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POPE ARRIVES IN TURKEY FOR HIGH-STAKES VISIT

Nov. 28 (CWNews.com) - Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Turkey on November
28 to begin the 5th foreign voyage of his pontificate.

The Pope's plane touched down at Esemboga airport, outside Ankara, just
before 1 in the afternoon. The apostolic nuncio in Turkey, Archbishop
Antonio Lucibello, immediately boarded the plane to greet the Holy
Father.

When he emerged from the plane, Pope Benedict was greeted by Turkey's
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, who had made a last-minute change in his
own travel schedule to greet the papal plane. After a short exchange of
greetings-- with the Turkish premier saying that he considered the papal
visit "very meaningful," and the Pontiff referring to Turkey as "a
bridge" between East and West-- the two men adjourned to a private
airport lounge for a private conversation.

Sitting under a large portrait of Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern
Turkey, the Pope and the Turkish prime minister spoke for about 20
minutes. The Pontiff reportedly asked for Erdogan's help in the cause of
dialogue between cultures, and the Turkish leader replied that his
government was committed to that cause.

Immediately after their airport meeting, Erdogan flew to Latvia for a
meeting of NATO leaders, while the Pope traveled in a bulletproof car to
the mausoleum of Ataturk.