Pope asks Turkey to grant church full legal recognition

Published: 2007-01-19

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI asked the government of Turkey to grant full legal recognition to the Catholic Church and to establish a formal dialogue with the nation's Catholic bishops to work out concrete problems. Welcoming Muammer Dogan Akdur as Turkey's new ambassador to the Vatican Jan. 19, the pope said that while Turkish Catholics enjoy religious freedom in the country the church as a whole would like to have a recognized juridical status under Turkish law. "I have no doubt that your government will do everything in its power to advance in this direction," the pope told the new ambassador. The lack of legal status sometimes has made it difficult for the Catholic Church and other Christian communities to own and buy property officially and to build or operate churches, schools and hospitals. Much of the pope's speech to the ambassador and the ambassador's speech to the pope focused on the success of the pope's Nov. 28-Dec. 1 visit to Turkey and on Catholic-Muslim relations.

Copyright (c) 2007 Catholic News Service /U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service .