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."
The pope also referred to his visit to Turkey last November which went off without negative incidents despite fears for his safety because of tensions caused by a speech he made just months before in which he appeared to crtiticise Islam. "During the course of my memorable trip to Turkey, I manifested on several occasions the great respect that the Catholic Church has for Islam and for the Muslim faithful," Benedict said.
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