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30-May-2007 -- Catholic World News Brief
Vatican Will Support Turkey for E.U. Membership, Prelate Says

Rome, May. 30, 2007 (CWNews.com) - The Vatican's Secretary of State has signaled that the Holy See will support Turkey's bid for membership in the European Union.

Speaking to the Italian daily La Stampa, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone said that "Turkey has come a long way" toward democracy and respect for human rights. The European community can accept the membership of an overwhelming Islamic society, he said, as long as "fundamental rules of cohabitation" are firmly in place.

Cardinal Bertone made his comments as the world's leading Orthodox prelate, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople, pressed the Turkish government to recognize the autonomy of the Orthodox Church.

Patriarch Bartholomew told a group of visiting German lawmakers that he had asked the Turkish government to overturn an existing rule that bars a non-Turk from being elected Patriarch of Constantinople. The Orthodox prelate suggested that Turkey adopt the policies of Egypt and Syria, which grant automatic citizenship to the patriarchs of Alexandria and Antioch. The Turkish government has not yet replied to his request, Bartholomew said.

Patriarch Bartholomew has been demanding greater respect for religious freedom in Turkey, and critics of the Turkish bid for EU membership have pointed to the Patriarch's complaints that Christians do not receive equal treatment under Turkish law.

In his conversation with La Stampa, Cardinal Bertone acknowledged that the Turkish government resists recognition of Christianity and Judaism. Turkey, he pointed out, is an officially secular country, in which "secularism is exalted not as mere secularity but as a system of belief." This ideology of militant secularism, he added, would clash with the Christian heritage that dominates European culture. Nonetheless, the cardinal said that honest dialogue could allow for Turkish participation in the European community.

Prior to his election as Pope Benedict XVI, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger expressed serious concerns about the prospect that an Islamic nation would join the European Union. But during his trip to Turkey last November the Pontiff eased his stance, and Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan told reporters that during a private meeting, the Pontiff had said that he would support Turkey's application for EU membership.

Vatican officials did not confirm that report, but said that the Holy See would "look favorably" on Turkey's membership drive as long as the Ankara government respected the principles of religious freedom and equal justice under law.

www.ewtn.com [ewtn.com]

Dear Alice,

I only hope it will not be full membership, giving the opportunity for the Turks to freely immigrate to other countries in the EU. Their population will overwhelm the European countries, and in addition, who knows how many Afgans and other Muslims will enter Turkey and then go into Europe.

Even today with the tight security, people are being smuggled from Turkey onto the Greek islands in great numbers. We only know the amount caught, but who knows how many aren't.

I recall one story about a Kurd that paid a great deal of money to go to England. His suffering in the container was intense, and his wife died under the hardship. When coming out he shot the Turk that received him. When mentioning this to someone, he told me that it was something the English were well aware of. It happened quite often to the Kurds. Can you imagine? And they paid for that trip.

God Bless,

Zenovia

I have a Turkish acquaintance that is against Turkey's entry into the EU because she there are so many 3rd century-like barely educated villagers who practice primitive customs that will not go over well in modern Western society. She says the gap between the villagers and urban Turks is pretty wide,so she can't see how it would be possible for them to understand anyone else.

Perhaps the Vatican is thinking about Turkish Christians, but other considerations must be taken into account also, not just th religious ones.

Indigo

Dear Indigo,

Yes, there is indeed a curiously wide chasm between urban and village Turks that would nit fit in well with the EU. I doubt very much that Turkey will make it in any time soon, and I doubt whether it really wants to any longer...

I believe that the Vatican was trying to give support to the Ecumenical Patriarch by suddenly deciding to support Turkey's bid for the EU. The Ecumenical Patriarch's only hope for the survival of what remains of Byzantine Christianity and the ancient and historic See of Constantinople, is for Turkey to become a member of the EU.

If it were not for that, I doubt very much that either the Ecumencial Patriarch or the Vatican would be supporting the initiative of this secular Muslim country into historically Christian Europe.

Alice

Not only is this questionable on religious grounds, it is also strange politically - because Vatican City State is not a member of the European Union, so I'm by no means sure of precisely how it can "support" anyone's application for membership!

[N.B. Does anyone know if the Vatican is able to mint euros, and, if not, what sort of currency the Vatican mints these days? Under the Lateran Accords, the Vatican has the right to mint currency and does so.]

Fr. Serge

Fr. Serge,

"Currency: Since 2002, the Vatican Euro. Previously, 1 Vatican lira (VLit) = 100 centesimi. Vatican depends on Italy for practical production of banknotes, stamps and other valuable titles. Due to its rarity, Vatican euro coins are highly sought by collectors."

Vatican coins have the head of the reigning Supreme Pontiff on them.

Alexis

Dear Alex,

Thank you. So there is a Vatican Euro. Interesting, since the Vatican is not a member of the EU.


One reason, by the way, is that the Vatican has no intention of losing its duty-free status. This drives the Italian government bonkers, but the Lateran Accords guarantee it. Before everyone rushes to Rome, though, remember that only certain office-holders may actually take advantage of the Vatican's duty-free status. The Italian customs people keep eagle eyes open for cars leaving the Vatican which are not registered to such office-holders.

The only shop in the Vatican which ordinary mortals (you and I, for instance) may patronize is the bookstore, located in Saint Peter's Square but within Vatican territory. They carry some worth-while materials at decent prices.

Fr. Serge

By the Holy See and Turkey being both members of the United Nations and by having subsisting bilateral relations.

The Holy See (aka The Vatican City-State) cannot become a member of the EU herself by default because the latter is an aggrupation of European countries based on economic considerations. The Holy See's only "products" are clergy and religious, whose main activity is the salvation of souls!

One of the requirements for accession to the EU is the guarantee of religious freedom (as a component of the human rights provision) by the applicant country and, perhaps, the only credible gauge for such compliance are the official observations of the Holy See, through her Nuncio in Ankara. It could be deduced then that the apparent "about face" of the Vatican to a "probable" support for Turkey's membership is that there is relative freedom, acceptable by the Holy See for the moment, for the 28,000 or so Catholics (Latin and Eastern Rites) in Turkey to practice their faith and, residually, for the EP and the 3,000 or so Orthodox (including Orientals) whom the Holy See's Nuncio does not diplomatically represent at this time.

The Holy See's "new" stance could also be a signal to Turkey to upgrade her treatment of ALL Christians within her borders if she were to receive the Holy See's unconditional support for EU accession.

To my mind, the Holy See's diplomatic ploy is sound, both on religious AND political (moral) grounds.

The Holy See also produced canon laws - sometimes describe as "a product made in Rome for export only".

Vatican City State does not belong to the UN. In any event, relations with the UN are of no particular consequence with the EU.

Vatican City State exchanges ambassadors with Turkey - but that is nothing new, nor does it obligate the EU to anything. If two states, neither of which are members of the EU, exchange ambassadors, how does that concern Brussels?

Vatican City State also exchanges ambassadors with most of the EU countries, but this has no particular bearing on the matter either.


The Vatican, by the way, also has a quasi-consulate in Constantinople (it's the old Nuntiature).

Fr. Serge

Dear Alice,

Turkey has problems, and is a problem. The hope of joining the EU might keep it from doing something rash:

http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_columns_100042_04/06/2007_84082

God Bless,

Zenovia

The Holy See is recognized juridically as a "nation-state" by all members of the United Nations by virtue of international law and comity. She is the only non-secular member of the United Nations, as a Permanent Observer.

There is no such thing as a "quasi-consulate." The Holy See maintains her Nunciature in Ankara because her diplomatic relations are with Turkey. The EP is a "non-entity," i.e., it is not an independent juridical entity apart from the nation of Turkey.

Without the agreement and concurrence of the Turkey, the Holy See may not establish a branch of its Nunciature, or a "consulate," in Constantinple.

Dear Amado,

If you sense Fr. Archimandrite is a bit wary of Turkey, it's because he had to deal with a few "young turks" while he was here in Toronto . . .



Alex

ummmmmmmmmmmmmm........................
I thought we were supposed to be friends?
-'nuff said-

The following link is to sign a petition for Turkey to restore the use of Hagia Sophia to the Patriarch of Constantinople as a church. This would be a precondition for Turkey's coveted membership in the EU. Please join your voice to thousands of others for this.

http://www.hagiasophiablog.com/mainpage.html

Dear Orthodox Pyrohy,

I thought so too! What has changed?

Alex