Pope Benedict, who drew fire from Muslims over his comments on Islam, is likely to make a hastily added stop at Istanbul's Blue Mosque on his trip to Turkey next week, the Vatican said today.
It would be his first visit to a mosque. His predecessor, Pope John Paul II, made the first visit by a pontiff to a mosque during a trip to Damascus in 2001.
The visit to the mosque was seen as an attempt at reconciliation by Pope Benedict following controversial comments he made about Islam in a speech in his native Germany in September.
Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said the visit to the mosque was "in the stage of study" and was desired by both sides. A separate Vatican source said there was a high probability that the visit to the mosque would take place and that its addition to the programme had been suggested by the Turkish side.
The Sultanahmet, or Blue Mosque, is the most famed in Turkey and a popular tourist attraction. It stands in a square of the same name in the historical district of Istanbul, opposite the Aya Sofya museum. It was built early in the 17th century on the order of Sultan Ahmed I and is also near the Ottoman Topkapi Palace.
The Pope, who leaves for Turkey on Tuesday, was likely to visit the mosque immediately before or after visting the Aya Sofya museum on Thursday. The mosque visit would be very brief.
On Wednesday, police detained 39 demonstrators who briefly occupied the Aya Sofya museum. The protesters, who had shouted anti-Pope slogans, were later released. Turkish officials, like much of the Muslim world, expressed anger in September after the Pope made comments in a lecture taken as indicating he believed Islam was violent and irrational.
Benedict and the Vatican have several times expressed regret over the pain his remarks caused but the Pope has stopped short of a full apology. Before becoming Pope, Benedict annoyed Turks by speaking out against Turkey's bid to join the European Union, saying it did not belong there because of its religion and culture.