Pope Francis To Visit Turkey To Promote Interfaith Dialogue

Pope Francis, the religious leader of the world's Catholics, is scheduled to start his visit to predominantly Muslim Turkey on Friday and has asked all believers to pray for his visit to bring "the fruits of peace, sincere dialogue among religions and harmony in the Turkish nation.”

The pope, who will be in Turkey between Nov. 28-30, issued his request for prayers from the Vatican City on Wednesday.

At his weekly general audience on Nov. 26, Pope Francis mentioned to those attending that he would shortly be visiting Turkey. Pope Francis will start his visit in Ankara, where he will meet with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu and Religious Affairs Directorate President Mehmet Görmez in separate meetings on Friday. He is also scheduled to visit the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Turkish Republic.

On Saturday, the pope will travel to İstanbul, where he is expected to visit the historic Hagia Sophia (Ayasofya) Museum. The Hagia Sophia was built as an Orthodox patriarchal basilica in A.D. 360. It served as the Greek Orthodox cathedral of Constantinople until the city's conquest by the Ottomans in 1453, when the building was turned into a mosque. It remained so until 1931, when it was closed to the public for four years. It was reopened by the republican authorities in 1935 as a museum, after Turkey became a secular state.

The pope will also visit the Sultanahmet Mosque in İstanbul and is later expected to celebrate mass in the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit (St. Esprit Cathedral) in Harbiye. After that, the pope will visit the Patriarchal Church of St. George in İstanbul, the seat of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, and meet with Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I for a private meeting.

On Sunday, the last day of his visit, the pope will celebrate mass in the Church of St. George, which Bartholomew I will also attend. Pope Francis and Patriarch Bartholomew are expected to sign a joint declaration, according to the Catholic News Service, but the nature of the joint declaration has not yet been revealed.

Pope Francis is expected to leave İstanbul for Rome, after having lunch with Patriarch Bartholomew on Sunday.

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government is preparing for Pope Francis's visit. The pope is set to become the first foreign guest at the new Ak Saray presidential palace on Nov. 28. Francis, who is known for his opposition to all forms of extravagance, will be hosted in the lavish new presidential palace, which is said to have between 1,000 and 5,000 rooms.

Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) İstanbul deputy and religious expert İhsan Özkes described Pope Francis's visit to Turkey as very important at a time when the Middle East is going through a troubled period, especially under the threat of radical organizations such as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and when Muslims in different parts of the world are suffering.

“His visit will bring positivity, respect, love and tolerance,” Özkes told Today's Zaman. Özkes also referred to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's new palace as the “Forbidden Palace,” as it is forbidden in Islam to waste resources. The pope's visit to this “illegal” presidential palace “is almost akin to Erdoğan confessing [being forgiven for] his sins,” he added.

Özkes said the pope should have been properly informed by the people around him about this illegal structure, which was constructed at a time that many people in Turkey and around the world are suffering from hunger, poverty and unemployment.

A foreign diplomat serving in Ankara has also criticized the pope's visit to the new presidential palace given the fact that Pope Francis is known for his stance against extravagance. The diplomat, who asked to remain anonymous, said the pope's visit to the Ak Saray dignifies the waste of money and that it is hard to understand the reasons behind it. The same diplomat also stressed that they are also puzzled as to why the Vatican's foreign dignitaries in Turkey were not included in Ankara's preparations for Pope Francis' visit. The diplomat said it is difficult to understand why the government is hiding the details of the pope's visit from the Vatican's representatives.

The pope's visit also comes at a time when the radical ISIL group has risen to prominence, seizing large parts of Iraq and Syria and sending many refugees across the border into Turkey. According to Vatican officials, pope will not shy away from denouncing violence in God's name and voicing concerns for the Christians being targeted by the extremists, AP reported.

(Cihan/Today's Zaman)