Pope Benedict XVI joined an Islamic cleric in prayers under the towering dome of Istanbul's most famous mosque on Thursday in a powerful gesture seeking to transform his image among Muslims from adversary to peacemaker.
The pope's minute of prayer was carried out in silence, but the message of reconciliation was designed to resonate loudly nearly three months after he provoked fury for remarks on violence and the Prophet Mohammed.
"This visit will help us find together the way of peace for the good of all humanity," the pope said inside the 17th century Blue Mosque -- in only the second papal visit in history to a Muslim place of worship. Benedict's predecessor, John Paul II, made a brief stop in a mosque in Syria in 2001.
PHOTO: EPA
Benedict's steps through a stone archway and into the mosque's carpeted expanse capped a day of deep symbolism and lofty goals. Hours earlier, he stood beside the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians and passionately encouraged steps to end the nearly 1,000-year divide between their churches.
The pope walked to the mosque after touring the 1,500-year-old Haghia Sofia and its remarkable mix of Koranic calligraphy and Christian mosaics from its legacy as a marvel of early Christianity and then a coveted prize of Islam's expansion.
The pope removed his shoes and put on white slippers. Then he walked beside Mustafa Cagrici, the head cleric of Istanbul. Facing the holy city of Mecca -- in the tradition of Islamic worship -- Cagrici said: "Now I'm going to pray." Benedict, too, bowed his head and his lips moved as if reciting words.
Before the pope left, he turned to Cagrici and thanked him "for this moment of prayer."
"A single swallow can't bring spring," Cagrici told the pope, who ended his first papal trip to a Muslim nation yesterday. "But many swallows will follow and we will enjoy a spring in this world."
The mosque is officially known as the Sultan Ahmet Mosque after the Ottoman sultan Ahmet I, who ordered its construction. But it's widely called the Blue Mosque after its elaborate blue tiles.
The Vatican spokesman, the Reverend Federico Lombardi, had said the mosque visit was added as a "sign of respect" to Muslims.
"A [Christian] believer can pray in any place, even a mosque," he said, calling it an "intimate, personal prayer."
The pope has offered wide-ranging messages of reconciliation to Muslims since arriving in Turkey on Tuesday, including appeals for greater understanding and support for Turkey's steps to become the first Muslim nation in the EU.
But Benedict also has set down his own demands.
The pope repeated calls for greater freedom for religious minorities -- including the tiny Christian community in Turkey -- and denounced divisions between Christians as a "scandal."
Benedict has made reaching out to the world's more than 250 million Orthodox a centerpiece of his papacy and has set the difficult goal of "full unity" between the two ancient branches of Christianity, which split in the 11th century.
In a joint statement, the pope and patriarch stressed the need to "preserve Christian roots" in European culture while remaining "open to other religions and their cultural contributions."
The comments could send conflicting signals to Turkey after the Vatican suggested there was room in the EU for its first Muslim member. They could also serve as a rallying point for groups opposed to bringing a predominantly Muslim country into the bloc.
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