At the end of November, as we all know, Pope Benedict will travel to Turkey. The primary purpose of the visit is meetings with Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew and other religious leaders, but interest in the reaction of the Muslim population to the Pope’s presence will, of course, be high.
In the context Benedict’s XVI visit to Turkey and of the EU- entry talks, Aid to the Church in Need asks for “religious liberty of European standard”, including the legal recognition of the Christian Churches, with the questions of property and priests formation. The Catholic Church has no right to build churches and other constructions since the restrictive law of 1923. The residence permit for foreign priests depends on the goodwill of the authorities. The killing of Don Andrea Santoro, last February, testifies to the open or hidden attacks on priests. Furthermore, future priests have no seminary in the country.
The Apostolic Vicariate in Anatolia serves half of the territory of Turkey, with officially only 5.000 Catholics. Today out of a population of 63,5 million, there are 200,000 Christians in the country. 1914 there were some 30% of Christians.
To honour the Pope’s visit in Turkey, Aid to the Church in Need is preparing a Turkish edition of the “Little Catechism” of the Catholic Church. After being published as a book in 2004, the Child’s Bible in Turkish is now available on line.
Links to all of ACIN’s children’s Bibles online.
Many are very worried about the Pope’s safety on this visit.
The Knights of Columbus are asking people to accompany the Pope spiritually on his journey:
The Knights of Columbus announced today that it will sponsor a “spiritual pilgrimage” with Pope Benedict XVI as he travels to Turkey in late November. Knights, their families, and all Catholics are being asked to pray daily for the Pontiff during the trip, which begins on Tuesday, November 28 and concludes on Friday, December 1.
Knights will pray for the pope’s intentions beginning on November 26, the Sunday before the pope departs (the Solemnity of Christ the King). In addition, the Knights of Columbus will print and distribute cards with a special prayer written by the Order’s Supreme Chaplain, Bishop William E. Lori. Knights and others joining in the Spiritual Pilgrimage will say the prayer each day during the pope’s trip.
The prayer asks that the pope’s visit will bring about “deeper ties of understanding, cooperation, and peace among Roman Catholics, the Orthodox, and those who profess Islam.” And it asks that “Pope Benedict be kept safe from all harm as he prays, bears witness to the Gospel, and invites all peoples to a dialogue of faith, reason, and love.” The full text of the prayer appears below. A PDF file of the prayer card can be found at www.kofc.org.
“Only a few Catholics can physically travel with the Holy Father to Turkey,” Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson said, “but millions of us can be united with him in prayer during his pilgrimage for peace.”
Patriarch Bartholomew has hopes for the outcome:
The Orthodox church has pinned most of its hopes for religious rights on the possible entry of Turkey into the European Union, which it believes will help give minority religions some political leverage.
"Regarding the problems for our community and for other religious minorities in Turkey, we nurture the hope that Turkey’s ‘European process’ will resolve them one after another," Patriarch Bartholomew said.
"The members of the European Union are asking our country to respect these (religious) principles and rights, and I think a lay, democratic state like Turkey should respect and apply them," the patriarch said.
But so far, the Turkish government has shown little response to European pressure on the Orthodox church issues. And, in a development that worries the country’s Christians, support for EU entry has plummeted in recent months among the Turkish population.
While the Orthodox expect Pope Benedict to defend religious freedom, the pope’s own views on Turkish admission to the European Union complicate the issue. As a cardinal, he spoke out against Turkish entry, saying it did not make historical sense; since his election as pope, however, the Vatican has been careful to emphasize its neutrality on the question.
Read Previous Post