Tag: Bartholomew

Ukraine’s another Church dissent is on edge

Photo credit: press-office of Vladimir Zelensky

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church has blamed Volodymyr Zelensky for pressure by the authorities. Its followers hoped to end persecution with the new Ukrainian President coming to power. Yet, Zelensky who stayed away from the Church affairs during the first months of his presidential term is taking on the course on further Church dissent started by the former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.

Back in 2019, 49 parliamentarians requested from the Constitutional Court of Ukraine to cancel the controversial draft law “On renaming the Ukrainian Orthodox Church”. This religious organization was obliged to change its name to “Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine” in order to indicate that it was allegedly “governed by an aggressor country”.

This bill was passed two years ago. The document was part of a larger strategic plan by President Petro Poroshenko to create an “independent church.” He won the support of Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople and then gathered the dissenters together, promising them the role of the leading religious group in the country. This explains why the Orthodox Church of Ukraine has become so powerful.

But the majority of Ukrainians, followers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, did not want to join the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, so the government organized persecutions against them and the canonical church. Moreover, it legalized the takeover of its temples widely known in the world.

In October 2020, Volodymyr Zelensky with his spouse made a visit to Istanbul to hold a meeting with Bartholomew I of Constantinople. The Ukrainian President made it clear that the Ukrainian authorities will support further expansion of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. The reaction of dissenters was swift: they announced a new wave of temple seizure making everyone believe that the power was again on their side. The courage that Ukraine has not seen since Poroshenko’s days in the office.

According to local Ukrainian experts, Bartholomew, who officially calls himself a peacemaker of all Christian world is in fact supporting the religious dissent in Ukraine.

The Ukrainian authorities, who claimed that the index of religious freedom in the country is equal to the one in Belgium (according to Andrei Yurash, the head of the Religion Division of the Ministry of Culture, this indicator was 3,2 in February, 2021, that points to the high level of religious tolerance), are also fueling the national protests in the country with their hypocritical and at times irrational policy.

April 14, 2021
John Kerry Wants More Seminaries . . . in Turkey

Tristyn K. Bloom | @tristyn_bloom

US Secretary of State John Kerry (L) meets with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, on April 21, 2013, in Istanbul (AFP, Ozan Kose)

AFP:

US Secretary of State John Kerry urged Turkey on Sunday to re-open Orthodox clergy schools near Istanbul that authorities have kept closed for more than 40 years.

“It is our hope that the Halki seminary will open,” Kerry said during a press conference in Istanbul after two days of talks on the Syrian crisis and the Mideast peace process.

Kerry said he discussed religious freedom in overwhelmingly Muslim Turkey and the possible re-opening of the theological schools in talks with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.

The Halki seminary, where Orthodox clergy used to train, is located on an island off Istanbul and was closed in 1971, after Turkey fell out with Greece over Cyprus.

Those wishing to learn more about the state of religious freedom in Turkey can do so here (though I do not endorse HALC on all issues).

On Sunday, Kerry met with His All Holiness, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. From the transcript:

SECRETARY KERRY: It’s such a privilege to talk with somebody who has been such a voice for tolerance, a voice for interfaith understanding, who most recently visited with His Holiness Pope Francis and was at his investiture, and who has consistently talked out about protecting rights of minorities, protecting religious rights, and who is struggling for larger understanding in the world. . . .

PATRIARCH BARTHOLOMEW: Thank you, Your Excellency.

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you for my reception. And he gave me a beautiful rosary that the Pope gave him that’s been blessed by the Pope and by him, and I will carry that with great, great privilege. . . . Thank you, Patriarch.

PATRIARCH BARTHOLOMEW: Thank you. So have a nice life.

April 23, 2013
Turkey Urged To Allow Greater Religious Freedom

Ankara, Turkey – The spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians said Monday that Turkey’s new constitution should grant equal rights to minorities in the country and safeguard religious freedoms.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I met with members of a parliamentary subcommittee seeking an all-party consensus in drawing up a new constitution, which will replace the one ratified in 1982 while Turkey was under military rule. The subcommittee is meeting with non-governmental organizations and representatives of minority groups for input on the drafting of the new laws.

Mostly Muslim Turkey, which is seeking to join the European Union, has small Christian and Jewish communities. The EU has made improved rights for the religious groups a condition for membership.

Turkey’s existing constitution guarantees religious freedom, but when it comes to minority religions the country has long been criticized for restricting the training of clergy and the ownership of places of worship, and for interfering with the selection of church leaders. It also has recognized Bartholomew I as the leader of the local church in Turkey, but not as ecumenical patriarch of all Orthodox Christians.

For decades, Turkey has mostly ignored demands of the Patriarchate, mainly due to mistrust stemming from a rivalry with Greece. However, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government has pledged to address the problems of religious minorities and said he hopes the new constitution will correct democratic shortfalls.

Bartholomew told reporters he favors a constitution that promotes equal rights and religious freedoms, including the reopening of a Greek Orthodox seminary that trained generations of patriarchs.

“We asked for equality,” Bartholomew said after the meeting. “In education, we asked that the seminary be reopened. We asked for freedom of religion and conscious, for freedom of worship.”

An 18-page report presented to the subcommittee also makes demands for government funds for minority schools and places of worship, Bartholomew said.

Bartholomew, who is based in Istanbul, is the spiritual leader of hundreds of millions of Orthodox Christians worldwide.

via Ankara – Turkey Urged To Allow Greater Religious Freedom — VosIzNeias.com.

February 21, 2012
U.S. Veep Biden Meets Patriarch Bartholomew in Turkey

NEW YORK — U.S. Vice President Joe Biden met Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople, the spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians, in Istanbul on Saturday.

Nicholas Magginas U.S. Vice President Joe Biden met Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople, the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians, in Istanbul on Saturday.

Vice President Biden was greeted at the entrance to the Patriarchal compound by His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of America, together with the Chancellor, the Chief Secretary of the Holy and Sacred Synod, and the Patriarchal Court.

His All-Holiness met with the Vice President in his personal office for a private conversation. Among the issues discussed were religious freedom in Turkey, the reopening of the Theological School of Halki, Turkey’s accession to the European Union, and the ecological initiatives of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

via U.S. Veep Biden Meets Patriarch Bartholomew in Turkey – Udated.

December 5, 2011
Erdogan Will Return Greek Properties!

According to the Turkish newspaper “Sabah”, the government of Erdogan decided to vote a new presidential decree, in order to return all the real estates of minorities’ institutions which were declared in 1936. This means that many Greeks will take back their properties and can demand compensation. This is also a great victory for the Ecumenical Patriarch.

In 1936, the Turkish government had asked of the parishes and minorities’ institutions to possess declared real estates. However, decades later they took back the real estates which had not been declared or were acquired as inheritance, a donation, or after purchase.

The Turkish Prime Minister will make the announcement on Sunday night during a dinner where the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew along with 162 representatives of minorities’ institutions will attend.

, 28 August 2011

August 29, 2011
Papal Note to Bartholomew I on Feast of St. Andrew

The message was delivered by Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, who led a delegation from the Holy See to participate in the celebrations in Istanbul.

* * *

To His Holiness Bartholomaios I

Archbishop of Constantinople

Ecumenical Patriarch

It is with great joy that I write this letter to you, to be delivered by my Venerable Brother Cardinal Kurt Koch, President of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity, on the occasion of the Feast of Saint Andrew the Apostle, brother of Saint Peter and Patron of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, in order to wish Your Holiness and the Members of the Holy Synod, the clergy, the monks and all the faithful an abundance of heavenly gifts and divine blessings.

On this joyful feast-day, in union with all my Catholic brothers and sisters, I join you in giving thanks to God for the wonders he has worked, in his infinite mercy, through the mission and martyrdom of Saint Andrew. By generously offering their lives in sacrifice for the Lord and for their brethren, the Apostles proved the credibility of the Good News that they proclaimed to the ends of the known world. The Feast of the Apostle, which falls on this day in the liturgical calendars of both East and West, issues a strong summons to all those who by God’s grace and through the gift of Baptism have accepted that message of salvation to renew their fidelity to the Apostolic teaching and to become tireless heralds of faith in Christ through their words and the witness of their lives.

In modern times, this summons is as urgent as ever and it applies to all Christians. In a world marked by growing interdependence and solidarity, we are called to proclaim with renewed conviction the truth of the Gospel and to present the Risen Lord as the answer to the deepest questions and spiritual aspirations of the men and women of our day.

If we are to succeed in this great task, we need to continue our progress along the path towards full communion, demonstrating that we have already united our efforts for a common witness to the Gospel before the people of our day. For this reason I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Your Holiness and to the Ecumenical Patriarchate for the generous hospitality offered last October on the island of Rhodes to the Delegates of the Catholic Episcopal Conferences of Europe who came together with representatives of the Orthodox Churches in Europe for the Second Catholic-Orthodox Forum on the theme “Church-State Relations: Theological and Historical Perspectives”.

Your Holiness, I am following attentively your wise efforts for the good of Orthodoxy and for the promotion of Christian values in many international contexts. Assuring you of a remembrance in my prayers on this Feast of Saint Andrew the Apostle, I renew my good wishes for peace, well-being and abundant spiritual blessings to you and to all the faithful.

With sentiments of esteem and spiritual closeness, I gladly extend to you a fraternal embrace in the name of our one Lord Jesus Christ.

From the Vatican, 30 November 2010

BENEDICTUS PP XVI

via Catholic.net – Catholics on the net.

December 1, 2010