Orthodox Christianity under threat

International Herald Tribune ^ | 09/08/2008 | Nicholas Gage

[iowamark]

When Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey and his Islamic-rooted party came under fierce fire this summer from secularists, who came close to persuading the country's supreme court to bar both from politics, he called the campaign an attack against religious freedom and a threat to Turkey's efforts to join the European Union.

Yet in nearly six years in power, Erdogan has shown no inclination to extend even a modicum of religious freedom to the most revered Christian institution in Turkey - the Patriarchate of Constantinople, the spiritual center of 300 million Orthodox Christians throughout the world. As a result, Turkey's persecution of the Patriarchate looms as a major obstacle to its European aspirations, and rightly so.

The Ecumenical Patriarchate, which was established in the fourth century and once possessed holdings as vast as those of the Vatican, has been reduced to a small, besieged enclave in a decaying corner of Istanbul called the Phanar, or Lighthouse. Almost all of its property has been seized by successive Turkish governments, its schools have been closed and its prelates are taunted by extremists who demonstrate almost daily outside the Patriarchate, calling for its ouster from Turkey.

[iowamark]

His All Holiness, Bartholomew I, Archbishop of Constantinople New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch

[Kolokotronis]

Patriarchate ping!

[Alex Murphy]

The Ecumenical Patriarchate, which was established in the fourth century and once possessed holdings as vast as those of the Vatican, has been reduced to a small, besieged enclave in a decaying corner of Istanbul called the Phanar, or Lighthouse. Almost all of its property has been seized by successive Turkish governments, its schools have been closed and its prelates are taunted by extremists who demonstrate almost daily outside the Patriarchate, calling for its ouster from Turkey.

kosta50, looks like the Orthodox Christians in Turkey are getting those "dark places" that you proscribed...

"Jesus told us to pray in dark corners. God has no place in Congress, the Courts, on money, or public schools."

[353FMG]

“Yet in nearly six years in power, Erdogan has shown no inclination to extend even a modicum of religious freedom to the most revered Christian institution in Turkey..”

After 14 years of Muslim mayhem in Asia Minor they now expect religious freedom in that area? It amazes me again how naive Western thinking really is when dealing with Islam. Sheesh, some people never learn.

[annalex]

[Turkish] leaders have not budged - even though they know their stand may harm their chances of entering the European Union.

I suspect that is because they know that the European Union is not interested in preserving Christianity in Europe proper and cannot be expected to be interested in its preservation in Turkey.

[gitmogrunt]

http://www.greek-genocide.org/

[kosta50]

kosta50, looks like the Orthodox Christians in Turkey are getting those "dark places" that you proscribed...

Huh? I have no idea what your point is. The spiritual center of 300 million Orthodox in the wolrd is subjected to Islamic attacks, and you are cheering? What else is new?

[Kolokotronis]

“I suspect that is because they know that the European Union is not interested in preserving Christianity in Europe proper and cannot be expected to be interested in its preservation in Turkey.”

I agree. The Europeans are no more concerned with the preservation Eastern Christianity than the howling evangelical supporters of an American foreign policy which has resulted in the near extermination of ancient Christian communities.

[RJR_fan]

Sad, but apparently true, on both counts.

However, since we serve a God for whom nothing is impossible, we can pray for the conversion of the Turks, and make an effort to evangelize the Turkish students right here in our own towns.

[annalex]

Welcome to the triangular world: Christ, Islam, militant Secularism.

[Gamecock]

But you've got to love the hats.

[Bokababe]

Welcome to the triangular world: Christ, Islam, militant Secularism.

Ah, but that would be easy to deal with!

It's the militant secularism under the banner of "Christianity" that is impossible to both fathom and fight--especially those who think that they can grade "proximity to Christ", with proximity to their own beliefs -- as though they, personally, were our Lord, Jesus Christ, Himself!

[RJR_fan]

Well, there used to be four corners, but then God took down soviet communism. This process began in the 70s, when Soltsenitsn's novels informed the nomenclatura that they were mistaken about the color of their hats. They were villains, engaged in crimes against humanity, rather than saintly heroes of rebirth through revolution. At this point, Islam and secular humanism still have global ambitions that place them, and the societies that embrace them, on a collision course with the God of history. Which will topple first? Good question. Thinking Christians already refuse to support public education. Some are also studying Arabic, Farsi, or Turkish with their families in the hopes of being prepared for future evangelistic opportunities.

As my favorite Marxist Jesuit, Ivan Illych, wrote,

Some fortuitous coincidence will render publicly obvious the structural contradictions between stated purposes and effective results in our major institutions. People will suddenly find obvious what is now evident to only a few . . . Like other widely shared insights, this one will have the potential of turning public imagination inside out. Large institutions can quite suddenly lose their respectability, their legitimacy, and their reputation for serving the public good. It happened to the Roman Church in the Reformation, to royalty in the Revolution. The unthinkable became obvious overnight: that people could and would behead their rulers. (Illich's "Tools for Conviviality", p. 111)

[annalex]

The so called reformers are tool of the atheists. Thanks for the fake sympathies, and good luck with the Farsi.

[annalex]

the militant secularism under the banner of "Christianity"

American Christians of all persuasions are confused, as are conservatives in general. I don't think many people wake up every morning and think, "let me see how I can destroy authentic Christianity". When secularization of Europe is followed by its islamization, nearly all will shudder at what forces got released by the reformers 5 centuries ago.

Let us remember that the know the last chapter, and it looks very good.

[Honorary Serb]

....[Turkey’s population] is 71 million and growing, while the birthrate in Europe is falling precipitously. In addition, Turkey’s combined troop strength of 1.1 million overwhelms the armed forces of even the biggest European nations. If Turkey becomes a full member of the European Union, will it accommodate to Europe’s liberal traditions or will it use its demographic and military prowess to bend Europe to its will?...

It sounds as if the Turk has not changed a bit, from the days of the Ottoman Empire when he threatened to conquer all of Europe. And the Turk’s advance guard is already in Germany—large numbers of Turkish immigrants, some of who are islamists who openly support a worldwide Caliphate!

This article has many ironies. Tom Lantos, who is pushing for the survival of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, is a major-league Serb-basher.

As for Europe’s “liberal values”, they do NOT include Christianity!!!! The Euros need a good dose of Orthodox Christianity even for their physical survival (let alone spiritual), or else they will lose out to islam, sooner or later.