Scottish Catholic Observer

A bomb exploded when two suicide bombers blew themselves up and gunmen then opened fire on worshippers during weekly prayers at the Grand Mosque of Kano. Several reports say at least 120 people were killed and 270 others were wounded

On Sunday, the Pope described the bombing and attack on the Mosque in Kano as an ‘extremely grave sin against God.’

The statement followed the Holy Father’s visit to Istanbul’s Blue Mosque alongside the city’s top Muslim cleric on the second day of his visit to Turkey. The Pope stood in ‘silent adoration,’ turned east towards Mecca, and clasped his hands for two minutes as the Grand Mufti of Istanbul, Rahmi Yaran, said a Muslim prayer.

The Pope later visited the Hagia Sofia—a church turned into a mosque and then a museum.

The Holy Father had participated in the ecumenical prayer service on Saturday evening with the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I. After celebrating Holy Mass in the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, the Pope transferred at midday to the seat of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Phanar, the world centre of Orthodoxy.

“It is not in us, not in our commitment, not in our efforts—that are certainly necessary—but in our shared trust in God’s faithfulness which lays the foundation for the reconstruction of His temple,” the Holy Father said.

This Papal visit is only the fourth visit by a Pontiff to Turkey.

Early on Saturday afternoon, the Pope visited the Latin Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, opened for worship in 1846. In the courtyard there is a statue of Pope Benedict XV, erected by the Turks in 1919 during the Pope’s lifetime, to thank him for his efforts in favour of the Turkish victims of the First World War. It bears the inscription: “To the great Pope of the world’s tragic hour, Benedict XV, benefactor of the people, without discrimination of nationality or religion, a token of gratitude from the Orient.”

During his Papacy, Armenian Christians were massacred in the Ottoman Empire, and Pope Benedict XV used every means available to him—words, humanitarian aid and diplomatic activity—to bring an end to the slaughter.

On Friday, Pope Francis called for an interfaith dialogue to counter fanaticism and fundamentalism during a visit to the Turkish capital, Ankara where he called for a renewed Middle East peace push, saying the region had ‘for too long been a theatre of fratricidal wars.’

There are about 120,000 Christians in Turkey—most of the country’s 80 million citizens are Muslims.