Did You Know

The Phanar district is the home to the population of Greeks still remaining in Istanbul. His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomews’ office is cramped, relatively austere, [with] his desk littered with papers (Radcliffe). He has to be accompanied by the secret service for his protection because of the constant death threats he encounters. The Turkish governments have confiscated thousands of properties, many of which are being utilized by the Turkish government. The government also encumbers many aspects of the Ecumenical Patriarchates daily function (Order of Saint Andrew, Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarch) and forcefully closed down many churches and monasteries. In 1453, after the Muslim conquest of Constantinople, Haghia Sofia Byzantine church where the Orthodox worshiped was turned into a mosque (“Pope Visiting Turkey, Urges Religious Freedoms”). Today it serves as museum. Another example is the Greek Orthodox Theological School of Halki was forcibly closed in 1971 by the Turkish military government. With the closing of Halki seminary, which was once the educational center for the global Orthodox Christian community including His All Holiness, the very survival of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and his Greek Orthodox flock are at risk (Prodromou and Shea). Since Turkey's petition to enter the European Union during President Clinton the escalations of confiscations of private properties has escalated dramatically. The Patriarch fights everyday to try and reopen Halki Theological School, which he attended and to have the halls filled again with students who plan to serve the Lord. (“Turkey: International Religious Freedom Report 2002”).