Last February an Italian missionary, Fr Andrea Santoro, was murdered in the Turkish town of Trabzon. Then, on July 1, a French missionary priest, Fr Pierre Brunissen, survived a knife attack in the Turkish town of Samsun.
These are just two incidents due to which Church leaders in Turkey are worried by a rising tide of anti-Christian violence in the months leading up to a visit by Pope Benedict XVI.
Bishop Luigi Padovese, apostolic nuncio in Turkey, said that hostility towards the Church has increased significantly in recent months, with an apparent campaign against Christian influence, and "it is the Catholic priests who are being targeted".
These incidents also provoked the reaction of Cardinal Walter Casper. In an interview with the Italian daily Corriere della Sera, the liberal president of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity said that Turkey is not yet ready to be admitted into the European Union because religious freedom is not ensured there.
A similar position had been taken by Cardinal - now Pope - Ratzinger. It is believed that last year the Ankara regime declined to issue an invitation for a visit by Pope Benedict, who had indicated his desire to travel to Istanbul in November, to show their displeasure at his previous comments. The Turkish government instead suggested that the Pope make the visit this year.
Cardinal Casper said that Turkey "still lacks a real secular state, which guarantees religious liberty". Although both the government and the military forces have an interest in maintaining a "more or less secular" government, he said, the absence of authentic religious freedom is crucial because it is "the first and most important of human rights". Cardinal Kasper continued: "We are speaking of something essential, a foundation of European culture".
Although "a certain tolerance" is accorded to religions other than Islam, the cardinal said that "the state administers religion" in Turkey. He pointed out that the Church lacks "even the right to hold property".
The German prelate said that Turkey "needs to make a lot of changes" to meet EU standards, and those changes are likely to take a long time because "the mentality does not change from one day to the next".
The recent assault on Fr Brunissen and the February murder of Fr Santoro were "only possible in the context of suspicion, of xenophobia" that prevails in Turkey today, Cardinal Kasper charged. He argued that it is "not only a problem for the one who commits the act," but a larger problem of "a hostile climate toward strangers".
Cardinal Kasper disclosed that Vatican officials are studying the situation in Turkey carefully, in the light of plans for Pope Benedict to travel there in November. Officials are considering how the Pope's travel plans should be changed to allow for heightened security concerns and to avoid unnecessary confrontations.
What is happening in Turkey shows the poor treatment that Christians are given in several Muslin countries. Many Christians living in these countries feel that they are not treated as citizens in their own countries. Christian immigrant workers who go to these countries feel very insecure, deprived of most rights.
It is a pity that so much intolerance is being shown towards Christians in many Muslim countries.