Turkey’s government has agreed to extend indefinitely permission for Christian worship at an historic church in Tarsus, the birthplace of St Paul, says the head of the country’s Roman Catholic bishops’ conference.
“I’m confident the church in Tarsus could soon change from being a museum to a centre of spiritual pilgrimage,” said Bishop Luigi Padovese, speaking after the close of worldwide commemorations to mark the 2000th anniversary of the birth of St Paul.
Here is the link to Christopher Landau’s report and broadcasts on the BBC website. In October 2008 the Turkish authorities turned down a request from the Roman Catholic community in and around Tarsus to use St Paul’s Church, currently a museum. But the question was reopened following the intervention of the Archbishop of Cologne, Mgr Joachim Meisner, who has been at the forefront of promoting friendship in Germany between Christians and Muslims, most of whom originate from Turkey, and warmly supported the plan to build a fine new mosque in his own city. He has contrasted the rights and freedoms Turks and Muslims enjoy in Germany with the restrictions and discrimination Christians face in Turkey – especially the deprivation of churches. It appears the leaders of Cologne’s Turkish community have communicated this to the authorities in Turkey, citing the generosity and support of the city’s Catholic community towards them.