Catholic bishops meet in Turkey to discuss Pope visit

Catholic bishops met in Istanbul this morning to discuss the pope’s upcoming visit to Turkey amid an uproar in the Islamic world over his comments about Islam and holy war.

A chorus of voices in Turkey have been calling for Pope Benedict XVI to cancel his November visit – his first trip to a Muslim country as pontiff – if he does not apologise for his remarks, which were widely seen as derogatory to Islam.

The bishops meeting in Istanbul was scheduled long ago and was closed to the press, Vatican officials said.

They said there would be no official announcement after the meeting.

The pope’s comments – in which he quoted a 14th century Byzantine emperor who linked Islam and violence and characterised some of the teachings of Islam’s founder as “evil and inhuman” – have dominated news coverage for several days in Turkey and across much of the Muslim world.

They have not, however, yet sparked the violent outrage across the Islamic world that followed the publication of cartoons of the prophet Mohammed earlier this year.