På onsdagsaudiensen, i går, snakket paven en del om besøket han nettopp hadde gjennomført i Tyrkia. Sandro Magister gjengir alt som be sagt under audiensen, etter at han har kommentert at i Konstantinopel 30. november ga paven og patriark Bartolomeus hverandre fredshilsenen i selve den guddommelige liturgien (=messen) – ved tidligere anledninger har dette skjedd utenfor den liturgiske handlingen.
Dessuten skriver Magister en del om forholdet til muslimer etter foredraget i Regensburg og siterer Benedict XVI når han sier:
“On the one hand, we must rediscover the reality of God and the public relevance of religious faith; on the other, we must ensure that the expression of this faith be free, exempt from fundamentalist distortions, and capable of firmly repudiating every form of violence.”
The pope expresses his hope for “joint Christian and Muslim action on behalf of human rights – for life, peace, and justice.”
And he appeals for Turkey and other Muslim countries to establish the “distinction between the civil and religious spheres” that is the heritage of Christian Europe, guaranteeing “practical freedom of worship for the citizen and for religious communities.”
Further on Benedict XVI explains the meaning of his prayer at the Blue Mosque in this way:
“Pausing for a few moments of recollection in that place of prayer, I turned to the one Lord of heaven and earth, the merciful Father of all humanity. May all believers recognize his creatures and bear witness to true brotherhood!”