The Pope must be given a lot of credit for how he is making his current visit to Turkey. Istanbul as many people know was once called Constantinople, after the Constantine, the first Christian Roman Emperor. There is the magnificent Sofia Hagia, once a cathedral then a mosque and now a religious museum.

Pope Benedict XVI is a very different both in style and substance from his predecessor, John Paul II. He is the theologian's Pope. Theology is above all the study that comes from the desire to understand the workings of the divine way. Theology however is not quite like philosophical nor scientific study, in that, it is predicated on an intense belief in God. The thirst for knowledge comes out of the desire to know something about the nature of the relationship between Man and God. If John Paul II predicated his belief based on passion and conviction, Benedict XVI wants to stimulate the mind towards an affirmation of belief through reason and knowledge. In some ways it has been this tendency towards a desire for discourse that has led to the polemics about his attitudes towards the Islamic faith. The visit to Turkey has gone some way towards putting across his real intentions of reconciliation between the faiths and the healing of the schisms within Christianity itself.

It not only suits Pope Benedict XVI to prefer to talk rather than rouse passions but he is also addressing the very intellectual vacuum that is responsible for much of the miscomprehension between peoples of different faiths. Because he would place theology at the centre as the only means of resolving religious differences, he is giving substance to the pleas for dialogue. The phrase 'religious war' is in itself self-contradictory. All religions seek to guide the person to a state of harmony and oneness with God so the idea of fighting over the means of achieving this is absurd. If Pope Benedict XVI can help stimulate the world towards a greater awareness of theological knowledge and spiritual wisdoms, (How many of us have actually read the Proverbs and Psalms in the Bible?) humanity would realise how all religions ultimately relate. This may well inspire the very sea changes that he seeking, worldwide, to the way in which we live.

Turkey plays a key role in this harmonious world view. Istanbul is evidently a very beautiful city. Here the East meets the West like it has done for millenia. Its architecture reminds us of where and how to worship God. To me the Pope's visit is not an act political expediency, as some say. In his own quiet way he has achieved the double aim of calming the religious tempers on both sides and making European leaders think a little harder about what the future role of Turkey would be. At the purely geo-political level, it is a paradox that a question mark hovers over the regional identity of a country that has been a strategically critical member of NATO ever since its inception.