I like this picture of Pope Benedict praying at the Blue Mosque, together with a high-ranking Muslim clergyman. Got up at 5:00 this morning to go to the Pope's 9 a.m. mass at St. Esprit, across from the Hilton. The invites said to be there between 7 and 8 but my friends and I were not taking any chances: we knew there would be a massive turnout and we wanted to make sure we got good seats. We had to take the subway because there were roadblocks everywhere - this was a very SENSITIVE visit, in light of the Regensburg lecture and the reference to the Prophet. 13,000 policemen were deployed in the city. The Mossad had sent their guys to help out.
The seating was being managed by the French mafia - French Catholics manning the aisles (the bishop is French). Only 4 of us from the English congregation got invites, and 17 others got tickets by lottery. There were the French (more than the English-speakers definitely), the Germans, the Italians, three whole rows of the elderly and infirm, and then the diplomats and the bureaucrats who always get the best seats. Surprisingly not that many TV crews - I thought we would be crowded out by CNN and their ilk.
We waited 2 hours for the Pope to arrive but the two hours went fast - what with the beautiful singing by various choirs, and also watching the little dramas unfloding all around us: on what was a special, holy occasion, human frailty in full display: this one man picking a fight because he didn't get the seat he wanted, people squabbling about getting a better view - you get the picture. One had to laugh, and imagine similar scenes at the gates of Heaven - people protesting that they had more of a right to be there than the next person, jostling each other for space, arguing as to who got there first, etc. Ahay, as we say. We never learn.
We knew the Pope had arrived when we heard clapping from outside - the clapping of children! They were a children's choir greeting the Pontiff. Before he entered the church he unveiled a bronze statue of Pope John the 23rd, who served as Nuncio here in Istanbul before he became Pope. When he entered the doors the church EXPLODED in clapping, cheers and ululation. We don't ululate in the Philippines but Middle Easterners and Africans do - it's a rapid LALALALALALALALALALA with both tongue and throat work that is amazing. You have to hear it to believe it. I wish I could post a video here.
This was the most amazing welcome I have ever heard in my life - except of course for the cheering and clapping for Pope JP in Manila, and Pope Paul VI years before him. Have not seen anyone feted in this way for many many years.
I was happy for Benedetto. His reception in Ankara - from the Turkish bureaucrats - was not quite chilly but it wasn't warm. People had not come out in droves to see him. The happiness and applause must have warmed his heart.
I must say the applause and the jubilation were also a cry of assertion for the Christians in Turkey - a way outnumbered and beleaguered lot (Mustafa Kemal's secular Turkey closed down seminaries left right and center. This continues to be a sore point).
It was excellent to see, and great for Benedict. I am sure he was happy.
The Pope actually a mild and gentle presence. He did not display his muscular intellect here; on this visit he listened, he praised, he reached out, he embraced (Muslims and other Christians), he prayed with other faiths. Word is that this is not as much his thing as it was John Paul's (remember the ecumenical prayers at Assisi), but he certainly did it here and did it well. His Muslim hosts noticed. Before he arrived, an Islamic party which calls itself the "Happiness" party staged rallies protesting the visit (this party garnered 3% of the Turkish vote in the last elections) and we all wondered if the volume of the protests would increase as the visit progressed, but quite the opposite happened. They accepted him and welcomed him and by the end of the visit they were praising the Pope.
A mild and gentle man was what we saw. Our church was in full festive regalia, welcoming the Greek Orthodox priests in their miters and flowing black robes; the Chaldeans, the Armenians, the Syrians, the Anglicans, the Protestants. What a grand festival it was.
The man is human and gets into trouble with his words and actions, but I have to say on an occasion like this, he (the pope) definitely becomes more than what he is. There is definitely something there - a grandeur that does not come from his own small self.
No comments:
Post a Comment