Turkey Investigating Capuchin for Baptizing a Muslim

Zenit News Agency ^ | 1/14/03

[marshmallow]

ANKARA, Turkey, JAN. 14, 2003 (ZENIT.org-Avvenire).- Turkish authorities are investigating a Capuchin friar for baptizing a 26-year-old Muslim who asked for the sacrament but later turned on the priest.

Italian Father Roberto Ferrari, 70, whose passport has been seized, has been a missionary in Turkey for the past 45 years. The Capuchins have several houses and missions in the country.

Another Capuchin, Father Mario Cappucci, who is familiar with Turkey, said that "Father Roberto baptized a 26-year-old youth in the mission of Iskenderun, on the border with Syria, who had asked insistently that the sacrament be administered to him, after appropriate preparation."

"However, the youth then denounced the missionary to the Turkish authorities, who removed his passport and put him under investigation," said Father Cappucci, 67.

Father Cappucci is the chaplain at Santa Maria Nuova hospital in Reggio, Italy, and a native of Quara, a town of the region, where Father Ferrari was born.

Father Cappucci was surprised at the news. "I have been in that country some 30 to 40 times, both to lead pilgrimages as well as to visit our houses," he said. "I have good relations with the guides and with different authorities. I never expected an incident like this."

"The situation in Turkey is certainly complex," he added. "However, this serious event is worrying."

In fact, although the constitutional law guarantees religious freedom, there are strong social pressures against conversion from Islam -- the main religion in Turkey -- to Christianity. In some regions, local authorities back the persecution of Christian communities, especially the Chaldeans.

"Why does Turkey call itself a secular state and put a friar under investigation who baptized a converted Muslim?" Father Cappucci asked. "Why can't religious wear their habit?"

"A lay state is not concerned with these matters," he added. "And this is happening in countries that would like to form part of Europe, where human rights are the foundation of the secular state."

He further stressed: "Father Roberto did not baptized an unconscious child, but an adult who consented to it."

[marshmallow]

The Capuchins are a branch of the Franciscan order, for those not familiar with catholic religious orders.

[Mo1]

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[FreedomPoster]

Commentary?

[Savage Beast]

It speaks volumes about Islam that threats of death are necessary to prevent defection.

These benighted people are desperately in need of truth.

[a_Turk]

Who knows what really happened. The US has Turkey on a human rights watch list for police brutality and questionable interrogation practices.. Had this been widely practiced, I am sure it would have been also listed as an abuse.

How about Georgia (USA) finally making it legal for consenting unmarried adults to have sex? Why is it that I am told not to drive through Louisianna with out of state plates? Goofy stuff happens..

The priest may be investigated for maybe having taken advantage of the guy who was obviously confused to begin with, and that will be the end of it. Has the man been charged with anything? No. Therefore, this is no persecution.

Also, the wearing of habits and sheats, or whatever by religious personnel of whatever religion is illegal outside the religious establishment. This to prevent zealots from leading riots and also to keep minority believers safe from nutcases.

Thanks for the ping.

[aristeides]

Is there any Turkish criminal law that this action would violate?

[a_Turk]

It could fall under a law that is used to prevent civil discontent. I don't know the details.. There is no law that prevents conversion or the practice of a religion. Religion, in Turkey, is everyones private affair.

There have been those in Turkey who were so distraught because of the economic situation, that they have, in a moment of weakness, been taken advantage of. My personal opinion is that, I was born a Muslim, and I therefore bear some responsibility for the betterment of Muslims and the realm of Islam. That is why I cannot convert, as that would be shirking my responsibilities, as well as a farse. But is there a law against it? No.

[Savage Beast]

Yeahbut... To be a crime to assist someone in converting to another religion...???

If Islam holds the truth, if God speaks through Islam, people will be drawn to it like a magnet, and there will be no need for forced conversion or to punish apostates.

As for the Georgia and Louisiana laws you mentioned, I agree with you; they are ridiculous.

[a_Turk]

>>To be a crime to assist someone in converting to another religion...???

That is not a crime. As I said, I don't really know what happened there. And I don't really trust the article that much either.. Religion is pretty much an industry in the real world. A multi hundred billion dollar a year industry. I am sceptical of missionaries who exist to convert, but hey, like I said, it's not a crime.

[B Knotts]

Some information I found about the Capuchins:

About the Capuchins

St. Pio of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio) was a Capuchin.

[aimhigh]

As for the Georgia and Louisiana laws you mentioned, I agree with you; they are ridiculous.If they were enforced, AIDS wouldn't exist.

[ErnBatavia]

This is the only kind of Capuchin I'd ever heard of...

[SauronOfMordor]

The priest may be investigated for maybe having taken advantage of the guy who was obviously confused to begin with, and that will be the end of it. Has the man been charged with anything? No. Therefore, this is no persecution.

Personally, this looks like a sting operation to me I.e, the man in question intended to make trouble for the priest, on the orders of somebody, bugged the priest until he gave in, then turned him in -- something like undercover drug busts in the US

[SauronOfMordor]

There have been those in Turkey who were so distraught because of the economic situation, that they have, in a moment of weakness, been taken advantage of. My personal opinion is that, I was born a Muslim, and I therefore bear some responsibility for the betterment of Muslims and the realm of Islam.

What about those who, though born Muslim, decide that Islam is not the Truth, and that some other religion (like Christianity) is the Truth? The moral and self-consistent road to follow in that case would be to convert, and to work to convert others.

[a_Turk]

>>What about those who, though born Muslim, decide that Islam is not the Truth, and that some other religion (like Christianity) is the Truth?

Well, studied folks like you, perhaps, would be able to make that educated guess.. Not the average Joe tho.

[a_Turk]

>>Personally, this looks like a sting operation to me

That's silly. The priest found some unstable Abdul who then went even more kooky.

[B Knotts]

FYI BUMP

[Turk2]

True and there are no laws in Turkey that ban concentious conversion between religions. However, there are missionaries that actually pay people several thousand dollars to convert to Christianity from Islam. These activities are in opposition to the principles of all religions. The aim of such organizations with such strong financial backing from foreign powers could not be seen solely as enlightening Muslims. There are also some regulations aimed at suppressing radical Islam that in some cases can be harmful to groups of other religions as well. The problem with the thrological school at Heybeliada (Halki) is an example of such a case. If you allow Christians to open independent theological outside the control of the Ministry of Education or the Higher Education Council would also open the way for radical Islamic groups funded by Saudi Arabia and Iran to do the same. The solution is to open the school as a department of Orthodox Christian Theology under one of the universities in Istanbul but this is not excepted by the Patriarchate which wants to gain Vatican-like powers.

[Savage Beast]

As for the Georgia and Louisiana laws you mentioned, I agree with you; they are ridiculous.

"If they were enforced, AIDS wouldn't exist."

Blood transfusion. Intravenous drug abuse. Illegal sexual activity. Intrauterine infections.

[Mortimer Snavely]

"If you allow Christians to open independent theological outside the control of the Ministry of Education or the Higher Education Council would also open the way for radical Islamic groups funded by Saudi Arabia and Iran to do the same."

To understand this sentence the reader would have to have a level of general knowledge about the politics of religion in the contemporary Middle East beyond the level of many of the posters here. More specific knowledge about the establishment of the Turkish Republic, her ideological milieu, and her contemporary security issues would also be necessary, but that too is lacking. In short, what is required is an awareness of regional issues which is routine among the educated classes in Turkey, but which is only a specialized field of knowledge in the USA these days.