Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Conner, head of the Catholic Church in England, speaking about Turkish entry to the EU on BBC Radio 4's Today programme:
"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?
"I 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 realise although we are a secularist country, at the same time, I believe, there is a deep yearning for God."
Hopefully a quick final word from me on the Pope affair. I can well understand that Catholics will not condemn the Pope for his view that Islam allows converting by force.
What I'm sad to see though is embracing of it. It will be interesting to see what this means for interfaith relations moving forward. Up till now these gatherings have meant nice cups of tea with biscuits and much muttering about how much we all agree about. Differences have been put to the side. If we are to take the Pope's lead, all bets are off. There is much that Muslims can also say about Christianity, but we have not. Maybe these meetings will be more interesting now.
Don't imagine you would object to Cdl. McCarthy's observation--after all, Muslims do not want Christians to immigrate to Muslim nations or to become involved in governmment and culture...
The Pope's recent comments are an attempt to focus on the precise probllems that must be addressed if any true "dialogue" is to be acheived.
Posted by: aunty belle cracker | 27 September 2006 at 03:38 PM
aunty belle obviously flunked history class. Which Muslim doesnt want Christian immigration? Must be some lead in those crackers.....
Posted by: DrM | 28 September 2006 at 09:28 AM
So now it is time to get down to the nitty-gritty. Stay away from the biscuits and sip the tae slowly...
Posted by: ainelivia | 28 September 2006 at 10:25 AM
DrM, first we'd need to know who Cdl McCarthy is and what his observations were.
Then, yes we'd need to know which Muslims were objecting, and why all Muslims can be tarred by that opinion.
Posted by: Osama | 28 September 2006 at 11:26 AM
I think the Pope and his boys are just bitter over the erosion of Christianity in Europe...something which has nothing to do with Islam but with the weakness of the Catholic Church and the irreligiousity of most Europeans.
Posted by: DrM | 01 October 2006 at 12:59 AM
The presence of Catholic church in Europe is the root cause of paedophilia and VD.
Watch tonight how the Nazi pope issued internal memos to cover-up the paedophiles in his establishment from being brought to trial.
SEX CRIMES AND THE VATICAN
BBC One
Sunday 1 October at 2215 BST
Posted by: Sadat | 01 October 2006 at 11:42 AM
Really, how times change, it used to be American GI's!
Posted by: plurabella | 02 October 2006 at 07:10 AM
Is current European irreligiosity a result of World War II?
Was the Church fatally discredited by its support for right-wing reactionary politicians (who later collaborated with the Nazis), and was atheism strengthened by the Communist dominance of most of the anti-Nazi resistance movements?
Posted by: George Carty | 02 October 2006 at 12:18 PM