istanbul, once known as constantinople, is the patriarch's headquarters.istian church split between east and west in 1054, with constantinople being the center of eastern orthodox christianity and rome the center of the western church. leaders of the two churches had virtually no contact for nearly a millennium, but that has changed dramatically in recent years. ecumenical patriarch bartholomew and pope francis have met twice prior to this visit. >> the fact that already bartholomew and francis have greeted each other with great love in jerusalem and in rome, this is simply a continuation of it but if you will, it's on the orthodox home turf. >> reporter: according to orthodox tradition, saint andrew, one of the original 12 disciples, brought christianity here shortly after the death and resurrection of jesus. the faith flourished. and in the year 330, when emperor constantine proclaimed constantinople the new capital of the roman empire, it became the capital of christianity as well. the muslim ottomans conquered constantinople in 1453, but the orthodox h

richard engel, nbc news, istanbul, or old constantinople. >>> still ahead, many americans opting for longer term car loans. but what's the downside? ar loans. but what's the downside? is a really big deal.u with aches, fever and chills- there's no such thing as a little flu. so why treat it like it's a little cold? there's something that works differently than over-the-counter remedies. prescription tamiflu attacks the flu virus at its source. so call your doctor right away. tamiflu treats the flu in people 2 weeks and older whose flu symptoms started within the last two days. before taking tamiflu tell your doctor if you're pregnant, nursing, have serious health conditions, or take other medicines. if you develop an allergic reaction, a severe rash, or signs of unusual behavior, stop taking tamiflu and call your doctor immediately. children and adolescents in particular may be at an increased risk of seizures, confusion or abnormal behavior. the most common side effects are mild to moderate nausea and vomiting. so don't wait. attack the flu virus at its source. ask your doctor about

the insignia of the new christianized empire whose capital is no longer rome but constantinople are placed with perhaps unconscious symbolism atop the corinthian columns taken from a pagan building. once reviled and persecuted, christianity is triumphant. historians havargued about the causes of the fall of the roman empire ever since it happened when saint augustine wrote that the empire had been part of god's divine plan for the furtherance of christianity through the world that it had now fulfilled its historical purpose. modern scholars have found political, material, economic, social reasons for the decline, but have been most impressed by the spiritual crisis which swept through all roman classes in the fourth century and is marked by the breakdown of the social, ethical and religious concepts which had bound the classical world view together. the roman empire had brought to its rulers inconceivable wealth as we can still see today in its vast building projects. but the rights of individual people to moral fulfillment had never been met. so the rise of christianity, the superseding o

the center of a largely christian byzantine empire whose heart was constantinople, today's istanbul. the handshake between the two men. a very important symbolic moment as the leader of one worldwide faith comes here to a country perched between two different worlds. a country in whose land, religion, empire, culture collided. today, a vital country for the middle east. the gun salute there. and there will be the turkish national anthem, and the anthem of the holy see as well. ♪ >> standing to attention. we'll just stay with that a moment longer. >> stephen, let me just give you a little bit more indication of what happens after this. he will hold talks here. he will give a speech at the presidential palace. he will then go to the directorate for religious affairs in this country, which is the body that employs the 60,000 imams in turkey. he will spend the night here in ankara and go to istanbul tomorrow, when he meets various religious leaders, including the patriarch of constantinople, the christian leader of 300 million christians worldwide. still based here in turkey. a sign of t

and i yo are eye of sophia was first built up as a church, later on when the turks conkerd constantinople, it was turned into a mosque but now stands as a museum. inside you see both islamic calligraphy, as well as stunning frescoes. one of the key things that pope francis is hoping to accomplish is begin to build that vital pillar that he himself said yesterday of mutual trust, zain. >> he's all about uniting christians and muslims. and that interfaith dialogue. i do want to ask, given how small the population in turkey, about 1% of population, how significant is this visit, really? how much weight does it carry for those christians? >> reporter: well, a couple of thing, zain, in terms of turkey's christian community they are mostly orthodox. this does come at the invitation of their leader bartholomew and it that solidifies the two sister chumps but this visit is perhaps more about the nonchristian populations. and reaching out to the nonchristians, that is, the muslim world. using this as a way. and as we've heard in pope francis' statements so far is to re-establish that interfaith di

eastern churches meant that rome became a capital of the western latin-based catholic church and constantinopleas then, now istanbul, was the center of the eastern christian church. and tomorrow, when the pope goes to istanbul and meets the spiritual leader of the orthodox church, patriarch bartholomew the first, the need to recognize the two strands of the christian church as well. so really the emphasis on dialogue, reconciliation during this important visit by the pope, the fourth pope to have visited turkey. >> mark, thanks very much indeed. the pope will go on to istanbul after ankara and after having met the president at his new presidential palace. we'll keep across that for you on "bbc world news." >>> now, an online video, which appears to show an iranian woman defying iran's strict laws by dancing publicly on the teheran metro has gone viral. in the video, we can see it here. she's unidentified, gyrating away to a song by the british pop group little mix. this comes months after online footage of a group of young iranians dancing to the pharell williams song "happy," which led to a nu

tonight the pope led a joint prayer service with bartholomew of constantinople. they will put out a joint declaration for closer ties. basically the significance here, suzanne, is at one level trying to come to a meeting of minds with mainstream islamic leaders and the fight against religious extremism. and another level trying to put the divided christian house back in order. >> john, let's talk about visiting turkey specifically. it was back in 2006 that pope benedict visited the same mosque. and the vatican said he was meditating there. he did not pray. and the same is going for pope francis this time. tell us the the clarification between meditating and praying. what is the significance? >> well, i think this may be an object lesson in vatican spin and what actually happened. i was there in 2006. and at the time, of course what happened is the pope, they paused and boughed their hands in front of the niche in every mosque that faces the direction of mecca. the vatican tried to spin that as a moment of reflection. they are allergic to using prayer. but they sa

and later repurposed and refurbished to become a mosque, that happening when the turks conquer constantinoplensformed into a museum. but when you step inside you see islamic calligraphy, and you also see beautiful christian frescoes. very much both of those religions existing underneath one roof. and that is really symbolic when it comes to what it is that pope francis is hoping to accomplish on this visit. if we just take a look at the situation for christians in the middle east, it's arguably not been this dire or this desperate in about the large century or so. we've seen christians increasingly targeted and persecuted in syria. first by al qaeda and then by isis. and the great concern amongst many if the status quo is allowed to continue, we could end up seeing a middle east where in some countries christianity no longer exists. >> arwa damon, thank you so much for giving us the per pictuspec there. >>> back to our top story. after several days of calm, more arrests in ferguson. we'll bring you the very latest. plus, we'll look ahead to the major peaceful protest in just the start of a fe

later when the turks took constantinople.urposed it into a mosque as it stands today as that museum and very much epitomizing perhaps what the pope would hope to accomplish. inside you would see calligraphy and religious --. the pope throughout the visit have really been trying to emphasize the need for dialogue. over the last decade we have been seeing levels of persecutions of the christian communities in iraq and syria that arguably the region has not seen for about a century or so. the vast majority of christians in both iraq and syria for around ten years now have been forced to flee their homes, flee their countries. first because of al qaeda and then because of the threat posed by isis. >> all right. thanks so much. >>> from zero expulsions to zero tolerance? a student reportinterviews a to reporter from university of virginia and what that reporter has to say about the culture of rape on campus may stun you. >>> one of the nation's most prestigious universities is facing wide spread criticism after a shocking report a