For the very first time, the Turkish Government has recognised Christian and Jewish holidays. An official notice sent to the Turkish secondary schools and universities contains a list of holidays related to the Jewish and Christian festivities and recommends the institutions to give holidays to those students who wish to take them. "It is not a veritable step forward, but a ‘little step’, because that decision only concerns the recognised minorities, Armenians, Orthodox and Jews, and not the Catholic", explains the president of the Turkish Bishops Conference (Cet), mgr. Luigi Padovese, to SIR. "This means that our Catholic students will have to go to school as usual. However, I hope this rule will be applied to Catholics as well. The problem points out the bishop is not a matter of minority or not, it is about recognising those who have a different religious expression. If, in one’s ID card, one is called a Catholic Christian, I think one would be automatically entitled to it. Which has nothing to do with the recognition of one’s minority". As to the problem of the place of worship for the devotees who come to Tarsus for the Pauline Year, mgr. Padovese only said that "the Ministry of Culture and Tourism has opened up a little bit, in the attempt to meet our needs".” “
