Christian identity? European churches and the issue of Turkey's EU membership

Abstract

The article considers the position of churches regarding Turkish EU membership in a number of current member states with some variation across key religious characteristics (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom). The focus is especially on the positions of Protestant and Catholic churches. Starting from the observation that the EU in its origins has been considered a Christian-Democratic project, inspired by ideas of Social Catholicism, and reflecting the historical legacies of centuries-long confrontation between Catholicism and the Ottoman Empire, the expectation is that Catholic churches may be less welcoming of including Turkey in the EU than Protestant churches. Moreover, theological traditions (Protestant individualism versus Catholic integralism) may result in different rationales (rights-based versus identity-based) in the churches’ support for or rejection of Turkish accession. However, considering the role of national politics and the state-church regimes, inter-confessional differences may be less significant than inter-national differences on this issue. This will be discussed by analysing the development of official church position papers and public statements of church leaders in these countries, along with trends in government policies.