ISTANBUL: Heybeliada island (Halki), the ⛪✝️ Theological School (closed in 1971)

Greek Prime Minister Visits Turkey,Meeting with Patriarch Bartholomew and President Erdogan

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has made an official visit to Turkey,showing support for the Ecumenical Patriarchate while keeping the Greek-Turkish dialogue alive.On 6 February 2019,Mr.Tsipras attended a Divine Liturgy with His All-Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople at Holy Trinity Monastery on Heybeliada Island,Turkey.The monastery grounds contain the shuttered Halki Theological School,which the Turkish authorities closed in the 1970s.Later in the day,Mr.Tsipras called for the reopening of the School,which,he said:
would be evidence of friendship,mutual understanding and brotherhood.
Religious faith should bring people together,not divide them.*
The School was founded in 1844.Its alumni include several luminaries,among them being the late Patriarch of Constantinople Athenagoras,as well as Patriarch Bartholomew.*
Prime Minister Tsipras was the first Greek premier to visit the School in more than 90 years.Later on Wednesday,he visited what many consider to have been the greatest church of the Byzantine era,Hagia Sophia in Istanbul.*
On Tuesday 5 February,Mr.Tsipras met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the Turkish capital Ankara,seeking to bolster relations between the two neighbours.Positive results of the talks included keeping the lines of communication open;arranging a meeting between the Greek and Turkish ministers of defence;and establishing a Greek/Turkish business forum in Thessaloniki,Greece.
President Erdogan said all issues between the two NATO Allies could be solved:
on an equitable basis and in a peaceful way.*
Mr.Erdogan linked the Halki Theological School reopening to the issue of the treatment of Turks living in Western Thrace,Greece,including their right to elect their own muftis.A set of talks should be held to resolve both issues.

In Memoriam Metropolitan Iakovos of Pringiponnisos (Princes Island):Hierarch of the Ecumenical Throne Dies in Istanbul

On 28 March 2018 at 3:00 am,His Eminence Metropolitan Iakovos of Pringiponnisos (Princes Island,Turkey) departed this life at an Istanbul Hospital after a long illness.He was about 71.His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew served the trisagion memorial service at the Church of St.George in the Patriarchal compound,the Phanar.*
Born in Constantinople,Metropolitan Iakovos (Sofroniadis) attended the Zografio Gymnasium (high school) and subsequently entered Halki Theological School.On 14 September 1969,he was ordained a hierodeacon with the name Iakovos.Upon graduating from Halki in 1970,he was appointed Patriarchal Deacon and Rapporteur (researcher) of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.In 1974,he was promoted to Secretary of the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Patriarchate.Elected Metropolitan of Laodicea in 1984 and a Hierarch of the Ecumenical Throne in 1994,he was transferred to the Metropolis of Princes Islands in the Sea of Marmara,near Istanbul.*
In the course of his career,His Eminence was the author of many articles,studies and speeches in the journals of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.Basically,he was a scholar in residence and was honoured by several Churches,including those of Jeruslaem;Russia;Greece;Romania;and Georgia;as well as many Metropolises and Institutions.In 2011,he was elected Associate Member of the historic Literary Association of Parnassos.He was also conferred with an Honourary Doctorate by the Democritus University of Thrace.

Patriarch Bartholomew Seeks Meeting with Turkish President Erdogan - treatment of Ecumenical Patriarchate and other religious minorities at issue

His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew is seeking a meeting with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan,the Catholic publication Agenzia Fides reported.The newsletter quoted sources in Turkey as saying that the Patriarch is sending a letter to Mr.Erdogan asking to discuss in person the issues of the Halki Theological School,closed since 1971 when Turkey outlawed private educational institutions,and the overall treatment of religious minorities in Turkey.*
Relations between the Turkish authorities and religious minorities are again experiencing a critical moment,Patriarch Bartholomew reportedly said at a news conference at the Phanar,the Patriarchate headquarters in Istanbul.The Patriarch's close associate,the Turkish citizen,member of the Greek community and Archon of the Ecumenical Patriarchate Mr.Lakis Vingas,said trials were started for the cancellation of property titles,and this situation worries us.*
For example,a case was recently brought in Ankara,the Turkish capital,by Turkish institutions such as the Forestry State Administration to roll back the return of two parcels of land in Goksu and Umit Tepasi to the Halki Theological School.The FSA wants the land returned to the Treasury.This is being perceived as a resurgence of harassment of the Patriarchate by the Turkish institutions.The actions are coming even while Turkey is trying to join the European Union,which will hardly be favourably impressed by them.*
Members of The Order of St.Andrew,Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate,are personally chosen for their honourary titles as a gesture of appreciation by His All-Holiness for their exemplary service to the Orthodox Church and the Ecumenical Patriarchate in particular.

Patriarch Bartholomew to Open Restored Church in Turkey

His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew will preside at a Divine Liturgy for the opening of the Church of St.George in the village of Ozluce,Turkey on 7 May 2016 at 10:30 am.The church was restored by the Nilufer Municipality.*
Also attending the service will be Mr.Petros Aggelidis,Mayor of Serres,Greece,whose grandparents are from Ozluce,accompanied by several Greeks from Serres.Ozluce is located near Bursa,Turkey.*
His Eminence Elpidophoros Lambriniadis of the Ecumenical Patriarchate,Metropolitan of Bursa and overseer of the premises of the still closed Halki Theological School,announced the event.