Pope celebrates Mass for Turkey's 'little flock' of Catholics

Published: 2006-11-29

EPHESUS, Turkey (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI asked Turkey's tiny Catholic community to live their faith with courage, hope and optimism. The pope celebrated the first public Mass of his four-day trip to Turkey Nov. 29 under the shade of pine and olive-laden trees next to the House of the Virgin Mary at Ephesus. When he addressed the "little flock" of Catholics in Turkey, he was not referring literally to the fewer than 200 people present for the Mass high on a hill over Ephesus, but it felt that way to the congregation. The Mass in honor of Mary was a brief aside dedicated to Catholics in a trip dominated by outreach to the country's Muslim majority and by celebrations at the Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. Pope Benedict told those present that he 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."

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