"We're all children of God"

WORSHIP: MUSLIMS AND CHRISTIANS SHARE SACRED SPACE AT ISTANBUL'S HOUSE OF PRAYER

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» Church's appeal has 'transcended religious boundaries', says priest.

The queue outside Istanbul's Our Lady of Vefa church stretched more than 200 metres, made up of Christians and Muslims chatting animatedly as they waited to make a wish inside this Greek Orthodox sanctuary.

It was a scene which plays out on the first day of every month at this ancient house of worship, hidden behind a high wall topped with a metal fence and known in Turkish as "the first-of-the-month church".

"We came before with friends and every one of our wishes came true," said Emine Sanli, a Muslim woman who believes she was cured of a problem with her hands after drinking water from a spring under the church that is blessed by a priest.

"But it's the first time I've seen such a large crowd. Perhaps it's because the economy is so bad," grinned Sanli.

At the entrance, the visitors, mostly women, bought small keys and offerings, each symbolising a different wish: health, inner peace, money, success, marriage, fertility and even "never-ending love".

A Georgian tourist who also came last year walked alongside the queue handing out sweets to those in line - a Muslim tradition.