| from the Turkish Daily News |
 Turkey extended condolences to the Catholic world for an Italian priest slain by a teenage assailant while praying in his church in the Black Sea province of Trabzon, as the cleric was laid to rest in a ceremony in Rome. “There can be no religious, philosophical or humane explanation for the murder of a man of faith in a house of worship,” Interior Minister Abdülkadir Aksu told a press conference in Trabzon, where Father Andrea Santoro was killed by a 16-year-old high school student. “The bullets fired at Santoro were not only aimed at him but also at the atmosphere of stability Turkey enjoys.”
| You might say they were fired at Turkey from the Ottoman Empire. |
In Rome, Italy's most senior cardinal said at the funeral that Santoro has all the makings of a Christian martyr and should be put on the road to sainthood.
| Christian martyrs don't explode... |
“Right from now, inside me, I am convinced that Don Andrea's sacrifice has all the elements needed to make him a Christian martyr,” Cardinal Camillo Ruini said to prolonged applause from hundreds of mourners gathered for the priest's funeral Mass.
| Killed for his religion, that's kind of the definition of a Christian martyr. |
The murder of the priest shocked Turkey, which sees itself as a bridge between civilizations. “I think this was an isolated incident,” Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül said in an interview with Italy's La Repubblica daily. He said the government was combating extremists who were trying to sabotage Turkey's EU bid.
| I think the extremists are more important than Turkey's EU bid, and I don't see it as an isolated incident. I see it as something that's a constant danger to Turkey. |
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