Beleaguered Orthodox

Epiphany in Istanbul/Constantinople

I always try to feature stories about the small community of Orthodox Christians holding on to the faith against all odds in the ancient City of Constantine. They deserve any attention they can get. It must be incredibly galling to these Christians that even in the post-Ottoman era, they still live under the oppression of the Turkish authorities and the occasional Islamic extremist, and all in a city that was theirs for over one-thousand years. Catholics can learn a lesson or two from their Orthodox brethren about the importance of perseverance and holding fast to tradition. From the Associated Press:

In Istanbul, dozens of police in riot gear stood guard at the outdoor Epiphany ceremony as a precaution following past protests by nationalists against the Patriarchate, which dates from the Byzantine Empire.

Bartholomew has called for the reopening of a theology school on an island near Istanbul that trained generations of church leaders, including himself, until it was closed by Turkey in 1971 under a law that put religious and military training under state control. The Halki Theological School closed its doors entirely in 1985, when the last five students graduated.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, who met Bartholomew on a visit to Turkey last month, said he hoped Turkey would reopen the seminary.

For years, Turkey has said it is working on a formula that could pave the way for the reopening of the seminary. In August, Turkey's government said it was returning hundreds of properties confiscated from the country's Christian and Jewish minorities over the past 75 years in a gesture to the religious groups, who say they still face discrimination.

"Over the past 75 years..." what about the past one-thousand-plus years? What about Hagia Sophia? Probably more than half of the mosques in the city were once Orthodox churches. Let's be honest, the entire city was "confiscated" in 1453.