Pope Francis in Turkey – Part II

Pope Francis releases doves outside the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in Istanbul. November 29, 2014. Photo by Trisha Thomas
Pope Francis releases doves outside the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in Istanbul. November 29, 2014. Photo by Trisha Thomas

Dear Blog Readers –

I am learning through my tweeting experiences that animal photos are popular.  My “Cataturk” waiting for the Pope at the Haghia Sophia was a big success, so I will start my Turkey Post 2 with another animal moment.  The photo above is of the Pope releasing two doves outside the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in Istanbul Saturday.  The Pope held a Mass there with the Catholic community in Istanbul.   There was a small but wildly enthusiastic group waiting for him outside yelling “Long Live the Pope”.  It was the first moment on the trip where the Pope seemed truly happy.  He was almost gleeful as he released the doves.

I was a little worried about the doves because there were a lot of fierce looking seagulls flying high above, and over the course of the day the Turks had been using drones with TV cameras on them to fly over the Pope.  But the doves disappeared without being attacked by a seagull or flying into a drone. Phew.  Still, I would rather be a plump, wise cat at the Haghia Sophia.

According to statistics provided by the Vatican, there are only 53,000 Catholics in Turkey of a total population of over 76 million people.  Ninety-nine percent of Turks are Muslim.   Over the course of the trip, the Pope repeatedly expressed his concerns for the Christians living in the Middle East and speaking to the press on the plane on the way back he said, “I do not want to soften my words.  Christians are being chased out of the Middle East as we have seen in Iraq, in the area around Mosul, they have to go, leave everything, or pay a protection tax that is useless.  Other times they are just chased away…”

Following the mass, the Pope went to the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Istanbul to see his friend Patriarch Bartholomew I, the leader of 300 million Orthodox Christians in the world.  The two men are close.  Bartholomew attended Pope Francis’ installation mass in March 2013, and they met in May in Jerusalem.

During the meeting the Pope called the Patriarch his “Brother Bartholomew” and said “what a grace, what a responsibility to walk together in this hope.”

Pope bends his head and asks for a blessing from Patriarch Bartholomew I at the Orthodox Church of St. George in Istanbul. November 29, 2014.  Photo for Mozzarella Mamma by AP Photographer Gregorio Borgia.
Pope bends his head and asks for a blessing from Patriarch Bartholomew I at the Orthodox Church of St. George in Istanbul. November 29, 2014. Photo for Mozzarella Mamma by AP Photographer Gregorio Borgia.

Then the Pope did something that surprised us all.  He walked over to the Patriarch and bent his head and asked for Bartholomew’s blessing for both himself and for the Church of Rome.  The Patriarch seemed to pull the Pope up and then gave him a kiss on both cheeks but the Pope insisted bending his head again and then the Patriarch put one hand on Francis’ head and kissed it.

My colleague Nicole Winfield who covers the Vatican for AP wire told me later back at the press center as I was editing the video that this gesture was particularly unusual and an indication that times have changed because 500 years ago a Patriarch was forced to wash the feet of a Pope. There was some talk among the press corps of an eventual backlash from conservative Catholics against this gesture by the Pope.

Then on Sunday morning the Pope attended a long religious service in the Orthodox Church of Saint George together with the Patriarch Bartholomew.  The ceremony went on for two and a half hours and involved a lot of lovely chants. The Patriarch was dressed in an elaborate gold outfit with a golden, bejeweled crown, looking far more magnificent and opulent than Pope Francis in his white robes.

Pope Francis and Patriarch Bartholomew give a joint blessing at the Orthodox Church of St. George in Istanbul. November 30, 2014.  Photo for Mozzarella Mamma by AP Photographer Gregorio  Borgia.
Pope Francis and Patriarch Bartholomew give a joint blessing at the Orthodox Church of St. George in Istanbul. November 30, 2014. Photo for Mozzarella Mamma by AP Photographer Gregorio Borgia.

Pope Paul VI got rid of the Papal crowns back in the 1960s and Pope Francis has toned down the dress code since he began his papacy.  Pope Benedict had notched the wardrobe up a bit when he brought back the use of red shoes and wore the Papal Mozzetta- a cape made of red velvet with a white ermine fur trim. Pope Francis wears simple black shoes and white robes.

A little aside here on covering the colorful aspects of papal trips.  I have become one of the frenetic tweeters of Papal trips along with two colleagues Spanish Correspondent Paloma Ovejero @pgovejero and Argentinian correspondent Elisabetta Pique’ @bettapique’ — the three of us are often in the pools with photographers and tweet blow-by-blow comments and photos to show what is going on.  Paloma and I were sitting next to each other on the plane and we have become such tweet-aholics that we were still tweeting while the plane was in mid-take-off.

Unfortunately, being a part of the Papal Entourage, we often have to miss the last event on a trip because we have to go check-in at the airport and get on the Papal plane before the Pope arrives. So we missed a meeting that the Pope has with 100 young refugees living in Turkey.  There were refugees from Iraq, Syria and the Horn of Africa.  One young woman apparently stood up and told the Pope in English how she was forced out of Iraq.  In a statement to the group the Pope said, “Refugees, such as yourselves, often find themselves deprived, sometimes for long periods, of basic needs such as a dignified home, healthcare, education and work.  They have had to abandon not only their material possessions, but above all their freedom, closeness to family, their homeland and cultural traditions.  The degrading conditions in which so many refugees are forced to live are intolerable!”

Pope Francis meets with refugee children in Istanbul, Turkey, Sunday, Nov. 30, 2014. Credit: Osservatore Romano
Pope Francis meets with refugee children in Istanbul, Turkey, Sunday, Nov. 30, 2014. Credit: Osservatore Romano

Later on the plane he told us that he wanted to visit a refugee camp near the border but that it was too complicated and would have required him to stay an extra day.  I think many of us thought that he should have stayed that extra day and made the trip.  There are currently some 1.6 million refugees living in Turkey.  The Pope has spoken out frequently about refugees and it would have been good for him to go.  There will be other opportunities though I am sure.

As usual with Pope Francis on the return home after a visit abroad he gives a press conference on the plane on the way back.  Francis seems to have an innate political instincts combined with a natural charisma.  He clearly loves the give and take with the press.  The way it works is that the journalists from the country that has been visited get to ask a question first then each nationality group aboard the plane gets to choose a person to ask a question for the group.  Depending on how long it takes there maybe be a second round of questions from each nationality group.  So, on this flight it was two questions for the Turkish journalists, one from a Russian journalist, one from an Italian, one from a Spaniard, one from a Frenchman, one from a German, one from a Japanese journalist, and one from the English language press.

Pope Francis responding to reporters questions on the Papal Plane returning from Istanbul to Rome.  The priest standing next to him is his spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi. Photo for Mozzarella Mamma by AP Photographer Gregorio  Borgia. November 30, 2014.
Pope Francis responding to reporters questions on the Papal Plane returning from Istanbul to Rome. The priest standing next to him is his spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi. Photo for Mozzarella Mamma by AP Photographer Gregorio Borgia. November 30, 2014.

I was eager to ask the question for the English-language press because this was my third trip with Pope Francis and I still had not had my turn.  The problem is that the question has to be agreed upon by the entire group.  The Pope’s spokesman said the questions should be about the trip to Turkey.

Starting in the airport lounge the group of English-speaking reporters began our negotiations on the question we would pose.  There were Deborah Ball, The Wall Street Journal’s Italy Bureau Chief, Nicole Winfield, AP’s Italy Bureau Chief, Frank Rocca, Catholic News Service’s Rome Bureau Chief, Phil Pullella, Reuters Vatican Correspondent, Gerard O’Connell, Vatican Correspondent for America Magazine, and Alan Pizzey, CBS Correspondent.  The negotiations were long and complicated.  The print journalists argued that by the time the Pope got around to the English language press he would have answered many questions about the Turkey trip and we needed to focus on other issues.   They wanted to ask about the recent Synod and the fierce debate over how the Catholic Church should treat homosexuals.  They also wanted to ask the Pope why he recently removed US Cardinal Raymond Burke from his position as the Prefect of the Apostolic Segnatura – the Vatican’s Tribunal.

Alan Pizzey, Gerard O’Connell and I wanted to ask him to follow up on comments the Pope made in the morning when he speaking about Christians in the Middle East.  The Pope said that, “A second plea comes from the victims of the conflicts in so many parts of our world. We hear this resoundingly here, because some neighbouring countries are scarred by an inhumane and brutal war. Taking away the peace of a people, committing every act of violence – or consenting to such acts – especially when directed against the weakest and defenceless, is a profoundly grave sin against God…”

Pizzey wanted to ask him if ISIS is “sinning against God.”

In the end the majority print reporters won.  It was decided I would ask the first question about homosexuals and Pizzey would ask the second one about violence against defenceless people.

I was a bit agitated about asking a question, and particularly one that was going against the stated rules laid down by the Pope’s spokesman that we were to ask only about Turkey.  Phil Pullella of Reuters told me that if we are serious journalist we shouldn’t let press spokesmen tell us what questions we can ask and guaranteed me the Pope would answer.  He was right.

I have been covering Popes since 1993, but I have never had an opportunity to ask a direct question to a Pope.  As the plane took off,  I contemplated the wording of the question that had been worked out by the group.  It was long.  I thought about my mother who keeps telling me “slow down, you are talking too fast”.

A little aside here.  I think I have begun speaking so fast in the past few years because I am in a hurry to get everything done.  Between work, family and blog there never seems time to come up for air – so I talk fast and breathe little.  My colleagues also tell me they have trouble understanding me sometimes because I speak too fast.   So I thought to myself, “be calm, breathe deep and speak slowly.”

Shortly after takeoff the Pope came back.  First he shook our hands one by one and then the press conference began.  The Pope seemed to be enjoying every minute of it giving lengthy answers to every question that was asked.

When it was my turn, the Pope’s Spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi, introduced me, telling the Pope that I have been on many Papal trips with several Popes.  (He was right, I think this was my 19th Papal trip – I started back in the 90s with John Paul II).  After that kind introduction, I ended up irritating Father Lombardi by asking a question about the Synod and homosexuals instead of about the Turkey trip.  The Pope said he would take the question anyway and gave a long answer describing how the Synod is a process.  He said it is not a parliament and the process is still underway so he was not going to comment on the discussion or documents that have emerged so far.  Basically he did not answer my question, but he was warm, kindly and lengthy in his response. (He is a Jesuit and a natural politician).

AP Cameraman Gianfranco Stara with Trisha Thomas editing a story on board Papal Plane.
AP Cameraman Gianfranco Stara with Trisha Thomas editing a story on board Papal Plane.

There were so many more interesting responses that emerged from the press conference.  He spoke at length in response to a question about Islamophobia.  He urged Islamic leaders to get together and denounce terrorism.  He spoke about his desire to visit Moscow and Iraq.  He described his moment of prayer in the Blue Mosque with the Gran Mufti of Istanbul.  He spoke about the Armenian genocide and he spoke about how conservative critics might oppose his asking for the blessing of Patriarch Batholomew.  I will not go into all of that here, but I will say that there was so much material that I had to frantically edit on the plane, and continued working on the story in the taxi on the way back to the office.

The Turkey trip is over but stay tuned….more coming soon from Mozzarella Mamma as soon as I catch my breath.

 

5 thoughts on “Pope Francis in Turkey – Part II”

  1. Thank you for such a great report. I just love the insight and your great perspective on the Pope. The picture of him and the doves is magical. I always learn so much from your posts, especially about the history of the Church – the political history, like the background with the Orthodox Church which I would have never known.

    I am curious if Alan Pizzey got his question answered…

    1. Hey Kay — Unfortunately Alan Pizzey did not get a chance to ask his question. The Pope did not do the second round. The problem was that he took so long to answer all the other questions. By the time he had answered the first round of questions, he had already been speaking for 45 minutes so his spokesman encouraged him to call it quits. Too bad.

  2. Joan Schmelzle

    Excellent and interestng to read. NCR did catch up today with four stories starting with November 27. I guess for those of us online only they don’t do news stories every day. Of course, they were well done and full of facts and ideas. But I think reading yours gave me more insight into Pope Francis. (NCR didn’t mention the visit with the refugees and I think it added to the trip. Not surprised he didn’t directly answer your question I guess. But he did listen to it and didn’t jump about it. Your negotiations sure did come up with a bunch of ideas.
    Thanks for writing this.
    A presto

    1. Thank you Joan for being such a supportive blog reader. I am afraid I was too long and rambling but I am glad I gave you a good picture of the trip.

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