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Catholic World News News Feature

Wednesday schedule for Pope Benedict in Turkey November 28, 2006

During the 2nd day of his trip to Turkey, on November 29, Pope Benedict XVI will travel to Ephesus, celebrating Mass there; then he will continue on to Istanbul, where he will be greeted by the Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I.

The Holy Father will leave Ankara early on Wednesday, taking a motorcade to the airport for his flight to the ancient city of Ephesus, where St. Paul preached. There he will celebrate Mass at the Marian shrine of Meryem Ana Evi-- at the site where, according to pious tradition, the Virgin Mary spent her last days on earth.

After lunch with the Catholic bishops of Turkey, at a Capuchin monastery at Ephesus, the Pontiff will take another flight to Istanbul, to the historic patriarchal see of Constantinople that is the main focus of this trip.

From the airport-- where he will be greeted by local government officials and religious leaders-- the Pope will proceed to the patriarchal church of St. George, where he will join the Ecumenical Patriarch in a Byzantine prayer service.

Patriarch Bartholomew will deliver his formal welcoming address, and the Pope will respond with his own greetings. Then the two prelates will venerate the relics of Sts. Gregory Nazianzen and John Chrysostom-- both former patriarchs of Constantinople. These relics, which had been brought to Rome in the 8th century for safekeeping during the iconoclast controversy, were returned to the Constantinople patriarchate in 2004 by Pope John Paul II. Patriarch Bartholomew, who traveled to Rome to receive the relics, said that the gesture marked the "most important event" of his tenure as Ecumenical Patriarch.

Following their public appearances, the Pope and the Orthodox leader will meet privately in the Patriarch's palace at Phanar. Then the Pope will travel to the residence of the pontifical mission in Istanbul, where he will spend his 2nd night in Turkey.