wfn.org | Ecumencial Patriarchate Bombing

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World Council of Churches
Press Release
For Immediate Use
1 October 1996

ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHATE CATHEDRAL BOMBED: WCC URGES RAPID
RESPONSE AND CALLS FOR RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE

The cathedral and living quarters of the Ecumenical Patriarchate
in Istanbul were bombed during the night of 30 September. The
attack caused  no loss of life or personal injury to residents
but considerably damaged this historically important site.

The history of Constantinople (now Istanbul) as a patriarchate
began in 330, and its head became known as the ecumenical
patriarch as of 521. After the schism between Rome and
Constantinople in the 11th century, the patriarch became primus
inter pares among all patriarchs of the Orthodox churches. One of
the first to participate, in the 1920s, in the development of the
ecumenical movement, the-then patriarch was also active in the
creation of the WCC.

Reacting immediately to news of the bombing, WCC General
Secretary Konrad Raiser wrote to the Prime Minister of Turkey,
Necmettin Erbakan, to urge a rapid response to the attack. The
Turkish authorities were reportedly seeking to identify an
extremist group that they said may have been responsible for the
attack.

"We... know that the Government of Turkey will do all in its
power to bring to justice the criminals who have acted in
contravention of the law of the nation and your own good
intentions," Raiser wrote.

Noting that the physical integrity of the Ecumenical Patriarchate
is guaranteed by international agreements, Raiser referred to
Turkey's "desire... to give evidence of religious tolerance in
your society".

"The existence and unhindered life and witness of the
Patriarchate in this ancient city to which both Islam and
Christianity are deeply attached is, we are convinced, a tribute
to Turkey and a great asset to your society," Raiser said. His
letter offers the WCC's full cooperation to assure "the full
respect due the Patriarchate and its protection in the future
from any further act of intolerance and aggression".

In another letter addressed to the Ecumenical Patriarch
Batholomaios, the WCC General Secretary expressed relief that
lives had been spared, but "deep dismay" about the physical
damage to the Patriarchate's premises and "the renewed insecurity
which this act of aggression implies".

The WCC remains unfailingly committed to "the symbol and reality
of the Ecumenical Patriarchate living in the continuous
uncertainty of resurgent religious extremism", Raiser concluded.

**********
The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of churches, now
330, in more than 100 countries in all continents from virtually
all Christian traditions.  The Roman Catholic Church is not a
member church but works cooperatively with the WCC.  The highest
governing body is the Assembly, which meets approximately every
seven years.  The WCC was formally inaugurated in 1948 in
Amsterdam, Netherlands.  Its staff is headed by general secretary
Konrad Raiser from the Evangelical Church in Germany.

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