Pope meets bishops of Turkey

(February 2, 2009) Pope Benedict XVI on Monday called on Christians in Turkey to joins hands with their fellow Muslims and work for the cause of man, peace and justice. His call came in his address to the bishops of Turkey, who are on their 5-yearly so-called ‘ad limina’ visit to Rome to report on the state of their dioceses. Turkey’s nearly 73 million population is 99% Muslim, with Christians forming a mere 0.6%. In all, Catholics number some 32 thousand. The Pope said that even though Turkey’s population is overwhelmingly Muslim, its constitution declares it a secular state. For this it is important that Catholics join hands with the majority Muslim population to work for the good of man, for life and also for peace and justice. The separation between the state and religion, the Pope said, is a value that must be protected. However, it is the duty of the state to guarantee freedom of worship and religious freedom to all its citizens and religious communities, rejecting every violence against believers of any religion. The Catholic Church in Turkey has a Latin-rite archdiocese and two apostolic vicariates, headed by two Italians and a French. There are also three other dioceses of the eastern rites, namely, the Armenian Catholic, Chaldean Catholic and Syrian Catholic.