“While the rest of the world is congratulating the election of the new pope, Benedict XVI, Turkey remains somewhat perplexed and apprehensive”, says Father Domenico Bertogli, parish priest of Antioch, first Petrine seat, in a comment to SIR. Yet at the same time Turkey trusts in Benedict XVI “who always seeks the Truth”. “In the small flock of Christians in the country – he says – there are those who proudly declare their support for this new Pope who is able to speak out loudly and clearly without stooping to compromises; there are those who trust in his determination not to betray the faith and Christian values; and there are those who admire him because he has always sought the Truth in dialogue with other religions”. But what most Turkish Christians dread about him, he adds, “is the fact that he has for some time been dubbed as the cardinal who ‘does not want Turkey in Europe’. According to the Turkish press, it is just this that made him choose Benedict XVI as his new name, after the patron saint of Europe: to remind everyone of the Christian roots of this old continent, and to signal his opposition to the non-Christians who want to enter the European union”. On the contrary, emphasizes Father Bertogli, referring to the words of the journalist Hakan Celik of 8 April, the new Pope is convinced that “Istanbul is an important piece of Europe. Turkey, precisely because it is a State with a different religion, must enter Europe, in order to be a stimulus and source of richness. I love the Turks very much – these are the Pope’s words reported by Celik – so how could I be the enemy of someone I love?”.
