Word: benedict
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Tally: Benedict may have had no choice but to play nice, but he is still searching for his voice on Islam. Perhaps by taking off his papal slippers and stepping into a mosque, he has begun to find his footing...
...Words: Benedict spoke out strongly - and repeatedly - for religious freedom throughout the trip. The explicit softness in his approach to Islam allowed him to make an implicit plea for allowing religious minorities in Muslim countries - and everywhere - to freely practice their religion. On his first day, the Pope told diplomats in Ankara that religions must "not seek to exercise direct political power." On Thursday, he and Bartholomew I, Patriarch of Constantinople, leader of the tiny Orthodox community in Turkey, delivered a joint statement that insisted that religious "minorities must be protected, with their cultural traditions and the distinguishing features...
...Gestures: The gradual reversal over the past week of Benedict's original opposition (as a Cardinal in 2004) to Turkey's eventual entry into the European Union - alluded to both by Vatican officials and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan - was symbolically sealed like a gift on Thursday with the Pope's joint declaration with the Orthodox Patriarch that referred "positively" to European Union expansion. Notably the two Christian leaders cited the singular priority of religious freedom for any joining E.U. members...
...Tally: Benedict is intent on making freedom of religion a hallmark issue of his papacy. While he sees threats to this liberty in China and in an increasingly secularized Europe, it may also end up being a pointed - if somewhat safer - way of confronting fundamental problems he sees in Islam...
...Words: "Scandal" is a strong word in any language, and that's how Benedict said he sees the millennial split between Catholics and Orthodox. And he pledged that "the Catholic Church is ready to do everything possible" to move closer to the world's quarter-million Orthodox believers. Patriarch Bartholomew I echoed the good will, citing "the unwavering journey toward the restoration of full communion among our churches." He even called the Pope "our brother, and bishop of the elder Rome." Their joint declaration touched on two of Benedict's favorite themes: secularization and the Christian roots of Europe...