Another Catholic priest in Turkey has been attacked. Thankfully this priest has survived. A mob of Islamic “youth” attacked him with cries of “We will kill you all.”
Speaking with evident emotion, Msgr Luigi Padovese, Apostolic Vicar of Anatolia, says “The boys grabbed him by the throat shouting “we will kill you all””. According to the bishop this latest aggression is “fruit of rampant fanaticism”. The attack took place within the monastic compound. The priest, who hails from Slovenia, is Martin Kmetec.
Recall that Turkey has been petitioning for entry into the European Union. Also recall that then-Cardinal Ratzinger publicly expressed his doubts as to the wisdom of allowing a majority Muslim country with a radically different culture into the EU.
You’ll also recall the emotion with which the priest killed in Turkey this week was remembered at Pope Benedict’s audience yesterday.
That puts today’s announcement that Benedict will travel to Turkey in November in a whole new light. The ostensible reason for his trip is to meet with the Patriarch of Constantinople for the feast of St. Andrew, in a bid to push forward ecumenical relations and reconciliation. However, this trip will undoubtedly also garner a lot of attention to how the Church encounters Islam, especially the violent extremism that seems to make up so much of the practice of that religion.
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