More evidence that the Vatican is awakening to the realities of the contemporary global situation. And of course, Cardinal Kasper is absolutely right. From the EU Observer, with thanks to all who sent this in:
“It is not the right moment for Turkey to join the European Union”, cardinal Walter Kasper, head of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity said after another catholic priest was attacked in Turkey over the weekend.
On Sunday (2 July) 74-year-old French priest Pierre Brunissen was stabbed, suspectedly by a mentally unbalanced man in the Black Sea port of Samsun. The priest left hospital on Monday and Turkish police have detained a 47-year-old suspect.
But Pierre Brunissen was the third catholic priest attacked or harassed in Turkey since February and the latest attack prompted strong reactions from the catholic church.
“Islamic fundamentalism is growing in Istanbul and there is hostility towards foreigners,” cardinal Walter Kasper, head of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, told Italian daily Corriere della Sera.
“It is not the right moment for Turkey to join the European Union. What is still missing [in Turkey], is a secular state capable of assuring real religious freedom, and this is a long process which needs time.”