Rorate Caeli alerts us to this story. The Turks want the bones on Saint Nicholas, which have been in Italy since the 11th Century, returned to Turkey.
Ummm. No.
AFP – Turkey will ask for the return of the bones of Saint Nicholas, who Father Christmas is modelled on, from their display in Italy, local media reported on Friday.
Saint Nicholas, from the modern-day town of Demre on southern Turkey’s Mediterranean coast, is, according to tradition, the ancestor of Father Christmas, but his remains were stolen by Italian pirates in the 11th century.
“These bones should be exposed here and not in a town of pirates” in Bari, said Culture Minister Ertugrul Gunay, quoted in the newspaper Milliyet.
Turkey, as you know, does not recognize non-Muslim religions and regularly oppresses and tried to control Christianity. It has confiscated Church property and even dictates who can be the Ecumenical Patriarch in Constantinople.
The idea that we should send the bones of such a revered Christian saint back to a land that despises Christianity is absurd on its face.
So they say they want Santa, we should say sure and send them a big box of coal and a note. “Dear Turkey, Santa isn’t coming this year because you are at the top of the naughty list.”
January 2, 2010 at 6:58 pm
You gotta be "effing" kidding me. I think Turkey is still P.O'd that they got snubbed at joining the EU, so this is yet another way for them to throw garbage from the sidelines. But there request is wrong on so many levels. First, the relics were stolen from the Byzantines, the true inherritors of the relics. So, once they reinstal the Byzantine empire and allow Hagia Sophia to be reconsecrated a church, then they might have a case.
Second, Bari was part of said Byzantine empire at the time. The relics were stolen as an "inside job" so to speak.
Third, and this is a small correction to your comments, but Turkey does constitutionally recognize Christianity as it does hold the seat of the "Greek" Orthdox church in Constantinople. However, their track record on security for Christians is abysmal.
Italy is probably the last government the Mohammedan Turks want to deal with on this. Now if the relics were in, say, Belgium….
January 3, 2010 at 6:48 am
Now if Turkey would allow Hagia Sophia to be returned to the Catholic Church, in particular 1 of the Eastern Byzantine Catholic Churches, if they would restore religious freedom & the rest of the above mentioned things, then maybe I might be willing to consider the return of Sna Nicola to his home town.
January 3, 2010 at 2:30 pm
No. GO away.
January 3, 2010 at 7:27 pm
From my cold, dead hands.
January 3, 2010 at 7:48 pm
Wow, I respectfully but emphatically disagree. We don't bargin or extort our love and faith, we share it! Perhaps this relic is the start of an new Christian evangelization Turkey or perhaps not but quid pro quo is no way of dealing with the relics of our Saints!
January 3, 2010 at 11:52 pm
Right, no quid pro quo. Therefore, the Turks should return all the stolen churches gratis.
January 4, 2010 at 1:14 am
Would sure love to know the Turkic plans for Jolly Ol' Saint Nicholas' bones:
a)erect muslim-designed church-looking building to boost tourism and sell tickets & trinkets?
b)re-enact the piracy event on the anniversary?
c)dress them in a santa suit and drag them through the streets to rock-throwing & jeers of "allah-hu-akbar"?
Let's just tell them the Italians have it all wrong – Saint Nick lives at the North Pole. Let the Turks take it up with the Sovi- er Russians – didn't thay lay claim to much of the Arctic Circle a few years back?
January 4, 2010 at 5:11 am
Father
With all due respect, how did Italy get the relics in the first place? As for Hagia Sophia, correct me if I'm wrong but isn't it a museum and not a mosque? Also, I believe there is a Christian (Eastern rite) chapel within.
January 4, 2010 at 7:33 pm
Chris,
You're wrong. It's a mosque. It was seized by the Muslims following a 54 day siege of Constantinople. http://www.hagiasophia.com/listingview.php?listingID=7 The mosaics we covered over and replaced by traditional Muslim art. It is only within the last 80 years that a partial restoration on the Christian artwork has begun, and then only in limited areas and mostly for tourists.
January 4, 2010 at 10:52 pm
The Mom, no, actually you are wrong and Chris is right. You only saw one portion of the website. Since 1935 Hagia Sophia is a museum. Of course, it WAS a mosque prior to that, and originally a Christian church. But it is currently a museum. Officially it is in fact prohibited to pray inside it (for Christians and Mohammedans) as the subject is simply too touchey. The Pope did not even so much as cross himself during the visit there in 2006.
January 6, 2010 at 9:01 pm
"The Pope did not even so much as cross himself during the visit there in 2006."
What??? In this age of Koran-smooching? This can't be real. Tell me this ain't real.