Quotes from the
Bull of the Convocation of the Holy Ecumenical COUNCIL OF TRENT under Pope Paul III


"Whilst we desired the commonwealth to be safe and protected against the arms and insidious designs of the INFIDELS [MOHAMMEDANS], yet, because of our transgressions and the guilt of us all, indeed, because of the wrath of God hanging over us by reason of our sins, Rhodes has been lost, Hungary ravaged, war by land and sea intended and planned against Italy, and against Austria and Illyria, since THE TURK, OUR GODLESS AND RUTHLESS ENEMY, was never at rest and looked upon our mutual enmities and dissensions as his fitting opportunity to carry out his designs with success."

Pope Paul III

"In the meantime, THE TURK, OUR CRUEL AND EVERLASTING ENEMY, having attacked Italy with a powerful fleet, captured, sacked and ravaged several cities on the shores of Apulia and carried off as booty the inhabitants, while we, in the greatest fear and general danger, were occupied in fortifying our shores and in furnishing assistance to the nearest neighboring localities."

"Wherefore, beholding with the bitterest grief of our soul that the affairs of Christendom were becoming worse, Hungary OPPRESSED BY THE TURKS, Germany endangered, and all other states overwhelmed with apprehension and grief, we resolved to wait no longer for the consent of any prince, but to look solely to the will of the Almighty God and to the good of the Christian commonwealth"

"...we may in the holy and ecumenical council, in a better and easier manner consider, and with the charity of all concurring to one end, ponder, discuss, execute and bring speedily and happily to the desired result whatever things pertain to the purity and truth of the Christian religion, to the restoration of what is good and the correction of bad morals, to the peace, unity and harmony of Christians among themselves, of the princes as well as of the people, and whatever is necessary to repulse those ATTACKS OF BARBARIANS [TURKS] and INFIDELS [MOHAMMEDANS] whereby they seek the overthrow of all Christendom."

 

ITALIAN TURK-HATRED, CIRCA 1576 Anti-Turkish horror propaganda has quite a tradition: Around 1576, Jacopo Ligozzi created a cruel miniature entitled Mufti -11 Papa Delli Turchi (a mufti depicted as the pope of Turkey) with a mostro, thus insinuating that Turkish religious leaders were masters of "monsters"      Anti-Turkish propaganda and discrimination is not only one of the oldest examples of psychological warfare, its duration surpasses by far even the leyenda negra which swept Spain, reaching a new peak in recent years due to concerted action by Erivan and Athens.  It is: a cocktail of inferiority complex, envy and ignorance; the fame of the Turkish soldier, fantasies of Turkish love life and history of Turkish civilisation. All that created an atmosphere which had already culminated half a millennium ago in pictures like that of the Mufti, (The "pope" of the Turks") and his tool, a mostro (monster) — the Turkish nation. An answer is long overdue. Source: Eric Feigl, A MYTH OF ERROR (Not "Terror"!)

FIRST SESSION of the Holy and Ecumenical COUNCIL OF TRENT celebrated under the sovereign pontiff, Paul III, on the thirteenth day of December in the year of the Lord 1545 Decree concerning the opening of the council: Pope Paul III: "Does it please you, for the praise and glory of the holy and undivided Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, for the advance and exaltation of the Christian faith and religion, FOR THE EXTIRPATION OF HERESIES, for the peace and unity of the Church, for the reform of the clergy and Christian people, FOR THE SUPPRESSION AND DESTRUCTION OF THE ENEMIES OF THE CHRISTIAN NAME, to decree and declare that the holy and general Council of Trent begins and has begun?" They (the bishops and cardinals) answered: It pleases us.

"From the fourteenth to the end of the seventeenth century the Ottoman Empire was almost continuously at war with the Christian Powers of Western Europe. The terror inspired by the Turkish name among all the European peoples was largely responsible for the widely spread popular belief that the Turks were a race of uncivilized barbarians who, wherever they went, left nothing but smoking ruins behind them and stamped out every vestige of civilization. Religious fanaticism, coupled with the fear born of unbroken Turkish military successes, resulted in creating among some detractors of the Turks a state of mind which rendered them for the most part incapable of viewing Turkey and the Turks with an objective and unbiased eye." Alexander Pallis, Greek scholar "Until the end of the seventeenth century the 'Ottoman peril' lurked alongside Europe to represent for the whole of Christian civilization a constant danger, and in time European civilization incorporated that peril and its lore, its great events, figures, virtues, and vices, as something woven into the fabric of life." Edward Said, "Orientalism"

 Pope Paul III (1468–1549) was a Roman named Alessandro Farnesepope, and served as pope between 1534-49. His pronouncements, among many other hate-filled messages, had a profound effect upon European Christians, a prejudice that is felt to this day. Let's bear in mind Christian European countries had many other enemies besides the Turks... at the head of which were other Christian European countries. But the peoples from these other nations didn't receive a Godly go-ahead to become dehumanized and hated.

Pope John Paul embraces the mother of Agca, Muzeyen

Of course there is a difference between "medieval" popes and modern ones. Let's not forget the humanity and true Christianity of Pope John Paul II, who forgave and fought for the pardon of his would-be Turkish assassin Mehmet Ali Agca. (Extradited, the criminal was jailed in Turkey on a killing prior to the papal assassination bid.)