Pope: Divisions among Christians 'scandal to the world'

The symbolism of the nearly three-hour Orthodox Liturgy was highly significant to Roman Catholics. Andrew was the brother of St. Peter, who was martyred in Rome and is considered the first Pope.

Benedict has made outreach to the world’s more than 250 million Orthodox a centrepiece of his young papacy and has set the difficult goal of full unity between the two ancient branches of Christianity, which split nearly 1,000 years ago over disputes including the extent of papal authority.

It’s also a key part of the Pope’s drive to reinforce the Christian bonds in Europe and around the world.

He said all Christians should "renew Europe’s awareness of its Christian roots, traditions and values, giving them new vitality".

The Pope also recalled how the faith was shaped by the encounters of early Christians with the scientific and intellectual traditions of ancient Greece. It was the same theological backdrop – faith and reason – that was the basis for his explosive remarks in September on violence and the Prophet Muhammad.

The Pope avoided any direct mention of Islam after praying with Bartholomew at the gilded St. George Church in Istanbul – which as Constantinople was the capital of Christian Byzantium before falling to Muslim forces in 1453.

But the Pope urged “all world leaders to respect religious freedom as a fundamental human right.”

Benedict, making his first papal visit to a predominantly Muslim nation, is expected to expand calls for what the Vatican calls “reciprocity” – that Muslim demands for greater respect in the West must be matched by increased tolerance and freedoms for Christians in Islamic nations.

Later today, the Pope plans to visit the 1,500-year-old Haghia Sophia, a domed complex that was once a spiritual centre of Christianity and then converted to a mosque in the 15th century. The site became a museum following the sweeping secular reforms that formed modern Turkey in the 1920s.

Benedict also is expected to make a brief tour of the famous Blue Mosque in another gesture to ease Muslim outrage over his comments – and marking only the second papal visit to a Muslim place of worship after Pope John Paul II’s historic stop in a mosque in Syria in 2001.

Benedict began his visit to Turkey by encouraging more understanding between Christians and Muslims and supporting Turkey’s steps to seek EU membership.

Turkey mobilised one of its most extensive security operations for the Pope’s four-day visit, which ends tomorrow. Several small protests have been staged, but none on the scale of the large rallies before the Pope's arrival.

Yesterday, a statement claiming to be from al-Qaida in Iraq denounced the pope’s visit as part of a “crusader campaign” against Islam.

Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said the declaration – posted on several Islamic militant websites – shows the need for faiths to fight “violence in the name of God.”

The Pope’s deepening ties with Bartholomew – called the “first among equals” among Orthodox leaders – also is watched with suspicion in Turkey as a possible challenge to state-imposed limits on Christian minorities and others.

Turkey does not acknowledge Bartholomew’s global status and considers him as the leader of 2,000-member Greek Orthodox community remaining in Turkey. Greek Orthodox leaders have hoped the papal visit would increase pressure on Turkey to reform rules governing religious minorities, including lifting educational laws that forced the closure of Istanbul’s only Greek Orthodox seminary more than 20 years ago.

But the Pope avoided any direct mention of the disputes between Bartholomew and Turkish authorities.

He also did not touch on deep challenges facing any efforts to heal the divides between the Vatican and Orthodox.

The Vatican faces strong complaints from Orthodox leaders, including the powerful Russian Orthodox church, over the activities of Eastern Rite churches that follow Orthodox traditions but are loyal to Rome. Many Orthodox view the churches as unwelcome Vatican encroachment in traditionally Orthodox lands in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.

The Russian patriarch, Alexy II, rejected overtures by Benedict’s predecessor, John Paul II, for a history-making trip to Moscow. But Alexy – and other Orthodox leaders – have been more receptive to Benedict because of his theological scholarship and statements on the common roots of Christianity.

Bartholomew noted a “common desire to continue … the unwavering journey toward restoration of full communion among our churches.”

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.