One recent Saturday afternoon, in the enervating heat and noise of Istanbul, the holiest man in the Orthodox Christian Church joined a queue to catch a ferry. His All Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I stood in line with about 200 others, mostly tourists, bound for the little island of Heybeliada, about an hour's ride from the city. For many of those boarding the boat, a visit to the island is part of the experience of being in Istanbul, something recommended in the guidebooks. It has excellent beaches, a naval high school and a watersports club popular with Istanbul's rich.

The Patriarch might have been just another day-tripper too, were it not for his long black cassock, the beautiful staff he carried, and a small entourage fussing around him and carrying briefcases and his travel bags. Still, even that was not enough to merit the attention of most of the other travellers, anxious to get a good seat on the ferry. They might have glanced at the man in black, but they did not acknowledge him.