He surprised everyone

“This morning at eight, the Pope jointly celebrated Mass in the chapel of Pope John, in the Nunciature, with his secretary, the nuncio and other people; the liturgy was that of Saint Andrew the Apostle, the patron saint of the ecumenical Patriarchate. The cardinals and the Pope’s retinue celebrated in the Cathedral”. This is the beginning, on November 30th, as told by the Turkish Bishops’ spokesman, mgr. Georges Marovitch, of the third day of Benedict XVI’s apostolic journey in Turkey. An ecumenical and inter-religious day, with the meeting at the ecumenical Patriarchate with Bartholomew I, the signing of the Common declaration and the visit of the Blue Mosque, where the Pope stopped, barefooted, silent. One of the many things that come out of this first half of Benedict XVI’s apostolic journey in Turkey are the faces of the ordinary people, happy the Pope is in their country. Many Muslim friends are confirming this: they did not expect such a loveable Pontiff, one so willing to appreciate the Turkish reality. His meetings with the Prime Minister Erdogan, with the President of the Republic Necdet Sezer and with the Directorate of Religious Affairs of Turkey, Alì Bardakoglu, have marked a turning point in his journey, defusing all the tensions of the past few days, also fuelled by the rallies of those people who did not want this visit to happen. And it doesn’t matter if this morning there was still someone demonstrating in front of Saint Sophia. “May he come every year”, many Turks were saying this morning as they spoke of this visit, and not just because Istanbul or Ankara have been spruced up for the occasion, with flowers and a lick of paint, to fittingly welcome the Pontiff. “He is not an enemy of Islam, he is welcome”, is the comment I hear as I walk through the streets and stands out on the headlines. Not even Al Qaeda’s threats, disclosed last night, have dented the Pope’s optimism. At dinner in the Nunciature, after his first meeting with Bartholomew I, he looked happy and satisfied. Today is all focussed on ecumenical dialogue. The Common declaration will speed up the journey towards unity, but these steps will not be great strides. It is a long journey, in which prayer has a very special place.The climate is relaxed and hopefully it will stay like that even after Benedict XVI’s departure. This applies above all to our Christian and Catholic communities, which are a minority and which come out of this journey encouraged and reassured to move on. Tomorrow, his last day in Turkey, Benedict XVI will meet the Catholic congregation in the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit. All confessions will attend the event, the songs will be in Armenian, German, Arab, Greek…. but, more than a Babel, it will be a Pentecost, even for our Church. Mass too will be that of the Pentecost. But there’s another gesture which will certainly help bring Turkey closer to the Pope and the Christians, the blessing of the statue of John XXIII, who for ten years had been the apostolic nuncio to the Muslim country and was called by many the “Turkish Pope”. The ceremony will also be attended by Pope Roncalli’s nephew. So, Istanbul will have two statues, those of Benedict XVI and John XXIII, but also a nice recollection of Benedict XVI.