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Pope Francis Trip to Turkey

By Webmaster on November 21, 2014 Governance & Unity News, Governance Top Stories

Source: PBS TRANSCRIPT BELOW KIM LAWTON, correspondent: At the Greek Orthodox Church of the Archangels in Istanbul, Sunday morning worship unfolds as it has for centuries. Christians here say the ancient liturgy and the images that fill the sanctuary help connect them to the roots of their faith. Several books of the New Testament were written in what is now Turkey, and many foundational Christian doctrines were established here. FATHER VISSARION KOMZIAS (St. George Patriarchal Church): So the presence of the Christianity is from the very, very, very beginning. Here the Christianity starts and never ends. LAWTON: On this Sunday, presiding over…

Pope’s visit to Turkey is a chance to bridge ancient divide

Source: Al-Monitor by Susanne Güsten As Ankara prepares to receive Pope Francis on Nov. 28-30, Turkish media have noted with raised eyebrows that Turkish affairs do not appear to be uppermost on the pope’s mind. “It was conspicuous that the pope chose to speak of the ‘Ecumenical Patriarchate’ and ‘Constantinople’ rather than of Turkey,” when referring to the destination of his upcoming visit, the daily Milliyet pointed out huffily. It is a Turkish delusion of grandeur to believe that the spiritual leader of over a billion Catholics around the world should see, one and a half years into his papacy and before…

Fundamentally Flawed

By Webmaster on October 14, 2014 Governance & Unity Essays, Governance & Unity News

by John Kaloudis I was dismayed to read the following in the recent issue of the Orthodox Observer: “Biden touched on three subjects that are at the core of the issues of greatest concern to Greek Orthodox Christians; the relationship between the United States and Greece, religious freedom, especially for the Ecumenical Patriarchate, Christians in Turkey and the Cyprus question.” If these are the core issues of the GOA, the GOA has abandoned the core principles as prescribed by Jesus in the New Testament. I do not expect VP Biden to understand and/or promote the core issues prescribed for the…

Future of Greek minority in Turkey in the hands of the youth

By Webmaster on September 13, 2014 Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories

Source: Today’s Zaman The youth of Turkey’s Greek minority are facing critical demographic and educational problems which are complicating their ability to maintain their historical tradition in Turkey. Aug. 22 was the last day of the second biannual Greek reunion on the island of Burgazada. Turks and Greeks were reunited accompanied by the tune of Greek and Turkish songs in a celebration of their friendship that dates back many years. “In Burgazada, we’re all one family,” said Vasilis, a Rum (Greek Orthodox Turkish citizen) who moved to Athens many years ago. Although the Greek Orthodox presence is still evident on…

ORTHODOX PATRIARCH HAILS CHANGING TURKEY IN MASS

By Webmaster on June 22, 2014 Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories

Source: Daily Sabah NEVŞEHİR – Presiding at a Sunday mass at a church in central Turkey, Fener Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I said major changes in Turkey in terms of minority rights have paved the way for “previously unimaginable” religious services in the ancient churches of the Orthodox Christian community. The annual mass attended by an Orthodox Christian community was held in Timio Stavru, a Byzantine-era church in a village in the central Turkish province of Nevşehir’s Ürgüp district, where a considerable Greek population lived in the 19th century. Lawmakers from Greece, the Turkish ambassador to Athens, Greek businesspeople and artists…

Statement on 2014 U.S. Commission’s Report on International Religious Freedom – Report Designates Turkey to a “Tier Two” Country

By Webmaster on May 8, 2014 Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories

Source: American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association WASHINGTON, DC – Anthony Kouzounis, supreme president of the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association (AHEPA), the largest and oldest membership-based association for the nation’s millions of American citizens of Greek heritage and Philhellenes, issued the following statement on the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom’s release of its 2014 Annual Report on April 30: “The return of Turkey’s designation to ‘Tier Two’ country status rectifies to some extent the Commission’s egregious and disappointing designation last year that significantly upgraded Turkey to a country that simply needed to be ‘monitored.’ “The Commission’s 2014 report properly documents many…

Shut down Orthodox seminary in Turkey kept in pristine condition in the hope of a reopening

By Webmaster on March 5, 2014 Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories, Uncategorized

Source: The Gazette (Montreal) ISTANBUL March 5, 2014 (AP) By AYSE WIETING Associated Press ISTANBUL – Although shut down for more than four decades, one of the Orthodox Church’s most pre-eminent seminaries is kept in pristine condition in the hope that it may reopen one day to educate future patriarchs and clergy. The Theological School of Halki, perched atop a hill on Heybeli Island off Istanbul’s coast, closed its doors in 1971 under a Turkish law that required private higher education to be controlled by the state. Since then, classrooms with desks dating back to the 19th century are ready…

ICOMOS Turkey – Briefing on the Hagia Sophia Museum

By Webmaster on February 14, 2014 Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories

Source: Order of St Andrew the Apostle – Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate Istanbul, Turkey ICOMOS Turkey, the International Council of Monuments and Sites, National Committee of Turkey, recently issued a report (below) regarding two issues of concern have recently emerged regarding Hagia Sophia Museum, the first of those being the plans for the reconstruction of the now extinct building of Hagia Sophia Madrasa, and the second, the public debate surrounding the refunctioning of Hagia Sophia Museum. Read this article on ICOMOS » Read Annex: A Brief Historical Investigation of Haghia Sophia (Fatih) Madrasa » Hagia Sophia Museum, one of…

Legal Entities of Non-Muslims: “Problems and Rights”

By Webmaster on February 7, 2014 Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories

Source: Order of St Andrew the Apostle – Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate Istanbul, Turkey On behalf of the Order of Saint Andrew the Apostle, on January 30, 2014, the Honorable B. Theodore Bozonelis, Archon Ekdikos and Regional Commander of New Jersey, attended a conference in Istanbul, Turkey sponsored by Bilgi University Faculty of Law in partnership with Community (Minority) Foundations and the Council of European Human Rights (the Venice Commission). The topic of the conference was Legal Entities of Non-Muslims: “Problems and Rights”. Laki Vingas, as the duly elected representative of all Minority Foundations to the government of Turkey’s General…

Archbishop Demetrios Expresses Concern over Rhetoric to Convert Hagia Sophia into a Mosque

By Webmaster on December 19, 2013 Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories

Source: Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America NEW YORK – His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios, Primate of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, expressed his grave concern over current rhetoric by some Turkish state officials regarding the intention to convert the historic Hagia Sophia (the magnificent 6th-century Orthodox Christian Cathedral of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople) from a museum to a functioning mosque. Such a step might be interpreted as an expression of intensification of state Islamization policies causing an elimination of Christianity from its 2000-year presence in its lands of origin. Hagia Sophia’s significance as a religious site and globally recognized symbol of intercultural respect…

Hagia Sophia Mosque? Turkish Leaders Call For Conversion Of Istanbul Landmark, Alarming Religious Minorities

By Webmaster on December 4, 2013 Uncategorized

Source: Huffington Post Religion News Service | By Jacob Resneck ISTANBUL (RNS) In this ancient city, there are few sights more iconic than the dome of the Hagia Sophia, towering over the old city for more than 1,400 years. But recent conversions of former Byzantine-era churches from museums into mosques, encouraged by religious and political leaders, have caused alarm among religious minorities and Turkey’s Christian neighbors. “We currently stand next to the Hagia Sophia Mosque,” Turkey’s deputy prime minister, Bulent Arinc, remarked last month during a dedication of a museum of Caucasus carpets and rugs in the Hagia Sophia complex.…

Non-Muslims invited to join Turkey’s police forces

By Webmaster on November 6, 2013 Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories

Source: SETimes.com An exchange between the Assyrian Orthodox Church and the police directorate raised hopes of ending what some describe as discriminatory practices. By Menekse Tokyay for SES Türkiye in Istanbul A recent exchange between the police directorate-general and a leader in the Assyrian Orthodox Church spurred new hope that public sector institutions will openly accept non-Muslims. Although there is no official ruling or policy that prevents non-Muslims from public service, there have been very few non-Muslim police, army officers or judges. The non-Muslim population is estimated at about 100,000, including 60,000 Armenians, 23,000 Jews, and 15,000 Syriacs. Turkey’s population…

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Browsing: Turkey