Benedikt's visit to Cyprus; besides religious niceties and his problems with Muslim Turks, as expected his main effort focused on U.N. FORCES IN CYPRUS AND THEIR NUMBER, IN THE CONTEXT OF "MIDDLE EAST PEACE" , - not to forget the private meeting, of course. VEHAMEIVIN YAVIN.

See also:

INSTRUMENTUM LABORIS; Benedikt's visit to Cyprus, ..( Part II)
» 06/04/2010 11:29
TURKEY - VATICAN
Iskanderun (AsiaNews) - The driver of Mgr. Luigi Padovese, ( leader of all catholic Turkish bishops, DS) killed yesterday in front of his house in Iskanderun has been formally charged with murder by a Turkish court. The police confirm that the man, who for over four years was a close collaborator of the slain bishop suffers from mental disorders. But some doubts remain surrounding his illness and there have been widespread calls on the authorities to deepen their investigations into the motives for the assassination.


CYPRUS-VATICAN
Cypriot President, Papal visit boost for peace in the region
by NAT da Polis
In an interview, Christofias says that Cyprus expects the visit of Benedict XVI to boost for a peaceful solution of the drama created by the Turkish occupation of northern part of the island and the situation throughout Middle East. 

The New York Times2010-06-05
NICOSIA, Cyprus — A day after Cypriot religious and political leaders lashed out at Turkey, whose troops have occupied northern Cyprus since 1974, Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday met briefly with a Muslim religious leader from the Turkish North. Related Cyprus Leaders Criticize Turkey During Pope Visit (June 5, 2010) The pope exchanged greetings for several minutes with the leader, Sheik..

COMMENT:

If I were the pope, and if I had the kind of problems with Muslim Turks that the pope has, the deal I would have made with Erdogan via Lula, and that I would convey via the Muslim Sheik in Cyprus, would be as follows:

1."YOU HAVE A FREE HAND: YOU CAN KILL AS MANY JEWS AS YOU WANT, ALL THE ISRAELIS YOU WANT, JUST STAY OUT OF CYPRUS, AND LEAVE OUR BISHOPS ALONE. ( deflect the Turks' rage towards the Jews and away from the Christians; after all, the Jews have been scapegoated by the Church for two thousand years, so what's new about this approach?)"

2." IF YOU HELP ME WIN THIS WAR AGAINST ISRAEL, I WILL REWARD YOU HANDSOMELY.

(A bribe never hurts in politics); I have lots of gold , lots of wealth. If we win this war together, I will let you keep some of the spoils of war; Israel is a rich country, they just found lots of gas off the coast. You can keep most of the gas for your country's needs, we will keep the oil and everything else. It will make up for your loss of business from Israel.  Do we have a deal?"

Now I am not saying that is the deal the pope made, I certainly have no proof of that. But it would make sense that Lula, as the pope's messenger to Turkey, would have made a sweet offer to Erdogan, an offer hard to resist.... and now Benedikt himself in Cyprus, speaking with one of the Turkish sheiks, ....could it have been an offer of this nature? You be the judge.

"Cyprus is in need of your words of peace, given the difficult situation the island is facing in its occupied area," said Greek Cypriot President Demitris Christofias.

..."During his visit, Benedict will be staying at the papal nunciature, which serves as the Vatican's embassy in Cyprus' divided capital of Nicosia.

The nunciature is located near a United Nations military buffer-zone bordering Turkish-controlled territory, which Benedict is not scheduled to visit during the trip.

POPE - OFFICIAL VISIT - FAREWELL ADDRESS The head of the Roman Catholic Church Pope Benedict XVI has referred to Cyprus’ “sad division” which he has seen during his three-day official visit to the island, noting that he has also learned about the destruction of the island’s cultural heritage. In his farewel ...
PRESIDENT - POPE - FAREWELL ADDRESS The President of the Republic Demetris Christofias has descr ...		POPE – MIDDLE EAST – APPEAL Pope Benedict XVI has made a personal appeal for an urgent a ...		UN – CYPRUS – UNFICYP MANDATE Informal consultations are taking place among the five perma ... The Council also welcomes the intention of the Secretary-General to keep all peacekeeping operations, including those of UNFICYP, under close review and notes the importance of contingency planning in relation to the settlement, including recommendations as appropriate for further adjustments to the UNFICYP’s mandate, force levels and concept of operations, taking into account developments on the ground and the views of the parties.     POPE – MIDDLE EAST – APPEAL Pope Benedict XVI has made a personal appeal for an urgent and concerted international effort to resolve the ongoing tensions in the Middle East, before such conflicts lead to greater bloodshed.