The two circles

There are only three weeks to go before Benedict XVI’s apostolic journey to Turkey. It’s a visit dogged by controversy due to the distorted interpretation of the Pope’s lecture at Regensburg on 12 September. The controversy has even risked the cancellation of this journey, which has now assumed a political connotation, following the publication of the Report of the European commission on Turkey’s progress with a view to her future membership of the European Union. The Report does not suspend the negotiations, but warns Turkey to respect the undertakings she has signed up to in the field of internal reforms, foreign policy (the Cypriot question), respect for and safeguard of freedom of expression, religious freedom and the rights of minorities. “Turkey is ready to fulfil the criteria requested by the EU on democratic reforms”, commented Abdullah Gul on the Report. He then added: “We are happy to welcome the Pope and glad he is visiting a Muslim country. This visit will be a success”. The pastoral nature of the papal journey to Turkey is also underlined by the Apostolic Nuncio to Turkey, Monsignor ANTONIO LUCIBELLO in an interview with SirEurope. Will the Pope’s visit help Turkey give fresh impulse to the process of rapprochement with the European Union?“As far as Benedict XVI’s apostolic journey is concerned, I would make a point of separating its political from its pastoral aspects. It is the latter that interest us most. We don’t want to enter into the discussion of issues that do not fall within our immediate competence, as Benedict XVI himself has repeated on various occasions, also at the last national Congress of the Italian Church in Verona”.What will be the Pope’s main aim in Turkey? “The Pope is coming to express his solicitude for the two religious realities in Turkey, the Islamic majority and the Christian minority. Ecumenical dialogue with the Orthodox Church, in its various expressions, and inter-religious dialogue with the representatives and faithful of Islam represent two great challenges and objectives that the Church has in the world and in Turkey in particular. In his encyclical “Ecclesiam suam” Paul VI speaks of Christ at the centre and then many concentric circles. The first circle is that of dialogue with our Christian faithful, the second is that of dialogue with the faithful of other religions, Muslims in primis . Here in Turkey the small Christian and Catholic community is engaged in taking the dialogue forward”. In this sense what results might this journey achieve?“For the future everything is at stake and in the hands of human freedom. We do what we feel we have to do. The Pope will demonstrate this clearly by going, in person, to meet the Grand Muftì Alì Bardokoglu, President of Religious Affairs in Turkey, the highest Islamic authority of the Turkish State [Bardokoglu had demanded an apology from the Pope after Regensburg]. The government authorities themselves have much appreciated this decision of Benedict XVI to go to the Grand Grand Muftì rather than receive him at the seat of the papal representation. We are taking steps in the right direction. The Church is called to build bridges, and if these are to resist friction and time much depends on the freedom of man”. The Pope’s visit will represent a kind of showcase for Turkey. What will this Islamic country put in the window?“Just these two great religious realities, Christianity and Islam, and their attempts to dialogue with each other. Today, after the fall of Communism, all efforts are directed at dialogue with our Christian and Moslem brothers, because it is a question not just of tolerance but also of mutual acceptance and understanding. We are conscious that our vocation is that of co-existing and pursuing what it is that unites and not what divides”.As did Father Andrea Santoro and the many other missionaries who are now striving to close the two circles you mentioned before…“Yes indeed. All the clergy, religious and laity engaged in pastoral care in Turkey are following in the spirit and in the footsteps of Father Andrea Santoro”.