TURKEY:Nine out of 10 Turks are opposed to Pope Benedict's visit, writes Patsy McGarry, Religious Affairs Correspondent
There are deep strains in Turkey as Pope Benedict prepares for a four-day visit, his first papal trip to a mainly Muslim nation. Not since Pope John Paul visited Cuba in 1998 has a papal visit engendered so much worldwide interest.
Then 3,000 journalists were accredited to report on the meeting of those two doughty septuagenarians, Fidel Castro and Karol Wojtyla. That visit ended in something of an anti-climax when the scandal over Bill Clinton's relationship with Monica Lewinsky erupted.
An army of US media had left before the pope's last Mass in Cuba, which was attended by up to one million people, including Castro and South American novelist Gabriel García Márquez.
This papal visit to Turkey, similar in attracting such media interest, is on a more dramatic global plane. Then, it was a meeting between a man hugely influential in the collapse of communism and the world's last communist leader, and, therefore, about the past. This visit to Turkey is circumscribed by a deep uneasiness over future relations between East and West. It is also beset by such security concerns as to cast Pope John Paul's Cuban visit in the picnic arena.
Last September, for instance, Ali Ajca, who tried to kill Pope John Paul in 1981, and is currently in a Turkish prison, "advised" Pope Benedict not to come to Turkey. There have been angry protests against the visit, including a rally yesterday, which have not been discouraged by the Turkish authorities.
It is still unclear if Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will meet the pope, before he attends a Nato meeting in the Latvian capital, Riga, tomorrow. Such are security concerns that an estimated 12,000 police are to be deployed in Istanbul alone during the visit.
In a country of 70 million people, where an estimated 100,000 are Christian with just 32,000 of those Roman Catholic, and where only one in every 10 Turks approves of the visit, you have to ask why is the Pope going there? You might also ask why is he so clearly not wanted?
As to why he is not wanted: In an interview with France's Le Figaro newspaper in August 2004, the then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger explicitly opposed Turkish membership of the EU.
In a follow-up letter to bishops he said "the roots that have formed Europe, that have permitted the formation of this continent, are those of Christianity . . . Turkey is founded upon Islam . . . Thus the entry of Turkey into the EU would be anti-historical". Yesterday, however, the Vatican said it did not oppose Turkey joining the EU.
Then there was his address of September 12th last in Regensburg. He quoted Byzantine emperor Manuel II Paleologus, from 1391, as saying: "Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."
This unfortunate choice of quotation set the world of Islam aflame. It seemed to confirm for many Muslims what they perceive as his prejudices where their religion is concerned.
As to why he is going at all? His purpose is ecumenical. It is to meet the Archbishop of Constantinople and Patriarch of the Eastern Orthodox Church, Bartholomew I, spiritual leader of 300 million Orthodox Christians.
It is to express solidarity with him and fellow Christians, who have limited rights in Turkey, and to help improve links between the larger Orthodox world and Rome.
Within that Orthodox world this pope is seen as the most positively disposed holder of the office since John XXIII.