Bad call on pope’s view of Turkey? And don’t forget the second leg!

In a post a few days ago (November 26), I suggested that the visit to Turkey by Benedict may help him in his desire to keep Turkey out of the European Union by putting the difference in cultures on display.  The protests that had been springing up certainly seemed to suggest that this would be the case, though the Turkish government has been very effective in handling this and many of the Turkish people–showing a restraint perhaps borne out of their dominant secularism–have been rather blasé about the visit.

But what caught me off guard when I got in last night from Kansas City was the comment in the news that the pope had commented to the Turkish prime minister that he supported Turkey’s entrance into the EU, in what seemed a reversal of his earlier opposition during his Cardinal Ratzinger days.

Was this a bad call on my part?  Could be.  But the situation is more subtle that the sound bites would make it appear.  Consider this (rather large) selection from an article in The Independent entitled “Papal visit: On a wing and a prayer” (click here for the whole article; all emphasis mine)–

“I asked the Pope for his help with our application to join the European Union,” said the sly Mr Erdogan [prime minister of Turkey]. As everybody in Turkey and many people elsewhere know, the Pope (when he was still Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger) is on the record as strenuously opposing Turkey’s joining the EU, because its Muslim religion made it too “strongly contrasted” with Christian Europe.

Still, the Prime Minister popped the question: would the Pope help? Yes, according to the Prime Minister. “And the Pope said, as you know we are not political, but we will help Turkey’s case.”

Is that what Benedict said? Is the Holy See going to give Turkey’s EU application an obliging shove? It took about three hours for an embarrassed Vatican to produce its own version. Then out it came, a scrupulous, lawyerly, clause-by-clause clarification. The Pope “has neither the power nor the specific political duty to intervene on this precise point,” said the spokesman, Federico Lombardi, in a written statement. “But he sees positively and encourages the passage of dialogue for the inserting of Turkey in the EU, on the basis of specific common values.”

Phew: one missile dodged. The reply hauled the Pope back from a position 180 degrees distant from his stated view on the subject to the carefully finessed, multiply interpretable type of ambiguity which is the Holy See’s favourite diplomatic ground.

While Pope Benedict may certainly surprise us during the remaining portion of his visit with a more clear and bold statement, all of this still fits well with the idea that the pope does not want a Muslim nation in the EU.  What we see is the prime minister of Turkey expressing second hand Benedict’s “blessing” followed by a very quickly and carefully crafted explanation from the Vatican that succeeds in using many words to say very little.

Remember, my proposition was that Benedict’s visit was win-win for him.  For Turkey to meet the requirements set before it for EU entrance, it would have to offer a great deal more freedom of religion than it currently does and become literally a model of reciprocity in the Muslim world, allowing Catholics (and Orthodox adherents, as well) the complete freedom to worship that Muslims currently enjoy in “Christian” nations.  That is, the hurdles Turkey must jump to enter the EU would require just the sort of culture change that Benedict wants in Turkey.  “Stay out of the EU so that we may continue to foster a Catholic Europe, or else change that we may foster the seeds of what one could call a Catholic Turkey.”  Still seems win-win to me.  But, it wouldn’t be the first time I was wrong!

One more vital item on this topic, then I really am going to take a break from blogging until tomorrow.  Probably.  But I can’t skip this!

I neglected to mention in my earlier post that the pope has a personal zeal for dealing with the differences between the Catholic Church in the west and the Greek Orthodox Church in the east.  As David Gibson wrote in his book The Rule of Benedict (p. 248):

Healing the eleventh-century rift between Eastern and Western Christianity is a passion for Benedict, and a more realistic possibility than many other ecumenical dreams… The primacy of the pope in the authority structure of Latin-rite Christianity is the main stumbling block for the Eastern churches.

Pope Benedict XVI is attending to this very thing during his visit.  This is an item of prophetic consequence.

Please notice that in the vision of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in Daniel 2, the Roman Empire is symbolized by two legs, and both have a role to play in end time prophecy.  Consider this portion from our booklet on the Beast of Revelation (which can be ordered here, absolutely free):

The legs of the Daniel 2 image represent the Roman Empire divided into the Eastern Empire and the Western Empire by the emperor Diocletian in 286ad. Bible prophecy focuses on the continuation of the western empire—the Beast ridden by the “woman.” Yet Daniel 2 shows that the eastern leg has a part to play in the final revival. The eastern Roman Empire continued with emperors ruling in Constantinople until 1453, when the Ottoman Turks overran the city and killed the last emperor, Constantine XI.

But that was not the end of the eastern leg. In 1472, 19 years after the fall of Constantinople, the pope performed a marriage ceremony between Ivan the Great, Duke of Muscovy, and Zoe, niece and heir to the last eastern emperor. “The marriage was of importance in establishing the claim of Russian rulers to be the successors of the Greek emperors and the protectors of Orthodox Christianity… Ivan took the title Tsar, [or Czar] i.e., Caesar…” (Langer, p. 342). Thus, down through history, the Roman Empire continued as two legs. Two individuals claimed to be the successors of Caesar. In the Latin, Germanic, Roman Catholic realm of the West the form of the title was Kaiser. In the Greek, Slavic, Orthodox realm of the East it was Tsar.

The One who says He declares “the end from the beginning” reveals that eventually ten kings (or rulers) who are the successors of both the eastern and western “legs” will unite. They will form the last resurrection of the Roman Empire—the final embodiment of Babylon.

Knowing that the Eastern “leg” MUST play a role in the fulfillment of end time prophecy casts a vitally important light on the Pope’s attitude about Turkey’s desire to enter the EU, his desire to work toward Christian (read: “Catholic”) freedom in that nation, and his passion for working with the Eastern rite churches.

How thankful we should be to have a God with a purpose!  And how amazing it is to see the prophecies of God’s word play out in our headlines and on our television sets.