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Papal trips are often as much about what is not said and done as the words and gestures actually delivered by the Roman visitor and his local hosts. As Pope Benedict XVI's four-day trip to Turkey drew to a close Friday, here is an initial tally of what did and didn't happen on this most delicate visit...
...Words: The Pope has had only nice things to say in Turkey about a religion that he'd bluntly questioned in September for being susceptible to violence. Benedict spoke repeatedly of friendship, respect and reconciliation, citing the common roots of the two religions in their ancestry in Abraham. Rather than again propose the new approach to relations between the two faiths he'd launched in his Regensburg speech, he quoted his predecessor Pope John Paul II, who said on his own trip to Turkey in 1979 that Christians and Muslims must "recognize and develop the spiritual bonds that unite...
...what happens when Muslims come to pray, Cagrici continued his respectful lesson to the professor Pontiff on what he sees as the true, moderate nature of Islam. The two later gathered in a "moment of serenity," that may be as close to a genuine joint prayer as the traditionalist Pope has ever done with a non-Christian. The two leaders closed the visit by exchanging art works of doves, the symbol for peace in both faiths. Clearly moved, the Pope said he "will never forget" the visit. Hopefully, millions of others - Muslims and Christians alike - will remember...
...Words: Benedict spoke out strongly - and repeatedly - for religious freedom throughout the trip. The explicit softness in his approach to Islam allowed him to make an implicit plea for allowing religious minorities in Muslim countries - and everywhere - to freely practice their religion. On his first day, the Pope told diplomats in Ankara that religions must "not seek to exercise direct political power." On Thursday, he and Bartholomew I, Patriarch of Constantinople, leader of the tiny Orthodox community in Turkey, delivered a joint statement that insisted that religious "minorities must be protected, with their cultural traditions and the distinguishing features...
...gradual reversal over the past week of Benedict's original opposition (as a Cardinal in 2004) to Turkey's eventual entry into the European Union - alluded to both by Vatican officials and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan - was symbolically sealed like a gift on Thursday with the Pope's joint declaration with the Orthodox Patriarch that referred "positively" to European Union expansion. Notably the two Christian leaders cited the singular priority of religious freedom for any joining E.U. members...