Vatican shuns Turkey’s EU bid

[emad]

From The Times
By Our Foreign Staff

SNIP

IN REMARKS that are likely to reignite debate about the EU’s Christian identity, the Vatican’s top theologian has declared that Turkey does not belong to Europe and should seek its future in the bosom of Muslim nations. In an interview with France’s Le Figaro magazine, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, doctrinal head of the Roman Catholic Church, said that Turkey was “in permanent contrast to Europe” and joining Europe would be a mistake.

Turkey, a secular state with a majority Muslim population, has been introducing political reforms in an effort to join the EU, which is due to decide in December whether to start accession talks.

Cardinal Ratzinger said: “Turkey has always represented a different continent, in permanent contrast to Europe.”

From:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,173-1213298,00.html

If Ratzinger is rated the Vatican's TOP THEOLOGIAN, heaven help the rest of them....

[Terran]

1. Ratzinger is personally responsible

for the virulent conservatism that infects the Church these days. He heads what used to be known as the Inquisition.

[emad]

3. Ratzinger at heart of Vatican cover-up of child sex abuse AND

the mysterious death of John Paul 1, who clocked up a mere 30 days in office before sudden and unexpected miracle despatched him to the pearly gates and made way for JP2 (See In God's Name by David Yallop)No post-mortem ever carried out because Ratiznger pronounced JP1's death a natural occurence...

Ratzinger and Marcinkus also up to their assess in Roberto Calvi murder (God's Banker - Banoc Ambrosiano bankruptcy in 1982).

[KoKo]

5. Good Grief! Psy-Ops Operations in the Vatican?????

:crazy: I've not heard that one before...

On Edit: Don't get me wrong I haven't read the book, but given all we know that's probably going on in the world today, behind the scenes, this just was ott, to me.

[Terran]

8. Well, a lot of people do believe that JP1 was poisoned

because his beliefs were far too liberal for Ratzinger and the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith. And with no autopsy done, I have always found his death suspicious. The Vatican (and this is not a slam on Catholic belief or Catholics) exists solely to perpetuate control over the faithful, and thus it is little better than any other large oprganization: it does what it perceives necessary to survive.

[Zynx]

2. Ratzinger probably still thinks this is like the 1500s and the Turks are

set to take Europe.

[GainesT1958]

4. He's still fighting the Crusade...

To me, his name doesn't begin with "R..a..t" for nothing!x(

B-)

[amber dog democrat]

7. He's still pissed off about the fall of Constantinople

to the Turks in the 1450s - when it was the 4th Crusade that invaded the Byzantine Empire in 1241.
Screw him.

[emad]

9. He wants Opus Dei to convert the Turks to Christianity and then

install a Chinese Pope who will crush the evil North Koreans into BFEE-submission....

[sui generis]

6. Yes of course he's right

In fact, why don't we just make all current non-Christians in Europe "non-European". Oh wait, didn't someone do that about fify years ago already? WTF? What in hell does religion have to do with economic consolidation in Europe?

I FUCKING HATE THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. I can say that since I pretty much hate all religions anyway, so I'm not being partial, just opinionated.