Put up or shut up time in Ankara. From AKI, with thanks to the Constantinopolitan Irredentist:
Vatican City, 19 Jan. (AKI) – Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday called on Turkey to give the Catholic Church legal status as a recognised religious institution. The pope made the remark during a meeting with Turkey’s new ambassador to the Holy See, Moammer Dogan Akdur. “In enjoying the freedom of religion which the Turkish constitution grants to all believers, the Catholic Church hopes it can benefit from a recognised judicial statute,” Benedict said.
Benedict told Akdur that he hoped all religions would strive for peace “beginning by denouncing violence which too often in the past has been motivated on religious grounds.”