An Interreligious Milestone

Interview with Franciscan Father Tierrablanca

ISTANBUL, Turkey, DEC. 8, 2006 (Zenit.org).- With his recent trip to Turkey, Benedict XVI marked a milestone in overcoming misunderstandings with the Muslim world, says one of the direct witnesses of that apostolic pilgrimage.

Father Ruben Tierrablanca, of the Province of Sts. Peter and Paul of Michoacan, Mexico, currently forms part of the international Franciscan community of Santa Maria Draperis in Turkey.

In this interview with ZENIT, the Franciscan tells of his experience as a member of the small Catholic community in Turkey, and the effect of the Pope's visit both for Catholics in Turkey, and in promoting understanding between cultures.

Q: How did Catholics in Turkey prepare for the visit and how was Benedict XVI received?

Father Tierrablanca: We lived a very special moment in Istanbul on the eve of Benedict XVI's visit to Turkey. In addition to the joyful awaiting of the little flock of the Catholic Church in this country of Muslim majority, we were intensely aware that the eyes of the world were upon Turkey for political reasons, as well as those of an interreligious order.

For several weeks the constant telephone calls and visits of journalists, television channels, reporters and analysts of present-day society, kept us occupied. They would ask: How do Christians live in Turkey? What does the Pope's visit mean for you? Why have Christians decreased so much in the last century and even more so in recent years? Why can't the religious habit be used on the streets? Are you afraid of the violent reactions of fundamentalists and nationalists?

We tried to answer all these questions with clarity and simplicity. It would be better if journalists and other friends came to live here at least for a short time to understand more and better and thus avoid some newspaper headlines that cause scandal and harm everyone.

Q: What is the present situation of Catholics in that country?

Father Tierrablanca: The present situation and the limits at the socio-political and religious level in which we live here and the difficulties we have every now and then, are not very different from those of apostolic times. The Acts of the Apostles describe a nascent Church within the Roman empire and in the midst of polytheism.

Turkey now has a republican secular government and a Muslim population, but the mistrust of the evangelical message and Christian life is very similar: It is thought that there is a desire to diminish the identity of a nation and the integrity of a religion.

In reality Christian life, if it is true and credible, would lead all to a more human understanding of life and of peaceful coexistence. For us Christians it would be about commitment to the kingdom of Christ, for non-Christians it would be a call to live their own values and principles of faith together with the admirable and proverbial tradition of hospitality of the people of the East.

Q: What does this visit to Turkey, a country where Catholics are a minority, mean at the present time of tense relations between Christianity and Islam?

Father Tierrablanca: "I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the crippled, and I will strengthen the weak" (Ezekiel 34:16). I have recalled this phrase of the prophet Ezekiel spontaneously thinking of the Holy Father's pastoral visit to the Church of Turkey.

Our Catholic community is small in number, in need of stimulation, and at times exhausted. But now over these days it has met with its pastor, Vicar of the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ. The journalists who accompanied the Pope on the plane should have accentuated the pastoral dimension as the fundamental reason of this visit; here in Turkey we have wanted to allow ourselves to be guided by our pastor and father, and with him to revive our faith and to rejoice in the hope that does not deceive.

Many other countries and regions of the world would like to have the Pope among them, but he has been among us, to bind up the wounded sheep and care for the sick, to confirm us in the faith in this strip of earth, boundary of continents.

Q: You have been very close to this event: Tell us about the meetings with the Christian people of Turkey.

Father Tierrablanca: "This will be a time for you to bear testimony" (Luke 21:13). Dedicating the first afternoon of the visit to matters of protocol, the Supreme Pontiff delivered two addresses, the first at the headquarters of the minister of religious affairs, Ali Bardagoglu, the second before the diplomatic corps accredited in Ankara.

We have heard encouraging expressions on the determined and frank disposition of the Catholic Church to "dialogue as instrument of encounter between cultures and religions."

Moreover, quoting the Conciliar Constitution "Gaudium et Spes," he said that peace is not only the absence of war, but "the fruit of order planted in human society by its divine founder, and for men, always thirsty for a more perfect justice" (no. 78).

Personally, it makes me recall the numerous interventions in the promotion of a true and lasting peace in the world made by his predecessor and much remembered Pope John Paul II.

Necessarily, the word of the Gospel will always illuminate our path and inspire the evangelizing work of the Church. For this reason I have taken the phrase of today's Gospel to reflect more deeply on these addresses which must not remain locked in archives.

We all know that this trip had its risks, perhaps the greatest risk is in the correct interpretation of his words more than a police matter. "But not a hair of your head will fall," our lord and master Jesus Christ tells us today.

And now, that the Pope has returned to the Vatican, our life must continue following his example and teaching, because "by your perseverance you will save your souls," once again our lord Jesus Christ gives us the security.

Q: What was the most important aspect, in your eyes, of this visit?

Father Tierrablanca: We know that the primary and fundamental motive of the Pope's visit was the common desire between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church to advance on the path of ecumenism, to the unity of Christians, evangelical commitment of every Christian.

We have lived with great hope that the joint declaration, signed Nov. 30, will be a firm point to undo and surmount several prejudices and again celebrate the mysteries of our common Trinitarian faith, in Jesus Christ, son of God, present in the Eucharist and operating in his one Church.

Also the two Eucharistic celebrations which the Pope presided over on Nov. 29 in Ephesus, at the "Meryem Ana Evi" shrine -- House of Mary -- and on Dec. 1 in the Holy Spirit Cathedral with the Catholic community -- in the latter almost half were visitors for the occasion as the Catholic community in Turkey is not so numerous as was seen on television in those celebrations -- were in consonance with the ecumenical path.

Q: As a Franciscan friar, who is active in the area of interreligious dialogue, what do you draw from this visit?

Father Tierrablanca: For us, friars minor of the international fraternity of Santa Maria Draperis, it is a unique, historic occasion: Three years after the opening of this fraternity, dedicated to ecumenical and interreligious dialogue, to have a visit from the Holy Father in search of Christian unity is truly a blessing.

Now I remember what Bartholomew I told us the first time he received us in the Orthodox patriarchate on Dec. 30, 2003, when Friar Gwenole asked him to bless our project and give us some advice for our work: "Love these people," was his answer, obviously he was referring to the Turkish people.

For his part, Benedict XVI has given the universal Church his encyclical "Deus Caritas Est." We cannot ask for more; we have received the necessary and sure indications to undertake our path of dialogue.