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NEWS ALERT: "MASS GRAVE DISCOVERY" IN TURKEY AS POPE CONTINUES TENSE TRIP
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife
BosNewsLife, Hungary
Nov 29 2006
ISTANBUL, TURKEY (BosNewsLife)-- Pope Benedict XVI continued his
tense trip to Turkey Wednesday, November 29, amid reports of the
discovery of a mass grave allegedly containing remains of mainly
Christian Assyrians and Armenians.
The mass grave in south eastern Turkey was believed to date from the
1915-1917 genocide of an estimated 1.5 million Assyrians, Armenians
and Hellenic Christians, said the Assyrian International News Agency
(AINA) to BosNewsLife.
Turkey has both denied these figures or involvement by Turkish Ottoman
in mass murder. However at least a dozen countries have recognized
the genocide.
AINA, which also operates website www.aina.org said last month,
October 17, villagers from Xirabebaba, also known as Kuru, in south
eastern Turkey "came across a mass grave when digging a grave for
one of their deceased."
SWEDISH EXPERTS
It was not immediately clear how many bodies were believed to have
been buried there. AINA said Sweden is considering to send special
experts to the region.
The news agency, which has become a voice of the Assyrian churches,
quoted local Christians as saying that the Turkish military have
sealed off the area, forbidding villagers and journalists to report
more details.
News of the mass grave came as the leader of the world's estimated
1.1 billion Catholics already struggled to overcome tensions over
his recent remarks regarding Islam and to call for more respect for
the rights of Christians.
On Wednesday, November 29, Pope Benedict XVI held a Mass on at one
of the most famous Christian places in Turkey as part of his efforts
to reach out to the Roman Catholic minority in a mostly Muslim country.
OPEN-AIR MASS
The pontiff conducted the open-air Mass in the area of Ephesus near a
house of Mary, who the Bible says gave birth to Jesus while still being
a virgin. Ephesus is also an important town for early Christianity
as Apostle Paul is believed to have used it as a base.
Underscoring the sensitivity of the pope's trip, security forces had
sealed off the area and only about 250 people reportedly attended
the event, making it one of the smallest crowds to attend a papal Mass.
The pontiff was then to travel to Istanbul where he will spend
the remainder of his four-day visit as the guest of the Ecumenical
Patriarch Bartholomew, seen as the spiritual head of the world's 250
million Orthodox Christians.
Benedict XVI's trip was originally meant just as a visit to Ecumenical
Patriarch Bartholomew in Istanbul to try to bring the Roman Catholic
and Orthodox churches closer as there are some 100,000 Christians
in Turkey.
EASING TENSIONS
But the pope's journey is now aimed at easing tensions, following his
recent comments over Islam which added to concern among Christians
in Turkey and neighboring Iraq of more militant attacks against them.
In a September 12 lecture at Regensburg University in Germany, the
Pope quoted 14th-century Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaeologus, who
wrote that Prophet Mohammad had brought things "only evil and inhuman,
such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached".
The pope said faith had to be joined with reason, a link he implied
that Islam lacked. Two days later, Turkey's top religious official
Ali Bardakoglu said Benedict XVI should apologize for comments and
reconsider his plans to visit Turkey.
On September 16, the pope said he was deeply sorry Muslims had been
offended by his use of a mediaeval quotation but also made clear he
was saddened for the reactions in some countries to his few remarks.
NUN KILLED
But the next day, gunmen killed an Italian nun in Somalia, an attack
many assumed was linked to protests against the pope. Rosa Sgorbati
worked in a pediatrics hospital in Somalia under her religious name
Sister Leonella was killed in Mogadishu by suspected Islamic militants.
Some other deadly attacks in Iraq have also been linked to the
comments. Speaking on Tuesday, November 28, the pope, who is making
his first papal trip to a predominantly Muslim nation, said dialogue
is needed so that different religions come to know each other better
and respect one another.
"We are in great need of authentic dialogue between religions and
between cultures, capable of assisting us, in a spirit of fruitful
cooperation, to overcome all the tensions together," he said, after
meeting Muslim and other officials.
He also stressed the need for all citizens to be guaranteed the right
to freedom of worship and freedom of conscience. Some commentators
have already said they doubt whether it will be ever possible for a
the pope to reconcile Islam with Christianity.
EFFORTS QUESTIONED
The pope's efforts were questioned in a comment on the website of the
Washington Post newspaper written by R. Albert Mohler Jr. president
of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, the flagship school of
the Southern Baptist Convention, one of the world's largest seminaries.
"Simply, the Pope's visit to Turkey--along with the media attention
and hype--is further evidence that the mixing of temporal and spiritual
authority will not work," he wrote.
"A minister of Christ should speak clearly about the Gospel and about
the reality of Islam."
Mohler Jr. said that the "central Christian concern about Islam
should not be the undeniable threat of Islamic violence but the
fact that Islam is incompatible with the Gospel of Christ." He said,
"Islam explicitly denies what Christians centrally affirm--that Jesus
Christ is the incarnate Son of God who came to save his people from
their sins."
Mohler Jr. stressed that the ,"most significant challenge posed by
Islam is not geopolitical...but spiritual. I do not expect Benedict
XVI to say this in Turkey." (For the other story behind the world
headlines, stay with BosNewsLife.)
http://www.bosnewslife.com/news/260 5-news-alert-mass-grave-discovery-in-turkey-as
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife
BosNewsLife, Hungary
Nov 29 2006
ISTANBUL, TURKEY (BosNewsLife)-- Pope Benedict XVI continued his
tense trip to Turkey Wednesday, November 29, amid reports of the
discovery of a mass grave allegedly containing remains of mainly
Christian Assyrians and Armenians.
The mass grave in south eastern Turkey was believed to date from the
1915-1917 genocide of an estimated 1.5 million Assyrians, Armenians
and Hellenic Christians, said the Assyrian International News Agency
(AINA) to BosNewsLife.
Turkey has both denied these figures or involvement by Turkish Ottoman
in mass murder. However at least a dozen countries have recognized
the genocide.
AINA, which also operates website www.aina.org said last month,
October 17, villagers from Xirabebaba, also known as Kuru, in south
eastern Turkey "came across a mass grave when digging a grave for
one of their deceased."
SWEDISH EXPERTS
It was not immediately clear how many bodies were believed to have
been buried there. AINA said Sweden is considering to send special
experts to the region.
The news agency, which has become a voice of the Assyrian churches,
quoted local Christians as saying that the Turkish military have
sealed off the area, forbidding villagers and journalists to report
more details.
News of the mass grave came as the leader of the world's estimated
1.1 billion Catholics already struggled to overcome tensions over
his recent remarks regarding Islam and to call for more respect for
the rights of Christians.
On Wednesday, November 29, Pope Benedict XVI held a Mass on at one
of the most famous Christian places in Turkey as part of his efforts
to reach out to the Roman Catholic minority in a mostly Muslim country.
OPEN-AIR MASS
The pontiff conducted the open-air Mass in the area of Ephesus near a
house of Mary, who the Bible says gave birth to Jesus while still being
a virgin. Ephesus is also an important town for early Christianity
as Apostle Paul is believed to have used it as a base.
Underscoring the sensitivity of the pope's trip, security forces had
sealed off the area and only about 250 people reportedly attended
the event, making it one of the smallest crowds to attend a papal Mass.
The pontiff was then to travel to Istanbul where he will spend
the remainder of his four-day visit as the guest of the Ecumenical
Patriarch Bartholomew, seen as the spiritual head of the world's 250
million Orthodox Christians.
Benedict XVI's trip was originally meant just as a visit to Ecumenical
Patriarch Bartholomew in Istanbul to try to bring the Roman Catholic
and Orthodox churches closer as there are some 100,000 Christians
in Turkey.
EASING TENSIONS
But the pope's journey is now aimed at easing tensions, following his
recent comments over Islam which added to concern among Christians
in Turkey and neighboring Iraq of more militant attacks against them.
In a September 12 lecture at Regensburg University in Germany, the
Pope quoted 14th-century Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaeologus, who
wrote that Prophet Mohammad had brought things "only evil and inhuman,
such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached".
The pope said faith had to be joined with reason, a link he implied
that Islam lacked. Two days later, Turkey's top religious official
Ali Bardakoglu said Benedict XVI should apologize for comments and
reconsider his plans to visit Turkey.
On September 16, the pope said he was deeply sorry Muslims had been
offended by his use of a mediaeval quotation but also made clear he
was saddened for the reactions in some countries to his few remarks.
NUN KILLED
But the next day, gunmen killed an Italian nun in Somalia, an attack
many assumed was linked to protests against the pope. Rosa Sgorbati
worked in a pediatrics hospital in Somalia under her religious name
Sister Leonella was killed in Mogadishu by suspected Islamic militants.
Some other deadly attacks in Iraq have also been linked to the
comments. Speaking on Tuesday, November 28, the pope, who is making
his first papal trip to a predominantly Muslim nation, said dialogue
is needed so that different religions come to know each other better
and respect one another.
"We are in great need of authentic dialogue between religions and
between cultures, capable of assisting us, in a spirit of fruitful
cooperation, to overcome all the tensions together," he said, after
meeting Muslim and other officials.
He also stressed the need for all citizens to be guaranteed the right
to freedom of worship and freedom of conscience. Some commentators
have already said they doubt whether it will be ever possible for a
the pope to reconcile Islam with Christianity.
EFFORTS QUESTIONED
The pope's efforts were questioned in a comment on the website of the
Washington Post newspaper written by R. Albert Mohler Jr. president
of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, the flagship school of
the Southern Baptist Convention, one of the world's largest seminaries.
"Simply, the Pope's visit to Turkey--along with the media attention
and hype--is further evidence that the mixing of temporal and spiritual
authority will not work," he wrote.
"A minister of Christ should speak clearly about the Gospel and about
the reality of Islam."
Mohler Jr. said that the "central Christian concern about Islam
should not be the undeniable threat of Islamic violence but the
fact that Islam is incompatible with the Gospel of Christ." He said,
"Islam explicitly denies what Christians centrally affirm--that Jesus
Christ is the incarnate Son of God who came to save his people from
their sins."
Mohler Jr. stressed that the ,"most significant challenge posed by
Islam is not geopolitical...but spiritual. I do not expect Benedict
XVI to say this in Turkey." (For the other story behind the world
headlines, stay with BosNewsLife.)
http://www.bosnewslife.com/news/260 5-news-alert-mass-grave-discovery-in-turkey-as