Pope Francis offers prayers in a mosque

Eight years after his predecessor came under heavy criticism for praying in a mosque, Pope Francis offered prayers at a mosque in Istanbul, the largest city in Turkey, on Saturday.

Francis reportedly stood for two minutes, with his head bowed and hands clasped as he said silent prayers inside the 17th-century Sultan Ahmet mosque.

The  gesture was said to be aimed at showing respect for Islam and encouraging stronger ties between Christianity and Islam.

“May God accept it,” Al Jazeera  quoted Rahmi Yaran, the Grand Mufti of Istanbul, as saying to the pope at the end of the prayer.

Earlier, Yaran gave Francis a tour of the mosque, famed for its elaborate blue tiles and cascading domes and better known as the Blue Mosque.

Francis then visited the nearby Haghia Sofia, which was the main Byzantine church in Constantinople – present-day Istanbul – before being turned into a mosque following the Muslim conquest of the city in 1453.

Haghia Sophia is now a museum.

The head of the catholic church, who is presently on a three-day visit to the predominantly Muslim country, is expected to meet with the head of the orthodox church, Bartholomew, later on Saturday.

The two major branches of Christianity represented by Bartholomew and Francis split in 1054 over differences on the power of the papacy. The two spiritual heads will participate in an ecumenical liturgy and sign a joint declaration in an attempt to reunite the churches.