Pope treads on shaky ground

The pope has a message for Christians in Muslim nations.
ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) -- Pope Benedict XVI began his pilgrimage among Turkey's tiny Christian communities Wednesday by paying homage to an Italian priest slain during Islamic protests and expressing sympathy for the pressures facing religious minorities in the Muslim world.
The messages -- made at one of the holiest Christian sites in Turkey -- could set the tone for the remainder of Benedict's first papal trip to a Muslim nation as he tries to strengthen bonds with the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians.
The pope is expected to sharpen his calls for what the Vatican calls "reciprocity" -- that Muslim demands for greater respect in the West must be matched by increased tolerance and freedom for Christians in Islamic nations.
But too much pressure by the Roman Catholic pontiff could risk new friction with Muslims after broad gestures of goodwill in the opening hours of the trip Tuesday that sought to ease simmering Muslim anger over the pope's remarks on violence and the Prophet Muhammad.
A statement claiming to be from al-Qaida in Iraq denounced the pope's visit as part of a "crusader campaign" against Islam and an attempt to "extinguish the burning ember of Islam" in Turkey. Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said the declaration -- posted on several Islamic militant Web sites -- shows the need for faiths to fight "violence in the name of God."
He said "neither the pope nor his entourage are worried."
Massive precautions
Still Turkish authorities took massive security precautions for the Istanbul stop, with thousands of police on the street and roads cleared of all traffic for the papal motorcade.
The pope's deepening ties with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I -- called the "first among equals" of the Orthodox leaders -- also is watched with suspicion in Turkey as a possible challenge to state-imposed limits on Christian minorities and others. Benedict has declared a "fundamental" commitment to try to heal rifts between the two ancient branches of Christianity, which split nearly 1,000 years ago over disputes including papal authority.
At Bartholemew's walled compound in Istanbul, the pope stood amid black-robbed Orthodox clerics and urged both sides "to work for full unity of Catholics and Orthodox."
Virgin Mary's home
The pope began the day at the ruins of a small stone home at the end of a dirt road near the Aegean Sea -- the site where the Virgin Mary is thought to have spent her last years.
At an outdoor Mass attended by 250 invited guests, the pope noted the challenges facing the "little flock" of Christians in Turkey.
"I have wanted to convey my personal love and spiritual closeness, together with that of the universal church, to the Christian community here in Turkey, a small minority which faces many challenges and difficulties daily," the pope said.
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