Nov 30, 2006 6:42 am US/Eastern
Pope, Orthodox Patriarch Pray Together
ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) ―
Pope Benedict XVI and the spiritual leader of Orthodox Christians prayed together in an Istanbul church Thursday, a service intended to underline their commitment to healing the 1,000-year-old rift between the two churches.
Benedict went to St. George Church at the start of his third day in Turkey and embraced Ecumenical Patriarch Barthlomew I -- called the "first among equals" of the Orthodox leaders.
Their meeting was watched with suspicion in Turkey for possible challenges to state-imposed limits on Christian minorities and others. Benedict has declared a "fundamental" commitment to try to close rifts between the two ancient branches of Christianity, which split nearly 1,000 years ago over disputes including papal authority.
Thousands of police lined the pope's route in one of the biggest security operations in Turkish history.
Benedict began his pilgrimage among Turkey's tiny Christian communities on Wednesday by paying homage to an Italian priest slain during Islamic protests and expressing sympathy for the pressures facing religious minorities in the Muslim world.
Of Turkey's 70 million people, some 65,000 are Armenian Orthodox Christians, 20,000 are Roman Catholic and 3,500 are Protestant, mostly converts from Islam. Another 23,000 are Jewish.
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