Posted on 01/11/2019 6:32:12 PM PST by marshmallow
Construction of the first Christian (Syrian-Orthodox) place of worship of the Republican era should start at the end of February in Yesilkoy, an Istanbul neighbourhood not far from the international airport. It will serve as a point of reference for the city’s 17,000 Assyrians.
Istanbul (AsiaNews) – The construction of a Christian church will start in late February in Istanbul, the first since the founding of the modern Turkish republic, said a city official during a meeting with a Syriac Orthodox Church prelate.
Freedom of worship is guaranteed in Turkey, but freedom of religion has been violated on various occasions in the recent past.
The Turkish government has interfered in the selection of Church leaders. Some clerics have been killed, namely Fr Andrea Santoro in 2006 and Mgr Luigi Padovese in 2010. Some churches and Church-owned buildings have been confiscated. A US clergyman, Rev Andrew Brunson, was detained and later released.
Yesterday, Bulent Kerimoglu, the mayor of Istanbul's Bakirkoy municipality, met with Yusuf Cetin, the Syriac Orthodox Metropolitan for Istanbul and the capital Ankara. He told reporters that all the paperwork for the new church is done and a permit issued.
Construction is expected to take about two years. Once completed, the church will a point of reference point for 17,000 Assyrians living in the city.
Despite "different religions, ethnic roots ... everyone's hearts beat for our Turkey,” Cetin said. "We're proud of living under the Turkish flag in this land”.
The new church is planned for the Yesilkoy neighbourhood in Bakirkoy, an area close to Istanbul Ataturk Airport, with a capacity for some 700 worshippers, a parking lot and a cafe.
(Excerpt) Read more at asianews.it ...
Kiev in Ukraine and Constantinople in Turkey are re-finding themselves.
That’s not a church in communion with the patriarch of constantinople.
Well at least it’s in physical vicinity and hopefully one day it will be in spiritual union with the Patriarchate.
As capital of Byzantium, Constantinople is the first and truest seat of Orthodoxy.
No, the Roman pope was the first ‘first among equals’ for the Orthodox.
But seizing powers beyond his role, he led his flock away from the Orthodox faith.
Rome was expelled from the Orthodox church.
Mirroring the history of Photios, this is what appears to be happening with the current Patriarch of Constantinople now.
The next in line would be Alexandria.
A strong Constantinople is a good thing, and forcing Moscow to shape up and behave is also good for Orthodoxy at large in the long run. True Christendom is what matters. Not Putin’s delusional empire self-serving theology.
Ukraine is doing a favor for Russian Orthodoxy by re-establishing the spiritual integrity of Kiev away from the clutches of the Soviet remnant running the modern Kremlin.
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