VATICAN CITY (AFP) – Pope Benedict XVI said yesterday that his recent visit to Turkey was an “unforgettable experience” that he hoped would be useful for dialogue with Muslims and cooperation with the Orthodox Church.

The pope spoke of “the unforgettable pastoral and spiritual experience” of his visit to Turkey during his weekly blessing in front of thousands of worshippers in Saint Peter’s Square.

The pontiff said he hoped the trip – his first to a Muslim country – would bear “good fruit for an always more sincere cooperation between all the disciples of Christ and for a fruitful dialogue with Muslim believers.”

He thanked the “Turkish authorities and our Turkish friends, who reserved a welcome for me that was worthy of their traditional sense of hospitality.”

“I would especially like to pay homage with grateful recognition to the dear Catholic community living on Turkish land,” the pope said.

On Friday, the pope ended a visit in which he reached out to Muslims and the Orthodox Church while standing firm on key issues such as papal authority and Europe’s Christian roots.

The 79-year-old pope made a symbolic conciliatory gesture on Thursday when he assumed an attitude of Muslim prayer while facing Mecca in Istanbul’s Blue Mosque.

He also met with Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomaios, spiritual leader of some 150 million Orthodox faithful, after which he described as a “scandal to the world” the schism between the feuding Christian branches dating back nearly a millennium.

On Saturday, The Associated Press cited a Vatican cardinal as saying that the pope has become “likable” to Turkish Muslims thanks to his pilgrimage to Turkey.

Cardinal Walter Kasper, a German prelate who heads the Vatican office for better relations among Christians, told a news conference at the Vatican that the pilgrimage went beyond expectations.

“The figure of the pope has become likable for Turkish Muslims, and this is a very important fact,” Kasper said.

The pilgrimage was proof of the pope’s wilLingness to work for “cooperation among civilizations,” Kasper said.

For the Holy See, “a clash between civilizations would be a catastrophe for all of humanity, so everything possible must be done to overcome prejudices,” Cardinal Walter Kasper said.