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Catholic World News News Feature

Vatican confirms Pope's November trip to Turkey October 16, 2006

The Vatican has officially confirmed plans for the trip by Pope Benedict XVI to Turkey. As previously understood he will visit Ankara, Ephesus, and Istanbul, on a trip from November 28 to December 1.

The official Vatican announcement makes a point of noting that the Pope's trip is a "response to an invitation from Ahmet Necdet Sezer, president of Turkey." Actually the Pope received a much earlier invitation from Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople, and the Turkish government delayed the voyage by failing to issue its own official invitation last year. But the Holy See is clearly intent on preserving proper diplomatic protocol, recognizing the sensitivity of relations between Rome and Ankara.

The official confirmation of the trip follows the standard practice of the Holy See, which withholds formal announcements of a papal voyage until a few weeks before it actually takes place. The October 15 announcement did not mention the details of the Pope's schedule, but most of the major elements of the trip are already known.

The Pope will visit the mausoleum of Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, shortly after his arrival in Ankara on November 28. Then he will call on President Sezer-- who is not expected to greet him at the airport. In the evening he will meet with members of the diplomatic corps in Ankara.

The next day, November 29, the Holy Father will travel to the site of ancient Smyrna, to and archeological project at Ephesus on the Aegean Sea, the city where St. Paul visited in the 1st century. After celebrating Mass there, he will continue on to Istanbul to be greeted by the Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew.

On November 30 the Pope will join the Ecumenical Patriarch in celebrating the feast of St. Andrew the patron of the Constantinople see. They are expected to publish a joint declaration at the conclusion of the ceremony.

That afternoon Pope Benedict will meet with other religious leaders, including the Armenian Apostolic Patriarch Mesrop II and the local leaders of the Syrian Orthodox, Jewish, Evangelical, and Muslim communities.

On December 1 the Holy Father will celebrate Mass in the cathedral of the Holy Spirit, with the Patriarchs Bartholomew and Mesrop in attendance. Afterward, before leaving the country, he will stop at the site of the Hagia Sophia, the ancient Christian basilica that has been transformed first into a mosque and now a museum.