Papa Benedetto heads to Istanbul (not Constantinople)

Neverborn has definitely gotten it right. Papa Benedetto will certainly need to use his shield of faith (Eph 6:15) to protect him on his trip this week to Turkey. There have been several threats against his life if he steps onto Turkish soil as well as several protests including 1 last Sunday that included about 25,000 participants. But, just like his predecessor St Peter, Papa Benedetto is more concerned with obeying the will of God than with his own safety.

At the Angelus address Sunday (26 Nov 2006) he showed that he knew exactly who to put his trust in when he said to those present "I asked all of you to accompany me with prayer so that this pilgrimage may bring all the fruits willed by God." He aslo called on his predecessor, Pope Blessed John XXIII to intercede before God's Throne in Heaven for him. Papa Benedetto has put his faith in the providence of God & knows that no matter what, God will use him for the spreading of the Kingdom of God & proclaimation of the Gospel. His trust is such that he has even refused to wear a bullet proof vest. The 5 Cardinals that are accompanying him have also turned down requests for them to wear protective vests.

By the world's standards this would seem foolishness, but no more than when St. Peter & the rest of the Apostles went back into the Temple to proclaim the Gospel after being miraculously freed from prison where the Sanhedren put them for doing that very thing in the 1st place. (Acts 5:19-33) The Pope is showing the same bravery as they did. As Fr. Jonathan Morris said in his FoxNews Blog entry Pope Benedict the Brave: "(H)is bravery is not bravado. It comes from a spiritual conviction that some things are worth fighting for — and even dying for." Papa Benedetto takes as his view that of Paul "For if we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord; so then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's." (Rom 14:8) Faith operates by a different standard than the world. & it is faith's standard that the Pope is following, not the world's.

So, why is Papa Benedetto putting his life at risk? What does he see as God's will in this trip? What does he see as worth even dying for if necessary? The simple answer, as I said above, is obdedience to God's call to travel to Turkey. He is "the Lord's" servant. But what is the mission God is calling him to accomplish?

According to the official document called the Presentation of the Missal put out by the Vatican Office of Papal Liturgical Celebrations there are 3 reasons for this trip. These reasons that summarize the mission Christ has sent him there for are that it is:

1) A pastoral journey, "The Catholic Church in Turkey, with its various ritual expressions (Latin, Armenian Catholic, Syrian Catholic, Chaldean) is a small minority in a prevalently Sunni Muslim world. Like the Apostle Peter who, wrote a letter (1 Peter) from Rome to the Christian communities in diaspora in present-day Turkey, his Successor now speaks to those same communities, not only in words but also by his presence. Saint Peter urged the Christians there “to account for the hope that is in you” (1 Pet 3:15). In our own times, which have seen the rise and spread of forms of religious intolerance, Pope Benedict XVI, through the preaching of the word and the celebration of the sacraments, comes to confirm the Catholic community of Turkey in hope and in fidelity to Christ."

2) An ecumenical journey, "From the very beginning of his Petrine ministry, Pope Benedict XVI has made commitment to ecumenism a priority of his Pontificate. As he stated on 20 April 2005, in a homily delivered in the Sistine Chapel the day after his election, 'the present Successor of Peter feels personally responsible in this regard, and is prepared to do everything in his power to advance the fundamental cause of ecumenism. In the footsteps of his predecessors, he is fully determined to encourage every initiative that seems appropriate for promoting contacts and understanding with the representatives of the different Churches and Ecclesial Communities'."

3) A journey under the banner of interreligious dialogue "It is significant that the Holy Father’s first journey to a predominantly Muslim country begins in the very land from which Abraham, the common patriarch of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, undertook his journey of faith in God. It was from Harran, a village in present-day Turkey, that he set out in a spirit of total dependence upon God, trusting solely in the word that had been revealed to him.

The renewed memory of these common roots linking the three religions, which the Holy Father wishes to evoke in his journey, is an invitation to overcome the conflicts between Jews, Christians and Muslims that have taken place over the centuries."

What lies ahead for the Holy Father on his visit to Turkey, how events will unfold, is in the Lord's hands. Papa Benedetto would have it no other way. Like St. Paul we see the Holy Father "forgetting what lies behind but straining forward to what lies ahead" in order to continue his "pursuit toward the goal, the prize of God's upward calling, in Christ Jesus. " (Phil 3:13,14)

(The entire Program for the Apostolic Journey to Turkey is available on the Vatican website along with the above mentioned Missal. EWTN will provide live coverage of the various events of the Papl Journey. Father Jonathan Morris will also post his insights on his FoxNews Blog as well as provide commentary for FoxNews' coverage of the journey.)