Benedict's steps through a stone archway and into the mosque's carpeted expanse capped a day of deep symbolism and lofty goals. Hours earlier, he stood beside the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians and passionately encouraged steps to end the nearly 1,000-year divide between their churches.

The pope walked to the mosque after touring another majestic tribute to faith: the 1,500-year-old Haghia Sofia and its remarkable mix of Quranic calligraphy and Christian mosaics from its legacy as a marvel of early Christianity and then a coveted prize of Islam's expansion.

At the mosque, the pope removed his shoes and put on white slippers. Then he walked beside Mustafa Cagrici, the head cleric of Istanbul. Facing the holy city of Mecca - in the tradition of Islamic worship - Cagrici said: "Now I'm going to pray." Benedict, too, bowed his head and his lips moved as if reciting words.

Before the pope left, he thanked Cagrici "for this moment of prayer."

"A single swallow can't bring spring," Cagrici told the pope, who ends his first papal trip to a Muslim nation Friday. "But many swallows will follow and we will enjoy a spring in this world."

The pope received a painting showing the Sea of Marmara and a glazed tile decorated with a dove. The mosque is officially known as the Sultan Ahmet Mosque after the Ottoman sultan Ahmet I, who ordered its construction. But it's widely called the Blue Mosque after its elaborate blue tiles.

The pope presented the imam with a mosaic showing four doves.

"Let us pray for brotherhood and for all humanity," Benedict said in Italian.

The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said the mosque visit was added as a "sign of respect" to Muslims. "A (Christian) believer can pray in any place, even a mosque," Lombardi said, calling it an "intimate, personal prayer."

The pope has offered wide-ranging messages of reconciliation to Muslims since coming to Turkey on Tuesday, including appeals for greater understanding and support for Turkey's effort to become the first Muslim nation in the European Union.

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