Cardinal faces criticism on Turkey-EU issue
-22/09/06
The head of the Roman Catholic C
Cardinal faces criticism on Turkey-EU issue
-22/09/06
The head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales has questioned whether Turkey should be able to join the European Union at the moment ñ and is being challenged over his attitude by both Christians and Muslims.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4ís Today programme earlier this week, Cardinal Cormac Murphy OíConnor, the Archbishop of Westminster, echoed comments previously made by Pope Benedict XVI in saying that the predominantly Muslim state was not culturally part of Europe. The Pope seems to have softened his line subsequently.
Lord Carey of Clifton (former Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey) has also said ìthe jury is outî on the admission of Turkey into the EU.
However the UK Christian think-tank Ekklesia said today that the notion of seeking to exclude Turkey because it is ìculturally differentî and Europe is ìpredominantly Christianî such an approach is ìprofoundly mistakenî.
The church should seek ìdifficult exchange not convenient isolationî with people of other convictions, it argues. It should also stop treating Christianity and Western culture as if they were the same thing, and should commend the Gospel through the peaceful witness of ìcommunities of exampleî, not by attempts to impose Christian labels or rules on plural societies.
Turkeyís accession is backed by those who say that the peaceful co-existence within the EU of a democratic Muslim-majority nation would be a significant step forward for global relations. But questions of human rights and freedom of expression are still being explored.
British PM Tony Blair has consistently argued for Turkish membership of the EU on the grounds that exclusion would be damaging.
Muslim bodies are divided in their opinion, but a number have expressed ìdisappointmentî at the Cardinalís words.
The controversial group Hizb ut-Tahrir (Party of Liberation) in Britain, which argues non-violently for a caliphate among Muslim nations, and which had a threatened UK ban withdrawn, has written a lengthy letter to the Catholic leader, analyzing the Popeís recent German speech and his response to it.
They call the speech ìone-sidedî in citing Islam in relation to religious violence, while ignoring the history of aggression in the name of Catholic Christianity, which they rehearse in detail.
The Cardinal has sought to play down the controversy over Benedict XVIís lecture, in which he quoted the words of a Byzantine emperor who described Islam as “evil and inhuman”. The Pope has since distanced himself from these words and apologized for their impact.
On the question of Turkeyís accession to the EU, head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales told Today: “There may be another view that the mixture of cultures is not a good idea. I think the question is for Europe: will the admission of Turkey to the European Union be something that benefits a proper dialogue or integration of a very large, predominantly Islamic country in a continent that, fundamentally, is Christian?î
He continued: ìI speak also, in a sense, for the people of this country, who 70 per cent say they are Christian, whether they practice or not, because they realize although we are a secularist [sic] country, at the same time, I believe, there is a deep yearning for God.î
Commented Ekklesiaís co-director Simon Barrow: ìTrying to conjure up tenuous Christian majorities is not a game the churches should be playing. The clear reality of modern Europe is that it is predominantly secular, and that its religious past is diverse and contested. Rather than trying to police the boundaries of the EU, Christian leaders should seek to practice hospitality ñ as the Cardinal has in relation to migrant workers.î
At the beginning of his papacy, Benedict XVI set out to uphold Europeís ìChristian cultureî and to argue for a reference to God and Christianity in the nascent EU constitution. As Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, he opposed Turkish membership of the EU, saying it would ìrun counter to historyî in the region.
Lord Carey declared this week: ìSurely a European community has to be more than economic? It has to have common values and so on. I think the jury is still out on Turkey at the moment. I look at its record on freedom of speech, what it is doing to writers in Turkey who want to speak out, and some of them are in jail. I think we are on a journey together. I donít write them out of the action but there are questions to be pushed.î
[Also on Ekklesia: Christendom remains the Pope’s real fallibility Simon Barrow says imperial assumptions confound Christian-Muslim conversation; Christianity and Islam must move beyond triumphalism Giles Fraser warns against religious totalism in the Pope’s latest words; Mennonite seeks dialogue on Iranian presidentís letter to George Bush 22/09/06; Christians and Muslims meet for religious dialogue in Iran 21/09/06; Muslims urged to repair Palestinian churches attacked after Pope’s speech 21/09/06; Should God get a name-check? Simon Barrow on the EU and Christianity]
Cardinal faces criticism on Turkey-EU issue
-22/09/06
The head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales has questioned whether Turkey should be able to join the European Union at the moment ñ and is being challenged over his attitude by both Christians and Muslims.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4ís Today programme earlier this week, Cardinal Cormac Murphy OíConnor, the Archbishop of Westminster, echoed comments previously made by Pope Benedict XVI in saying that the predominantly Muslim state was not culturally part of Europe. The Pope seems to have softened his line subsequently.
Lord Carey of Clifton (former Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey) has also said ìthe jury is outî on the admission of Turkey into the EU.
However the UK Christian think-tank Ekklesia said today that the notion of seeking to exclude Turkey because it is ìculturally differentî and Europe is ìpredominantly Christianî such an approach is ìprofoundly mistakenî.
The church should seek ìdifficult exchange not convenient isolationî with people of other convictions, it argues. It should also stop treating Christianity and Western culture as if they were the same thing, and should commend the Gospel through the peaceful witness of ìcommunities of exampleî, not by attempts to impose Christian labels or rules on plural societies.
Turkeyís accession is backed by those who say that the peaceful co-existence within the EU of a democratic Muslim-majority nation would be a significant step forward for global relations. But questions of human rights and freedom of expression are still being explored.
British PM Tony Blair has consistently argued for Turkish membership of the EU on the grounds that exclusion would be damaging.
Muslim bodies are divided in their opinion, but a number have expressed ìdisappointmentî at the Cardinalís words.
The controversial group Hizb ut-Tahrir (Party of Liberation) in Britain, which argues non-violently for a caliphate among Muslim nations, and which had a threatened UK ban withdrawn, has written a lengthy letter to the Catholic leader, analyzing the Popeís recent German speech and his response to it.
They call the speech ìone-sidedî in citing Islam in relation to religious violence, while ignoring the history of aggression in the name of Catholic Christianity, which they rehearse in detail.
The Cardinal has sought to play down the controversy over Benedict XVIís lecture, in which he quoted the words of a Byzantine emperor who described Islam as “evil and inhuman”. The Pope has since distanced himself from these words and apologized for their impact.
On the question of Turkeyís accession to the EU, head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales told Today: “There may be another view that the mixture of cultures is not a good idea. I think the question is for Europe: will the admission of Turkey to the European Union be something that benefits a proper dialogue or integration of a very large, predominantly Islamic country in a continent that, fundamentally, is Christian?î
He continued: ìI speak also, in a sense, for the people of this country, who 70 per cent say they are Christian, whether they practice or not, because they realize although we are a secularist [sic] country, at the same time, I believe, there is a deep yearning for God.î
Commented Ekklesiaís co-director Simon Barrow: ìTrying to conjure up tenuous Christian majorities is not a game the churches should be playing. The clear reality of modern Europe is that it is predominantly secular, and that its religious past is diverse and contested. Rather than trying to police the boundaries of the EU, Christian leaders should seek to practice hospitality ñ as the Cardinal has in relation to migrant workers.î
At the beginning of his papacy, Benedict XVI set out to uphold Europeís ìChristian cultureî and to argue for a reference to God and Christianity in the nascent EU constitution. As Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, he opposed Turkish membership of the EU, saying it would ìrun counter to historyî in the region.
Lord Carey declared this week: ìSurely a European community has to be more than economic? It has to have common values and so on. I think the jury is still out on Turkey at the moment. I look at its record on freedom of speech, what it is doing to writers in Turkey who want to speak out, and some of them are in jail. I think we are on a journey together. I donít write them out of the action but there are questions to be pushed.î
[Also on Ekklesia: Christendom remains the Pope’s real fallibility Simon Barrow says imperial assumptions confound Christian-Muslim conversation; Christianity and Islam must move beyond triumphalism Giles Fraser warns against religious totalism in the Pope’s latest words; Mennonite seeks dialogue on Iranian presidentís letter to George Bush 22/09/06; Christians and Muslims meet for religious dialogue in Iran 21/09/06; Muslims urged to repair Palestinian churches attacked after Pope’s speech 21/09/06; Should God get a name-check? Simon Barrow on the EU and Christianity]