Church instructs convert in Turkey entirely by e-mail
By John Hinton
28 March 2008

Anthea Gurkan lives some 300 miles away from her nearest Catholic church

The catholic Enquiry Office in London has prepared an avid follower of the Church in a remote region of Turkey for reception into full communion - by instructing her almost entirely by e-mail.

English-born Anthea Gurkan contacted the office last year and staff at the office were at first puzzled at how to answer her heartfelt pleas for reception into the Church. The problem: she lives about 300 miles from her nearest Catholic church in Izmir, Turkey.

Married to a Muslim who is tolerant towards her Christian faith, and with four grown up children, Anthea persisted in her request until the Director of the Office, Mgr Keith Barltrop, approached Auxiliary Bishop John Arnold of Westminster with the suggestion that she be instructed by e-mail.

Mgr Barltrop said: "Many people contact us by e-mail with questions about the Catholic faith, which sometimes results in quite an extended correspondence with them. It seemed only a small step to suggesting that Anthea's entire instruction could take place in this way."

The Roman Catholic Instruction for Adults process - where candidates join catechists and Catholic lay followers each week to discuss the Catholic faith and way of life - remains the normal method for preparing people for reception into the Church. But this was clearly not possible in Anthea's case.

Instruction took place weekly by e-mail and was based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Margaret Wickware, a Canadian volunteer at the Catholic Enquiry Office, and Mgr Barltrop shared the instruction between them. "Anthea showed herself to be an able student," Mgr Barltrop said.

Anthea, who works as a tour guide in Turkey, says she will get to Sunday Mass as often as she can. She is overjoyed at becoming a Catholic. "Now I am accepted into the Church my whole being has changed," she said. "Before I cried with sorrow, I mourned for myself and the world, now I feel only with joy because I have learned the eternal goodness of God."

Bishop Arnold said: "When Mgr Keith presented me with the dilemma of someone wanting to inquire about the Catholic Church but living 300 miles from the nearest parish community, it only seemed sensible to see this as a challenge and consider the options.

"Technology has moved on far enough to ensure that Anthea Gurkan had every opportunity to receive resources, ask questions and even discuss her progress about her understanding of the Catholic faith through e-mail."

He added: "Certainly, she cannot experience Christian community in quite the same way as people living within the parish context but there is no difficulty in maintaining good contact with others in matters of faith, with visits to a Catholic church when the opportunity arises.

"There seemed to me to be no problem about 'e-evangelisation' so long as we were not constrained by time limits. When Anthea felt she was ready and her remote catechists were happy with her progress, it was quite right that she should be received.

"There will be lots of practical difficulties which will include the problems of being distant from the sacramental life of a church community, particularly for regular celebrations of the Eucharist. But the history of the Church has seen remote and isolated communities and individuals who have been without priests and sacraments for long periods of time and a life of faith needs to be lived wherever it is sown," the bishop said."

Christians in Turkey number about 120,000 in a country of 70 million Muslims, and in recent years there have been incidents of violence and persecution. The worst of these was in April of last year when five young Muslim fanatics murdered three Christians at the offices of a publishing house, motivated by "nationalist and religious feelings".