(Vatican Radio) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened to tear up a controversial migrant deal with the European Union that was aimed at halting the influx into Europe of people fleeing war and poverty. Hungary has used the controversy to raise support for its decision to build fences and a new law to detain all asylum seekers, including children.Listen to the report by Stefan Bos: Turkey's hardline President Erdogan says the European Union "can forget" about Turkey re-admitting failed asylum seekers who have reached Europe via Turkey. It is a key part of an agreement with the EU after more than a million often desperate migrants and refugees reached Europe by sea in 2015, with thousands feared drowned. Turkey's president also says that the EU's top court is leading a "crusade" against Islam.His comments come at a time when Ankara has been enraged by the Netherlands, Germany and other nations' decisions to block its mini...
(Vatican Radio) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened to tear up a controversial migrant deal with the European Union that was aimed at halting the influx into Europe of people fleeing war and poverty. Hungary has used the controversy to raise support for its decision to build fences and a new law to detain all asylum seekers, including children.
Listen to the report by Stefan Bos:
Turkey's hardline President Erdogan says the European Union "can forget" about Turkey re-admitting failed asylum seekers who have reached Europe via Turkey.
It is a key part of an agreement with the EU after more than a million often desperate migrants and refugees reached Europe by sea in 2015, with thousands feared drowned.
Turkey's president also says that the EU's top court is leading a "crusade" against Islam.
His comments come at a time when Ankara has been enraged by the Netherlands, Germany and other nations' decisions to block its ministers from holding political rallies in those countries.
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They wanted to campaign among Turkish immigrants for a yes vote in a referendum on extending the powers of Erdogan, despite international concerns over the massive arrests of journalists and political opponents as well as the dismissal of some 100,000 public servants for allegedly backing last year's coup attempt.
Erdogan even compared the Netherlands and Germany to the Nazis of World War Two. European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker condemned those remarks when speaking in the European Parliament, recalling how his family and country Luxembourg suffered under the Nazi-regime. "I was scandalized by what was said coming from Turkey, on the Netherlands, on Germany, and on others. I will never accept this comparison between the Nazis and the now (today’s) governments,” he told the parliamentary session in Strasbourg, France.
“This is totally unacceptable, and the one who is doing this is taking distance from Europe, and not trying to enter the European Union. The European Union is not joining Turkey, Turkey is joining the European Union,” Juncker added.
Yet, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó says Turkey's threat to scrap the migration deal showed what he calls the EU's "unreasonable and failed" policies and that it was wrong to base Europe's long-term security exclusively on the agreement.
Hungary's president has now signed a disputed law allowing all asylum-seekers, including children older than 14, to be detained in border container camps, while border hunters and other special forces patrol border fences. President János Áder signed the bill on Wednesday, a national holiday in memory of Hungary's 1848 revolution against the Habsburg empire.
"When you love the people with whom you disagree, and then you talk about the disagreements, then you're able to persuade people, potentially," Brooks points out. "Its your only shot at persuading people, is with love." / Credit: EWTN NewsWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 11, 2025 / 09:40 am (CNA).Best-selling author, Harvard professor and renowned social scientist Arthur Brooks says the missionary character and approach of Pope Leo XIV is one which all Catholics should emulate.In an interview with "EWTN News in Depth," Brooks called attention to the new pope's track record of threading the needle of "speaking the truth in a spirit of love, and that's a lot more of what we all need to emulate as Catholic people."This approach, Brooks said, is a winning one that gives him a lot of hope and optimism for Leo's pontificate and the future of the Church, which he says is on the cusp of a revival.Speaking with anchor Catherine Hadro, Brooks said all Catholics are called to missionary wor...
null / Credit: Wolfgang Schaller|Shutterstock.Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 11, 2025 / 10:45 am (CNA).A recent poll has revealed that the majority of American adults' beliefs align with recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings supporting parental authority, allowing states to ban transgender treatment for minors, and permitting authorities to require age verification on websites with sexually explicit content.On June 18, the Supreme Court ruled that Tennessee was permitted to ban medical treatments for minors including hormone therapy, puberty blockers, and surgeries. On June 27, meanwhile, the high court ruled that public schools in Maryland must allow parents the option to withdraw their children from discussions of LGBT topics if they have religious objections. It also ruled that a Texas law that requires pornography websites to verify that users are at least 18 years old does not violate the Constitution and can remain in effect.The poll, which was conducted before the rulin...
Pope Leo XIV (pictured at St. Peter's on June 1, 2025) issued a message of hope on July 10 in anticipation of the upcoming World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNARome Newsroom, Jul 10, 2025 / 17:29 pm (CNA).For the World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly established by Pope Francis and celebrated this year on July 27, Pope Leo XIV has issued a message of hope to the elderly.At the beginning of his message, the Holy Father evoked the Jubilee Year to remind the faithful that "hope is a constant source of joy, whatever our age." He cited some elderly biblical figures, such as Abraham and Sarah, Moses, and Zechariah, whom the Lord surprised in "an act of saving power": "God repeatedly demonstrates his providential care by turning to people in their later years," he explained.The pontiff noted that by making these choices, "God thus teaches us that, in his eyes, old age is a time of blessing and grace, and that the elderly are, for him, t...
