Pope flying to See Patriarch In Istanbul

Talks on unity and Jerusalem
BY A SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
POPE PAUL will fly to Turkey on Tuesday for a two-dayseries of talks with Patriarch Athenagoras, Primate of the Eastern Orthodox churches. They will discuss religious unity and the international status of Jerusalem's holy places.
It is also planned that the Pope will visit Ephesus, the traditional place where Our Lady lived after the Resurrection.
The Pope this week stressed the significance of his meeting with the Patriarch, with whom he exchanged a "kiss of peace" on Jerusalem's Mount of Olives during his 1964 pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
He said Jerusalem itself, whose Jordanian Old City was now held by Israel, would be one of the main subjects of their discussions. They would "examine together in what form and with' what means we can protect not only the safety but the peculiar and sacred character of the holy shrines in that place that was Christ's homeland."
They are expected to discuss an Israeli Government proposal for the shrines' future status which was brought back by Mgr. Felici, a Vatican diplomat who spent 10 days with Israeli leaders.
Common worship
Israel is believed to have proposed placing Jerusalem's shrines under the authority of an inter-religious committee representing major faiths.
Most Vatican observers feel that Pope Paul's gesture will greatly serve efforts to unite the Catholic and Orthodox churches. Relations have been improved since the Ecumenical Council and the Vatican has constantly emphasised the bonds that exist between the two Churches.
A document in May on common worship made great concessions to members of the Eastern Rite and Orthodox Churches, and stressed that the "closest intimacy" existed between them.
That document went as far as to allow Catholics and Orthodox to receive each other's sacramentseven cornmunion—in cases where they did not have access to their own priests.
A possible difficulty in the unity talks may be the uneasy relationship between the Turkish Government and the Greek Orthodox Church, heightened by the controversy with the Greek Government over the rights of Turks in Cyprus and the fact that Greek Orthodox Archbishop Makarios is President of Cyprus.
"Our homage"
The fact that the Pope is going to Istanbul and not Ankara, the capital, is seen as an attempt to avoid any political implications being put on his visit. It is expected that he will have talks with President Cevdet Sunay and other Government leaders during his vi sit.
The Pope also linked his trip with the celebration of the 19th centenary of the martyrdom of SS. Peter and Paul, which he proclaimed a Year of Faith.
In visiting Istanbul — the ancient city of Constantinople —and Ephesus in South West Turkey, near Izmir (Smyrna)
The Pope for Turkey
he said he wanted "to honour in the dawn of this Year of Faith, among the various illustrious historical cities of that Oriental land, the memory of the important ecumenical councils held there, and also at Ephesus the holy memory of the most blessed Madonna there venerated.
The Pope says his trip will be "extremely rapid according to a style which by now has become characteristic of us." He noted that July 25 is the feast of St. James the Greater, the Apostle who became the first bishop of Jerusalem, and obviously meant to attach sig nificance to this fact in relation to the proposed discussions with Patriarch Athenagoras on the status of the Holy Places.
This will be the Pope's fifth visit abroad in his five-year reign. He will be the first Pope of Rome to visit Istanbul for 12 centuries.
The last Pope to visit Istanbul was Pope Constantine, who reigned from 708 to 715. He was the only Pope to return successfully from a visit to Constantinople. He achieved a short-lived settlement with the Eastern Church which in 692 had passed 102 disciplinary rules aimed at undermining the authority of Rome.