Talking Turkey

I've been fascinated this week with Pope Benedict XVI's trip to Turkey. The mainstream media coverage would have you believe that it's all about trying to mend fences with the Islamic world for his "insults" earlier this year. That was actually a minor point in the big picture. The real story involves history, theology and international politics - three of my favorite subjects. With such vast implications it is hard to get your arms around everything that is happening, but I'll give it a shot.

The first thing to know is that visiting the Muslims was NOT the original or primary purpose of the Pope's trip. It was, instead, the latest step in a continuing effort to re-unite the Roman Catholic Church with the Orthodox church. Here a little historical background is necessary.

The Gospels tell us that Christ was crucified, died, resurrected and then ascended to heaven. He left behind his disciples with instructions to spread the Good News far and wide. Now known as Apostles, they went out across the world, preaching the Gospel and establishing churches in various places. Among the disciples were two brothers named Peter and Andrew. Peter ended up in Rome and became leader of the Christians there - the first Pope. Andrew went to the area that is now Turkey and did the same. Christianity grew quickly even as the Roman Empire began its decline and fall.

Because Peter had been given a special charge by Christ to build the church, he was regarded as leader of the Apostles, or at least first among equals. This leadership was passed on to his successors in Rome. It developed that the Bishop of Rome not only led his own local church, but also was expected to resolve disputes and answer questions among Christians everywhere. There are many examples of this in the correspondence of early church fathers. Certain other bishops also came to be seen as leaders, among them the Bishop of Constantinople - the city now known as Istanbul, Turkey.

The next thousand years are not easily summarized. Suffice to say that various theological and other differences arose between the Eastern churches and the Roman Church. This culminated in the Great Schism of 1054, when Pope Leo IX and the Patriarch of Constantinople excommunicated each other. You can read more about it here.

Since the Great Schism, the Orthodox and Roman churches have operated separately, though their doctrines are very similar. The Orthodox are dominant in Greece, the Balkans, Eastern Europe and Russia, today numbering some 300 million followers. They are less centralized than the Roman church, but the Patriarch of Constantinople is considered spiritual leader of all Orthodox Christians.

In 1965, the Pope and the Patriarch both lifted the excommunications their predecessors had pronounced almost a thousand years earlier. Since then, a series of discussions have been directed toward the goal of re-unifying the two churches. A custom has arisen that every year on the feast day of St. Peter (June 29), an Orthodox delegation visits the Vatican while a Vatican delegation goes to Istanbul on St. Andrew's Day, November 30th. This symbolizes the relationship between brothers Peter and Andrew and their role in founding the two wings of the Church.

This year, Patriarch Bartholomew invited Pope Benedict to attend the November 30th meeting in person. The Pope accepted, and that is why he went to Turkey on this particular date. It had nothing to do with Islamic relations.

This post is getting long so I will stop here and pick up the story soon.