Ratzinger Says Turkey Has No Place In Eu

[cappie]

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger believes that Turkey does not belong in the European Union. In an interview with the French journal, Le Figaro, Cardinal Ratzinger said that Turkey, with 70 million predominately Muslim people, was "in permanent contrast to Europe" and should be excluded from the EU.

Analysts from the International Herald Tribune say that having failed in his bid to have Europe's Christian roots enshrined in the European Union's Constitution, the Cardinal is now seeking to influence the composition of the European Union to keep it as 'Christian' as possible.

"Like meddlesome clerics the world over, Ratzinger is inflaming an important political debate," the Tribune says. "He is elevating religious differences over political process and personal beliefs over values that are universal, not a Judaeo-Christian monopoly. But unlike other issues on which the Cardinal has recently taken provocative stands - whether pro-choice Catholic politicians should receive communion, and women's role in society - enlargement of the European Union is outside the church's purview. In the cardinal's view, Europe is Christian, so Turkey doesn't belong.

"In considering the possible implications of Turkey's membership in the Union, it would be refreshing if the Cardinal had chosen to emphasize the positive potential in combining the best Christian tradition of charity and the best Muslim tradition of social justice," the paper says.

Cardinal Ratzinger put a different view: "In the course of history, Turkey has always represented a different continent, in permanent contrast to Europe," Ratzinger told Le Figaro, noting that the history of Ottoman Empire, which once invaded Europe as far as Vienna. "Making the two continents identical would be a mistake," he said. "It would mean a loss of richness, the disappearance of the cultural to the benefit of economics." The German born cardinal said Turkey "could try to set up a cultural continent with neighboring Arab countries and become the leading figure of a culture with its own identity."

However the Catholic Bishops of Turkey were critical of Cardinal Ratzinger's remarks. The Turkish Catholic Bishops Assembly spokesman, George Marovitch, said last week: "I do not approve of Cardinal Ratzinger's remarks about Turkey. What Ratzinger did was only state his views on a political matter. Catholics are not bound to these views about Turkey's EU membership."

Marovitch, speaking in Rome, emphasized that the words of Ratzinger could be binding only if they were related to religious issues in Christianity. "His political views are binding for himself only. Therefore, the fact that he does not entertain the idea of Turkey's EU membership does not mean that all Catholics share his opinion."

Marovitch, contrary to Ratzinger's negative approach to Turkey, wanted to remind all that Pope John the 23rd, who passed away in 1963, was very fond of Turkey. "Pope John the 23rd worked in Turkey for 10 years before being elected. He knew the Turks very well. In his diary, he wrote 'I love Turks'. Everyone knows this. He, as opposed to Ratzinger, was a person who believed that Turkey should assume a place among modern countries."

[Laudate_Dominum]

interesting. when I read the title of this thread I honestly thought it had something to do with turkey meat. I was quite interested in hearing what Ratzinger had against turkeys. LOL

[Sojourner]

I thought that too, actually ...

[cappie]

don't you guys do geography at school????????

[Sojourner]

Well, yeah ... It's just that the country "Turkey" wasn't the first thing that popped into my mind when I saw the title.

[cappie]

Hungry were you if you pardon the pun!!!!!!!!

[Laudate_Dominum]

yes, my thoughts still linger on turkey dinner.

[Sojourner]

Mmmm turkey

[Norseman82]

I think we're all Poles apart on this one. Iran away from a similar pun war earlier.

[Sojourner]

groan ...

[MichaelFilo]

I think we all were Russian to conclusions here. Although, I must admit, turkey, the meat, is what first came to mind. India pun war comment, can you eSpain what you mean?

God bless,

Mikey

[Ash Wednesday]

Norway, Jose!!!

[ironmonk]

I haven't had time to research the following, but I got it in an email this afternoon, and then seeing this post, I thought I should go ahead and post it. If I find anything that is in error, I will let everyone know.


[quote]
[url="http://www.hebookservice.com/bookpage.asp?prod_cd=C6077"]http://www.hebookservice.com/bookpage.asp?prod_cd=C6077[/url]
Sword of the Prophet reveals the details and documentation for hundreds of "politically incorrect" facts about Islam -- such as:

• The Koran sanctions pillage, looting, ransom, and the rape of captive women as an incentive to join in jihad or "holy war"

• The Koran allows a man to have up to four wives -- at any one time. He can divorce a wife by simply saying so 3 times

• Mohammad had as many as 25 wives. One was six when they married; he was 54. He consummated the marriage when she was 9

• At least 27 people were murdered on Mohammed's orders

• Mohammed allowed temporary marriage "for three nights" or more, so that soldiers in the field could "marry" prostitutes

• The Koran assures the Muslim the right to own slaves by purchasing them or as a bounty of war. Mohammad had dozens

• In Islam, the definition of what is "right" or "just" is not fixed, but changeable by divine decree -- enabling the most heinous sins and crimes to be declared "the will of Allah"

• The joys and glories of the Islamic "paradise" are tangible and sensual and include sex with virgins -- and young boys

• The Crusades were a belated military response to three centuries of Muslim aggression against Christian lands and peoples

• Islam divides the world into the House of Islam (where Islam rules) and the House of War (where it doesn't). The two are permanently at war; there may be temporary truces, but peace will come only upon the completion of global conquest

• When Muslims are a minority community, the Koran permits them to adopt a peaceful attitude to deceive their neighbors, until they feel strong enough to dispense with the pretense

• The massacres perpetrated by Muslims in India are unparalleled in history, bigger in sheer numbers than the Holocaust

• Islam's "golden age" was parasitic on the Christian cultures and peoples it conquered, and ended when it "killed the host"

• In 1993, Saudi Arabia's supreme religious authority declared that the world is flat, and that anyone who disagrees is an infidel to be punished

[/quote]


God Bless, Love in Christ & Mary,
ironmonk

[RandomProddy]

I don't think Britain belongs in the EU never mind Turkey....

[M.SIGGA]

Does Ratzinger know the EU prob doesn't think the Vatican should belong either - Italy's poor economy and wacko political system is the biggest reason the Euro can't climb very high.