Dec 12, 2004 / 22:00 pm
Turkish-speaking Christians now have access to a Bible for children printed in Turkish published by the international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).
The 1st edition of the Bible, entitled "God speaks to his children," comprises 15,000 copies, 5,000 of which are to be distributed in Turkey, while 10,000 are destined for being given to Turkish native speakers in Western Europe.
"There are about 100,000 Christians" among the country's population of about 66 million, said Father Lorenzo Piretto, O. P., an Italian priest based in Istanbul.
The majority of Christians in the Western Asian country "are Apostolic Armenians. The Catholics are Latins, Chaldeans, Armenians and Syrians. There are also Greek and Syrian Orthodox, as well as various Protestant groups," said Fr Piretto.
"The Catechists are very content to have excerpts from the Bible in Turkish…At the entrance of churches, where the books are displayed, Muslims are free to take a copy," the Dominican priest added.