Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Istanbul (Agenzia Fides) - “Paul is apostle and teacher for all Christ's disciples, but especially for those of us who live here in Turkey; the apostle of the gentiles is a son of this land and it was mainly here that he ministered”: with these motivations the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Turkey presented a Pastoral Letter with the title: 'Paul, witness and Apostle of the Christian Identity' issued in view of the Year of St Paul which Pope Benedict XVI has called from 28 June 2008 to 29 June 2009, to mark the two thousandth anniversary of the Apostle's birth.
The Letter is signed by the president of the Turkish Bishops Conference, Bishop Luigi Padovese, Vicar Apostolic of Anatolia; Archbishop Hovhannes Tcholakian of the Armenian Catholics of Turkey, Auxiliary Bishop Georges Khazoum of Armenian Catholics in Turkey; Archbishop Ruggero Franceschini, Metropolitan Archbishop of Izmir; Bishop Louis Pelâtre, Vicar Apostolic of Istanbul and Ankara; Bishop Yusuf Sağ, Patriarchal Vicar of Syrian Catholics in Turkey; Bishop François Yakan, Patriarchal Vicar of Chaldean Catholics in Turkey.
The Bishops recall that St Paul became a member of the Church in Antioch and it was from this community that he set out on his missionary journeys, travelling the length and breadth of what is today Turkey”. And “where he did not arrive in person, his letter did”, the Bishops underline.
The Letter traces the life and spiritual experience of St Paul from the first years after his conversion to his many journeys underlining the purpose: “To proclaim Jesus. To Him was for a Paul a necessity born of his love for Christ. This shows that a person who encounters Christ cannot fail to announce him in deed and word to others ”.
“Paul belongs to all Christ's disciples but especially to us, sons and daughters of this land where he was born, where he tirelessly preached Christ and bore witnesses to him amidst much suffering”, the Bishops write, urging all the different Christians in Turkey to draw from the “treasure of his letters” elements useful for Christians today living in situations of religious minority.
St Paul reminds the faithful that “we can only encounter God through Christ: He is the door, He is the bridge to the Father”; the “apostle who with his example and words strengthens us in our Christian identity, is also a man of dialogue. Accustomed to meeting people of different religious faiths, Paul realised that the Spirit of Christ is present not only in the Church, it goes before her and works outside of her”.
In view of this the Bishops urge their people to “a intensify dialogue with Muslims, dialogue of life, of sharing, of working together; dialogue of religious experience, sharing spiritual riches; dialogue in theological sharing to promote better reciprocal understanding and greater reciprocal respect”.
The Bishops conclude asking the faithful “to reread the Letters of St Paul, to study them in parishes and at ecumenical meetings”. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 28/1/2007 righe 32 parole 327)
