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Will The Pope Challenge Turkey On Anti-Christian Bias?

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  • Will The Pope Challenge Turkey On Anti-Christian Bias?

    WILL THE POPE CHALLENGE TURKEY ON ANTI-CHRISTIAN BIAS?

    Crux: Covering all things Catholic
    Oct 30 2014

    John L. Allen Jr.

    Recently the Vatican confirmed that Pope Francis will travel to Turkey
    Nov. 28-30, the official purpose for which is largely ecumenical.

    He'll visit Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople on the feast
    of St. Andrew, considered their patron in much the same way Catholics
    regard St. Peter as the first pope.

    The trip is also a way for Francis to express concern for violence
    in the region unleashed by the self-proclaimed ISIS caliphate, and
    to expand his outreach to the Islamic world.

    But what's not yet clear is how much of a push Francis will make on
    another front: An increasingly virulent anti-Christian climate in
    Turkey, which tends to simmer constantly until it boils over into
    lethal violence.

    Turkey is officially secular. But sociologically it's an Islamic
    society, with a population of 76 million that's 97 percent Muslim.

    There are just 150,000 Christians, mostly Greek Orthodox. Only the
    Greek Orthodox and Armenian communities are recognized, so other
    forms of Christianity operate in a gray zone - not quite illegal,
    but not quite fully legitimate either.

    Despite Turkey's reputation for moderation, there's a strong
    ultra-nationalist current, with beachheads in the security services
    and the military, which sees the West and Christianity as eternal
    foes. Christians report various forms of harassment, including
    difficulties in obtaining permits to build or repair churches,
    surveillance, unfair judicial treatment, and discrimination in housing
    and employment.

    In 2009, the normally diplomatic Bartholomew told "60 Minutes" that
    he feels "crucified" by a state that wants to see his Church die out.

    continues below ï~A¸ Advertisement

    This undercurrent of disdain is reflected, among other things, in
    conspiracy theories about Christianity that have become staples of
    the Turkish best-seller lists.

    In 2001, journalist Ergun Poyraz published Six Months among the
    Missionaries. He wrote, "A big missionary army has invaded our
    country," and added an ominous warning: "This land has been Turkish
    for thousands of years. Its price was paid with blood. Those dreaming
    of getting back these lands should foresee paying the same price."

    Ilker Cinar, who claimed to be a convert to Christianity who led a
    Protestant mission for ten years before returning to Islam, published
    a highly popular book in 2005 called I was a Missionary, the Code is
    Decoded. He warned that Christians are scheming to "reconquer" Turkey,
    working in league with the Kurds and their militant faction PKK.

    It's also become common to see public assaults on symbols of Christian
    identity. In December 2013, the Anatolian Youth Association, a youth
    branch of the pro-Islamic Felicity Party, launched a campaign against
    any public celebration of Christmas, including burning Santa Claus
    dolls and threatening retaliation against anyone who put up Christmas
    decorations.

    Reflecting that climate, physical attacks on Christians have become
    increasingly common and bold.

    In January 2006, a Protestant church leader named Kamil Kiroglu, a
    Muslim convert to Christianity, was beaten unconscious by five young
    men. In February 2006, a well-known Italian Catholic missionary, Rev.

    Andrea Santoro, was gunned down by a 16-year-old Muslim in the small
    city of Trabzon.

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    In January 2007, a prominent Turkish journalist of Armenian descent
    named Hrant Dink, a Protestant, was assassinated in Istanbul. In
    April 2007 in Malatya, three Protestant Christian missionaries,
    two Turks and one German, were tortured, stabbed and strangled.

    In June 2010, Bishop Luigi Padovese, the Catholic Apostolic Vicar
    for Anatolia and president of the Catholic bishops' conference,
    was assassinated by his driver. Witnesses reported that the killer
    shouted afterwards, "Allahu Akbar, I have killed the greatest Satan!"

    As recently as earlier this year, there were accusations that elements
    in the Turkish military were aiding Muslim extremist groups that
    carried out lethal assaults on Armenian Christians in northwest Syria
    near the Turkish border.

    To date, there has been little momentum to explore the ways in which
    this violence has been fueled by an environment in which anti-Christian
    prejudice is not only acceptable, but almost fashionable.

    In December 2011, a columnist for the Turkish daily Zaman complained
    that "the Vatican is not doing anything" to ensure the investigation
    of Padovese's death "is handled in a serious manner." If the Vatican
    would take a more aggressive stance, he wrote, it would enhance "the
    well-being of all non-Muslims" and offer "a huge contribution to the
    promotion of human rights and freedom of religion in Turkey."

    Pope Francis has amassed tremendous political capital in the Islamic
    world, in part because of his friendships with Muslims in Argentina,
    and in part because of his May outing to the Holy Land where he
    made an impromptu stop at the barrier separating Jerusalem from the
    West Bank, a move that was perceived as a gesture of solidarity with
    Palestinian suffering.

    The question is whether he'll spend some of that earned capital
    while in Turkey to press President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to combat
    this anti-Christian hostility.

    If he does, we may not know right away. Whenever a pope travels to
    a country whose ruler has a dubious human rights record, a smiling
    photo-op is often the price to be paid in order to lay down a challenge
    behind the scenes. That was the deal John Paul II made, for instance,
    when he visited Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines, Augusto Pinochet
    in Chile, Fidel Castro in Cuba, and so on.

    Certainly the Christians Francis is coming to visit are hoping he'll do
    something similar during his Nov. 28 meeting with Erdogan at Ankara's
    new presidential palace, a sprawling $350 million structure denounced
    by critics as both an environmental blight and a symbol of Erdogan's
    autocratic tendencies.

    The drama of Francis' Turkey trip is partially contained in how clearly
    Erdogan gets the message: "When it comes to the fate of Christians
    and other minorities, we are watching ... and we'll tell the world
    what we see."

    http://www.cruxnow.com/church/2014/10/30/will-pope-francis-challenge-turkey-on-anti-christian-bias/

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