” “It’s an invitation to “soften the tone”, the one of father Lorenzo Piretto, vicar delegate of Istanbul, as soon as he heard the news of the aggression of father Martin Kmetec, slovenian, superior of the Friars Conventual of Smyrna, who reside in the parish church of Saint Helen’s. Father Martin was threatened in the afternoon by some young people who screamed at him “We will kill you all”. “The situation is not so tense as it has been described said to Sir father Piretto over the telephone, just before he entered the Cathedral of Istanbul, where the Catholic community is celebrating High Mass in memory of father Andrea Santoro -. There are groups of fanatics, but thanks God they are a minority. We shouldn’t lump everyone together”. Father Piretto recalls the many “messages of solidarity that we received from our Muslim brothers, all very sorry about the death of father Santoro. Even the Minister of Religious Affairs sent us a very heart-felt telegram that we are going to read tonight at Mass. Unfortunately, TVs speak so much about it that they have made the facts grow out of proportions”. Father Piretto, who in the morning attended the meeting of the Turkish bishops, welcomed the news of Benedict XVI’s visit to Turkey at the end of November. “It means father Andrea’s sacrifice has changed the situation, and the Turkish authorities have accepted the Pope’s visit he stated. I am sure his sacrifice will bear very good fruit, as it always happens in the history of the Church. We will get ready for this visit by praying”.” “
