Istanbul, Dec. 17, 2007 (CWNews.com) - An Italian missionary serving in Turkey survived a stabbing attack on December 16, but the AsiaNews service argues that the latest assault on a Catholic priest illustrates the dangerous effects of "a widespread campaign of defamation and hatred against Christians" in the predominantly Muslim country.
Father Adriano Franchini, a Capuchin priest, was hospitalized after being stabbed by a teenage assailant in St. Anthony's church in Izmir, a coastal city. The Italian priest -- who has served in Turkey for 27 years -- was reported in stable condition, and doctors said he should recover quickly.
However an AsiaNews analysis by Mavi Zambak notes that the attack on Father Franchini falls into a pattern, matching several other recent acts of violence against Christians including the murder of Father Andrea Santoro in February 2006. Zambak remarks: "What all these cases have in common is the fact that all the culprits are young Turkish men, all supposedly unbalanced, crazy or mentally feeble, who ostensibly acted according to investigators on an impulse triggered by watching TV programmes and reading online material that focused on 'missionary activities' by religious and secular Christians."
Father Franchini had been accused of proselytizing Muslims, the AsiaNews analysis points out. The accusations against him were part of a continuing propaganda barrage aimed against Christians in the Turkish media. The violent attacks, Zambak suggests, can be attributed to the hatred roused by those attacks, which Turkish officials have done nothing to counteract.