Pope Benedict XVI is planned to tour Turkey for a four day vist beginning on November 28, 2006. Many seemed to be highly concerned about the outcome of this visit due to the statement the Pope made about muslims in his September 12th speech. He was noted as stating that Islam was a religion of violence with no substantial contribution toward spiritual upliftment. The muslim world was outraged at the comments made by the Pope, despite the Popes attempt to clarify his comments which came from a conversation bewteen a 14th century Christian Byzantine Emperor and a Islamic Persian. The Quote is as follows:

“Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.”

After the Popes quotes regarding Islam, the thought of “modern crusades” crossed the minds of many Christians and Muslims. Almost two and half months after his comments, it has now become strategy for Pope Benedict XVI’s to visit one of the largest muslim nations in the world, Turkey. This visit is two fold in nature, which involves 1) a pilgrimage to one of Christianity’s last strongholds in Turkey and 2) the amendment of the Christian/Muslim relationship. Despite the hopeful plans of this mission, many remain concerned about the Popes well being as the Vatican plans to “beef up” security for the Popes protection.

The interesting aspect regarding this situation was the release of the movie, “Kingdom of Heaven” on May 6, 2005, almost one month after the election of Pope Benedict XVI (April 19, 2006). Interesting enough, the Pope took possession of his cathedral, the Basilica of St. John Lateran (the mother church among Roman Catholics), on May 7, 2005, one day after the release of “Kingdom of Heaven.” The release of this movie created a new interest in the crusades, the holy wars between the Christians and Muslims, which now seems to be the chrysalis for a great world conflict. Could Pope Benedict XVI be the father of the modern day crusades?

The next four days will be very interesting.

(To purchase the movie, click the cover.)

Zothyrius Ali El