“Your country is much beloved by Christians: many of the primeval church communities were founded and came to maturity here, inspired by the preaching of the Apostles" and "the tradition that has been passed on to us says that Mary, the Mother of Jesus, lived in Ephesus, in the house of Saint John the apostle”. In his welcome address to the president of the Directorate of Religious Affairs of Turkey, extended also "to all the religious leaders" and to "all the Muslims” of the country, "especially to the Great Mufti of Ankara and Istanbul”, and “to all Muslims”, Benedict XVI recalled "the glorious past" of "this noble land”, which is proven by "such a large number of Christian and Muslim monuments”. As he mentioned Pope John XXIII, when he spent, as archbishop Roncalli, a few years in the Anatolian country as the papal nuncio in Istanbul, Benedict XVI stated that he had prepared for his visit "with the same feelings" of his predecessor, who stated that "he loved the Turkish people”. Then, the Pontiff used the words uttered by John Paul II during his visit in 1979: "I wonder whether it wouldn’t be urgent… to acknowledge and develop the spiritual ties that bond us”.
