VATICAN CITY — Raphaela Schmid runs the Rome-based Becket Institute, part of The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, an interfaith legal and educational institute dedicated to protecting religious freedom.

Schmid, originally from Munich, Germany, produced a television documentary on religious freedom in Turkey three weeks before Pope Benedict XVI’s visit there last month. In an interview with Register Correspondent Edward Pentin Dec. 8, she reflected on Benedict’s pilgrimage and its potential for advancing religious freedom.

What are your reflections on the Holy Father’s visit to Turkey and what to you were the main achievements in terms of advancing religious freedom there?

It’s difficult to talk about “achievements,” as it’s too early to say.

At this point we can look carefully at what he said and read it in light of the current situation in Turkey. So, one thing that particularly interests me is the historical situation Turkey is in. You still have a generation of people who are completely loyal to the Kemalist view of a secular state because there’s still a very strong memory of Kemal Ataturk as savior of the country.

Ataturk’s legacy, which is protected by law, is still cherished in the hearts of these people: They view his reforms as the reason why Turkey can now aspire to enter the European Union.

Is Turkey setting an example for other Muslim-majority countries to become freer?

I don’t know. With Turkey, we have to be careful not to get too enthusiastic in viewing it as an example of a typical Muslim country because it’s always had its own particular brand of moderate Islam.

One has to be careful because Islam is inculturated differently in different places, and one of the phenomena we’re observing today is that a particular Arabic form of inculturation seems to be being exported into non-Arabic countries. So while Turkey has its own brand of Islam, and as a Muslim society has certain characteristics, one has to be careful not to get too enthusiastic in saying, well this could be the way for other Muslim countries.

Ali Bardakoglu, Turkey’s director of religious affairs, has said the Pope was “doing an injustice” to Turkey by exaggerating the problems of Turkey’s religious minorities. What’s your response to this view?

There are many countries where people are outright persecuted and thrown into jail, tortured or killed, and that’s not the case in Turkey. Still, there are restrictions that make it hard for the Christian churches to school their children and to train their leaders. If you can’t have a seminary in the country, that’s a restriction.

And while there is no strict anti-proselytism legislation in place, I was told by a priest who for a time was placed at the House of Mary in Ephesus, that when people come and ask them for Bibles, the recipients sign a statement stating that they asked for them. For a Muslim to convert to Catholicism, you need to be 18 and it mustn’t be the consequence of proselytism; so just to be sure, the priests don’t want it to seem as though they were handing these Bibles out on the street, but that the people came and asked for them.

That indicates that Turkey is not a place where there are no problems for Christian churches.

But at the same time, if they do hand out Bibles, it doesn’t mean they’ll be thrown into prison and tortured. So let’s keep it in perspective

How much will the Holy Father’s visit have helped advance the cause of religious freedom beyond Turkey and into other Muslim-majority countries?

The Pope mentioned religious freedom at almost every occasion on this trip. And he articulated very precisely what it is the Catholic Church wants with regard to religious freedom: During Mass at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, he said that the Church wishes to impose nothing on anyone but asks to live in freedom in order to reveal the One whom she cannot hide, Jesus Christ.

I don’t think other countries look at the Pope visiting one country and say, “Well, we should change something.” But this visit can do a lot, and has already done a lot — especially after the Regensburg speech — by showing these grand gestures of good will on both sides.

It was incredibly fortunate that the first Muslim country the Pope was going to visit — it was already scheduled before Regensburg — was Turkey, with its great traditions of moderate Islam and immoderately great hospitality and human warmth.

To be sure, the Holy Father was aware of this. Before he went, he said that he really looked forward to meeting the great people of Turkey. And he didn’t just mean Catholics or Christians there, but all the people of Turkey.

They were much more open-minded than most people expected?

Yes, extraordinarily generous and open-minded. And I had no doubt that they would respond to the personal warmth of the Holy Father, the way he is likeable and humble and so obviously a truthful man. This trip was clearly not going to be just a public relations spin operation.

And this is what happened. All those surprising occasions showed how well matched the two parties really were: the authenticity of Joseph Ratzinger and the geniuses of the Turkish people.

Edward Pentin

writes from Rome.