By Sabina Castelfranco Rome 03 December 2006 Pope Benedict XVI gestures from his study window overlooking St. Peter's Square, 3 Dec 2006 Pope Benedict expressed hope Sunday that his trip to Turkey would lead to useful dialogue with Muslims. But on a...
By Sonja Pace Istanbul 01 December 2006 Pope Benedict XVI is seen with Ali Bardakoglu, head of Turkey's religious affairs, during their meeting in Ankara, 28 Nov. 2006 The visit to Turkey by Pope Benedict XVI was overshadowed by the currently tense...
By Sabina Castelfranco Istanbul 01 December 2006 Pope Benedict held a final mass for Turkey's tiny Catholic community, again repeating a call for an end to divisions among Christians. In words that appeared directed to Muslims, the pope also said th...
By Sabina Castelfranco Istanbul 30 November 2006 Pope Benedict XVI visited the Blue Mosque in Istanbul Thursday, becoming the second pope to enter a Muslim place of worship. He also visited Aya Sophia, which used to be Christianity's largest church....
By Sabina Castelfranco Istanbul 30 November 2006 Pope Benedict XVI and the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians held a solemn prayer service together Thursday in the Church of Saint George in Istanbul. During the joint ceremony they r...
By Sabina Castelfranco Istanbul 28 November 2006 Pope Benedict XVI ended the first day of his visit to Turkey urging all religious leaders to utterly refuse to support any form of violence in the name of faith. He also spoke of his concern for incre...
By Sabina Castelfranco Istanbul 28 November 2006 On the first day of his visit to Turkey, Pope Benedict called for freedom of religion and said the best way forward for Christians and Muslims is authentic dialogue. Sabina Castelfranco reports for VO...
By Sonja Pace Ankara 28 November 2006 Pope Benedict XVI has arrived in Turkey for a four-day visit that was surrounded by controversy well before he touched down in the capital, Ankara. Some Turks resent his recent comments about Islam. Others objec...
By Sabina Castelfranco Istanbul 27 November 2006 Turkish authorities are preparing for Pope Benedict's arrival on Tuesday. They are taking massive security measures, deploying thousands of police officers. Despite protests against the pope's visit,...
By Sabina Castelfranco Istanbul 25 November 2006 Pope Benedict arrives in predominantly Muslim Turkey on Tuesday, and already there have been demonstrations against his visit. But Vatican officials say they expect the trip to go well, although there...