"The pope in Turkey
Tiptoeing through a spiritual minefield
Nov 30th 2006 | ISTANBUL
From The Economist print edition
The pope's tour of Turkey has stirred up plenty of controversy
WHEN expectations are abysmally low, almost anything can come as a pleasant surprise. Barring last-minute upsets, that seemed to be the conclusion people on all sides were drawing as Benedict XVI pursued one of the trickiest diplomatic missions ever undertaken by a pope.
“You are not wanted! Don't come! Don't cause tension!” screamed a headline in Turkey's noisiest Islamist newspaper, Vakit, on the eve of the papal visit to Turkey this week. In case anybody was vague about the theological differences between the world's two largest monotheistic faiths, participants in an anti-papal protest held up a placard that spelled it out: to Muslims, Jesus Christ is not the son of God, he is a prophet of Islam. Cooler-headed Turks—the great majority—were embarrassed by the stridency of their pious compatriots, but some still resented the pope's visit because it gave hotheads such a perfect opportunity to sound off."
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