Pope considering Istanbul visit

Pope Benedict is considering a trip to Istanbul, symbolic headquarters of Orthodox Christianity, Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern said yesterday.

Mr Ahern held 25 minutes of private talks with Pope Benedict at the Vatican.

The Irish leader told reporters afterwards that the Pope told him he was "considering going to Istanbul" as part of his drive to push for Christian unity.

The Turkish city is home to Bartholomew, the Ecumenical Patriarch of world Orthodoxy, who has invited the 78-year-old Roman Catholic pontiff to attend St Andrew's Feast Day on November 30.

Pope Benedict has made reconciliation between Christianity's two main branches a major plank of his papacy since succeeding Pope John Paul II, who died in April. The Orthodox split from Rome in 1054.

The Orthodox patriarchate is still located in Istanbul, Turkey's biggest city and the former capital of the Greek Byzantine empire, despite the dwindling number of Christians in Turkey, which is 99 per cent Muslim.

Pope Benedict will visit his native Germany in mid-August.