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Source: National Catholic Register

The centurion’s climatic declaration that Jesus is the Son of God, the first redemptive fruit, conspicuously asserted and revealed The Mystery of Jesus.

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Turkey’s status as difficult to Christians has long roots, despite the country being an original place where Christianity flourished. Terrorists killed one person shooting him in the head during consecration on a Sunday Mass in Istanbul, Turkey, and the Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack. It is dangerous to be a Christian in Turkey, a 99%-Muslim country.

Turkish Christians suffer under the weight of government bureaucracy and societal pressures. Turkish society has recently seen a marked increase in vandalism and societal violence against religious minorities.

The government unduly interferes in the internal affairs of religious communities. They have expressed concerns that governmental rhetoric and policies contribute to a hostile environment encouraging societal violence.

Turkey houses between 12,000 and 16,000 Jews, several thousand people of various other faiths, and several hundred thousand Christians. About 25,000 are Roman Catholics, many of them migrants from Africa and the Philippines.

Turkey’s constitution defines a secular state, providing for freedom of conscience, religious belief, conviction, expression and worship and prohibiting discrimination on religious grounds, yet a strong presence of religious nationalism and Islamic values pressure other believers. Christians constitute a negative Western influence, and Jesus’ disciples can face pressure from their families and communities to recant their faith. Religious groups of various creeds face restrictions on their rights to own and maintain property, to train clergy, and to offer religious education.

Under President Erdoğan, Turkish society has increased Islam favoritism detrimental of other religious communities. In 2020, Erdoğan reconverted the cathedral of Hagia Sophia and another historic Christian church in Istanbul into mosques. Reports indicate the government has expelled 60 or more foreign Christian missionaries and their families from the country since 2020.

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