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TURKEY: POPE EMBRACES AN ALLY
The New York Times
December 1, 2014 Monday
: By SEBNEM ARSU
ISTANBUL -- Pope Francis and his counterpart in the Orthodox Church
on Sunday vowed to work together to prevent an exodus of Christians
from the Middle East, and they called for "constructive dialogue"
with Muslims to resolve conflicts in the embattled region and around
the world.
"We cannot resign ourselves to a Middle East without Christians,
who have professed the name of Jesus there for two thousand years,"
the pope and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of the Orthodox Church
said in a common declaration issued here on the last leg of a three-day
papal visit to Turkey.
The pope made frequent mention on his trip of the plight of Christians
and other minorities in areas of Syria and Iraq who have been the
focus of persecution by the Islamic State.
His attention to the issue was highlighted in a meeting with a group
of young Christian and Muslim refugees from Syria, Iraq and Africa at
the Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Istanbul. Pope Francis listened
as an Iraqi Christian girl described the refugees' sufferings and
expressed gratitude for his visit.
"I wish to assure you that I share your sufferings," the pope said in
an address to about 100 young people. "I hope my visit, by the grace
of God, may offer you some consolation in your difficult situation."
"The degrading conditions in which so many refugees are forced to
live are intolerable," he added, and called for greater international
cooperation "to counter the other causes which are driving people to
leave their home countries, and to improve conditions so that people
may remain or return home."
Francis repeated his gratitude to the Turkish government, which
is currently sheltering over 1.6 million refugees from Syria, and
has relocated nearly 50,000 ethnic Yazidis from Iraq who escaped
persecution by the Islamic State since late summer to camps in both
Turkey and Iraq.
In their common declaration, the pope and Ecumenical Patriarch
Bartholomew, who represents 300 million Orthodox Christians worldwide,
asked for dialogue and respect for international law in helping to
resolve the conflict in Ukraine, "a country of ancient Christian
tradition," and encouraged "constructive dialogue with Islam based
on mutual respect and friendship."
"Inspired by common values and strengthened by genuine fraternal
sentiments," the statement said, "Muslims and Christians are called
to work together for the sake of justice, peace and respect for
the dignity and rights of every person, especially in those regions
where they once lived for centuries in peaceful coexistence and now
tragically suffer together the horrors of war."
Earlier in the day, the sounds of chimes and the smell of incense
filled the small 17th-century Church of St. George in the Fener
neighborhood of Istanbul as the leaders of the two churches embraced
each other against a background of elaborate gold decorations and
centuries-old mosaics.
Both expressed a strong will to promote the full unity of Catholic
and Orthodox Churches, which were divided 960 years ago.
Before his departure for Rome late Sunday, the pope met Isak Haleva,
the chief rabbi of Turkey, and visited Armenian Patriarch Mesrop II,
who represents the largest Christian community of Turkish Armenians,
around 50,000 people, and who has been in poor health for several
years.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/01/world/europe/pope-in-turkey-issues-call-to-protect-middle-eastern-christians.html
From: Baghdasarian
The New York Times
December 1, 2014 Monday
: By SEBNEM ARSU
ISTANBUL -- Pope Francis and his counterpart in the Orthodox Church
on Sunday vowed to work together to prevent an exodus of Christians
from the Middle East, and they called for "constructive dialogue"
with Muslims to resolve conflicts in the embattled region and around
the world.
"We cannot resign ourselves to a Middle East without Christians,
who have professed the name of Jesus there for two thousand years,"
the pope and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of the Orthodox Church
said in a common declaration issued here on the last leg of a three-day
papal visit to Turkey.
The pope made frequent mention on his trip of the plight of Christians
and other minorities in areas of Syria and Iraq who have been the
focus of persecution by the Islamic State.
His attention to the issue was highlighted in a meeting with a group
of young Christian and Muslim refugees from Syria, Iraq and Africa at
the Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Istanbul. Pope Francis listened
as an Iraqi Christian girl described the refugees' sufferings and
expressed gratitude for his visit.
"I wish to assure you that I share your sufferings," the pope said in
an address to about 100 young people. "I hope my visit, by the grace
of God, may offer you some consolation in your difficult situation."
"The degrading conditions in which so many refugees are forced to
live are intolerable," he added, and called for greater international
cooperation "to counter the other causes which are driving people to
leave their home countries, and to improve conditions so that people
may remain or return home."
Francis repeated his gratitude to the Turkish government, which
is currently sheltering over 1.6 million refugees from Syria, and
has relocated nearly 50,000 ethnic Yazidis from Iraq who escaped
persecution by the Islamic State since late summer to camps in both
Turkey and Iraq.
In their common declaration, the pope and Ecumenical Patriarch
Bartholomew, who represents 300 million Orthodox Christians worldwide,
asked for dialogue and respect for international law in helping to
resolve the conflict in Ukraine, "a country of ancient Christian
tradition," and encouraged "constructive dialogue with Islam based
on mutual respect and friendship."
"Inspired by common values and strengthened by genuine fraternal
sentiments," the statement said, "Muslims and Christians are called
to work together for the sake of justice, peace and respect for
the dignity and rights of every person, especially in those regions
where they once lived for centuries in peaceful coexistence and now
tragically suffer together the horrors of war."
Earlier in the day, the sounds of chimes and the smell of incense
filled the small 17th-century Church of St. George in the Fener
neighborhood of Istanbul as the leaders of the two churches embraced
each other against a background of elaborate gold decorations and
centuries-old mosaics.
Both expressed a strong will to promote the full unity of Catholic
and Orthodox Churches, which were divided 960 years ago.
Before his departure for Rome late Sunday, the pope met Isak Haleva,
the chief rabbi of Turkey, and visited Armenian Patriarch Mesrop II,
who represents the largest Christian community of Turkish Armenians,
around 50,000 people, and who has been in poor health for several
years.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/01/world/europe/pope-in-turkey-issues-call-to-protect-middle-eastern-christians.html
From: Baghdasarian