“Against nationalistic ambitions, Turkey must continue its journey towards a democratic process that will admit of pluralism and will acknowledge minorities. That’s the only way to show Europe that it is ready to join the Union". This was repeated, in an interview with SIR, by mgr. Luigi Padovese, vicar apostolic for Anatolia. "Turkey is a bridge between the Islamic world and the Western world he explains and the events of these last few months have attracted an interest that was unheard of before: from the murder of father Andrea Santoro to the Pope’s journey, from the request to join Europe to the murder of the Armenian journalist Hrant Dink”. “The Pope’s journey he highlights positively changed the Turkish people’s way of looking at the Church. The smear campaign against Benedict XVI and the Church, which began in particular after Ratisbon’s speech, was heavy and deeply affected public opinion. Disparaging attacks have not been heard for a long time, while beforehand they happened every day”. As to Turkey’s joining the EU, "the position of Catholic and non-Catholic Bishops is a conditional yes. The European countries have wide economic interests but we think the cultural connection must be borne in mind: the issue of laicism and the acknowledgement of ethnical minorities cannot be pushed in the background”.
