” envisage protocol events, official speeches, meetings with civil and religious authorities, marked by the common European trait. In all of these places – from the heart of the Old Continent, in Alsace, on the border between France and Germany, to the Eastern border of Europe, Turkey – Bergoglio will continue brining his message of harmony and peace. In EU and CoE seats. The two upcoming visits were presented on the same occasion in Rome on November 17 by Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican Press Office. The visit to Strasbourg “will be the shortest international visit by a Pope”, Fr Lombardi pointed out. In fact, November 25 Bergoglio “will remain on the ground three hours and 50 minutes”. The commitment in Strasbourg is configured as an official visit to the European institutions that are based in the French city. The Pope will address first the European Parliament, and then the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (CoE). “It is a visit with no pastoral or liturgical ministry connotations”, Lombardi said, specifying that the president of the EU Parliament, Martin Schulz, had invited the Pope last year, “but at the time the situation was fluid, it was ahead of the European elections”. “It will be interesting to see how the Pope will distribute the topics in the two speeches, different yet complementary. “Indeed, the EU Parliament is elected by the citizens of 28 countries with 500 million inhabitants; the Assembly of the CoE is a second-level Assembly of an institution that represents 47 States with 800 million citizens. Father Lombardi recalled the previous visit of John Paul II in Strasbourg in 1988, “but since then the situation has changed significantly”; “the Berlin Wall had not yet been torn down”, and Europe “today plays a very different role in the global arena”. In Ankara and Istanbul. It is a journey with many thrusts, guided by a spirit of ecumenical brotherhood and inter-religious dialogue in the wake of a long historical tradition that brought the Popes to the land of Turkey. Father Federico Lombardi presented the journey of Pope Francis to Ankara and Istanbul on November 28 to 30. Turkey, a country on the border between Europe and the East; a “bridge” but also a Country “on the margins”, where the predominant religion is Islam, where Christians represent less than 0.2% of the population and Catholics are a tiny yet thriving minority group. There are several “reasons” that have led Francis to travel to this “periphery” of Europe which include a special attention to the hosting country and the situation in which Turkey is right now, grappling with the Middle Eastern crisis and the wave of the Isis approaching its southern boundaries, not far from the besieged city of Kobane and to inter-religious dialogue in a country with a predominantly Muslim population and a small Catholic community that the Pope will embrace and encourage. Between Erdogan and “the blue mosque”. And most important, there is an invitation of the Pope’s fraternal friend Bartholomew I, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, with whom Bergoglio has already shared many important stages of his Pontificate: since the beginnings, with the Patriarch’s extraordinary participation in Rome, to the pilgrimage to Jerusalem, to the meeting for peace in the Middle East held in the Vatican with the Israeli and Palestinian presidents. Now Bartholomew is waiting to welcome him in Istanbul to jointly celebrate the feast of the Patron Saint Andrew on November 30th. The program of the visit is similar to that undertaken by Pope Benedict XVI in 2006, although Francis’ program does not envisage a stop in Smyrna. The Pope will be arriving to Ankara on November 28 where he will be welcomed by the public authorities, followed by meeting with religious dignitaries in Istanbul. There is great anticipation for the visit to the Sultan Ahmet Mosque, also known as “the Blue Mosque”. It is “an important gesture for relations with Muslims”, Fr Lombardi said. Pope Francis could pray in the mosque but it would not be, as was the case for Benedict XVI, a “formal” or public prayer but rather a time of “personal” recollection. On Sunday, November 30th, the Pope will attend the Divine Liturgy in the Patriarchal Church of St. George at the end of which are scheduled the speeches by Francis Pope and Patriarch Bartholomew.