Pope Benedict on Wednesday embarked on a second mission in Turkey, to improve ties between Catholic and Orthodox Christians, after winning praise for his conciliatory views on Islam and the country's future in Europe. Benedict and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual head of the world's 250 million Orthodox, both want to take steps to heal the split dating from the Great Schism of 1054.In a gesture showing their close ties, Bartholomew took the unusual step of welcoming the Pope at Istanbul airport as he arrived from saying mass in Ephesus in southwestern Turkey. Benedict, who earlier on Wednesday visited a house near Ephesus said to be where the Virgin Mary died, won widespread praise in local media for backing Ankara's bid to join the European Union and saying Islam was a peaceful faith.
He's the Pope. He's supposed to be polite.
The Iraqi wing of al Qaeda was not pleased, however.
Whoa! Never saw that one coming!
It said on a website his visit was part of a crusade against Islam aimed at pulling Turkey out of the Muslim world and into "the quagmire of secularism". The Vatican spokesman said neither the Pope nor his entourage are worried but that al Qaeda's message confirmed the urgent need for a common commitment against the use of violence.