The triumph of Benedict’s visit, according to the media
So I’m gathering news and looking into the Lebanon story, and keep coming upon more mainstream coverage praising Pope Benedict for what he accomplished in Turkey. Like this headline from MSNBC:
Pope’s visit to Turkey turns out to be unintended success
Who intended otherwise? Besides the radical who warned him not to come? Well, the media, more than likely. But they’re wowed now. Here’s the lead of that story:
It was amid the delicate and rather spartan splendour of the 400-year-old Blue Mosque that Pope Benedict XVI made the most dramatic gesture of his visit to Turkey. The leader of the Roman Catholic Church, flanked by the white-robed Grand Mufti of Istanbul, turned towards Mecca and prayed.
By common consent among much of the Turkish media and the public, it was the moment the Pope overcame at least some of the suspicion with which he is regarded in Turkey. “Peace in Istanbul” was the headline in Milliyet. The papers carried front-page photographs of the two men at prayer, and doves featured prominently in the gifts they exchanged.
As the Pope returned to Rome on Friday after his first visit to a Muslim country, the Vatican may be troubled that the image of him praying at the mosque will completely overshadow the original aim of the four-day trip – a meeting with Bartholomew, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople and leader of the world’s Greek Orthodox Church, to forge Christian unity.
The global media buzz determined largely what the world heard and saw, so much more was made of that mosque visit than the ones with Batholomew. But the media don’t determine the true importance of that East-West meeting. And the Vatican can’t be too troubled to see a headline declaring “Peace in Istanbul.”
The trip impressed the Pope. As he was leaving he told Muammer Guler, the governor of Istanbul, that he was leaving a part of his heart in the city, according to local news reports. And if it cured him of his perceived Islamophobia,
“perceived Islamophobia”?
the intriguing question is whether it also cured the Turks of their own religious phobias.
Now they’re thinking. That’s a good question.