wfn.org | Archbishop Demetrios Testifies before US Helsinki Commission

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  For Immediate Release
  March 17, 2005

  Contact:  Nikki Stephanopoulos

  ARCHBISHOP DEMETRIOS TESTIFIES BEFORE HELSINKI COMMISSION ON THE UNFAIR
  TREATMENT OF THE
  ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHATE BY THE TURKISH GOVERNMENT

  Washington, DC - His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios, Primate of the Greek
  Orthodox Church in America and Exarch of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of
  Constantinople, testified yesterday on the state of the Ecumenical
  Patriarchate in Turkey before the US Commission on Security and
  Cooperation in Europe (The Helsinki Commission) during a briefing held at
  the Rayburn House Office Building. The Helsinki Commission is comprised
  of nine US Senators, nine members of the US House of Representatives, and
  one member each, from the Departments of State, Defense and Commerce.

  U.S. Congressman (R-NJ) Christopher Smith, co-chair of the Helsinki
  Commission, began the session with a statement and background
  information. Archbishop Demetrios in his testimony entitled "The Unfair
  Treatment of the Ecumenical Patriarchate by the Turkish Government,"
  stressed to the members of the Commission that the Ecumenical
  Patriarchate continues to suffer from unfair treatment at the hands of
  the Turkish state.  He offered three examples of such treatment,
  including the closure of the Theological School of Halki, the continuous
  confiscation of Church property by the Turkish government and the refusal
  of the Turkish government to recognize the legitimate "Ecumenical" title
  of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, a title history established since the
  sixth century and internationally recognized by political and religious
  communities.  (Full Text Below)

  Additional testimony to the Helsinki Commission was offered by Cardinal
  Theodore McCarrick, Catholic Archbishop of Washington; Rabbi Arthur
  Schneier, President, Appeal of Conscience Foundation; Rev. Dr. Bob Edgar,
  General Secretary of the National Council of Churches and Anthony
  Limberakis, MD, National Commander of the Order of St. Andrew.

  The Helsinki Commission is an independent agency of the United States
  Government charged with monitoring and encouraging compliance with the
  Helsinki Final Act and other commitments of the 55 countries (including
  Turkey) participating in the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
  Europe (OSCE).

  Following the Briefing, Senators Paul Sarbanes (D-MD) and Olympia Snowe
  (R-ME) sponsored a luncheon on Capitol Hill.

  At 3:00 pm Archbishop Demetrios offered a similar presentation and
  insights on the state of the Ecumenical Patriarchate today during a
  meeting of the Congressional Working Group on Religious Freedom held in
  the Capitol Building. The meeting was chaired by Senator Gordon Smith
  (R-OR), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and was
  attended by several senators and congressmen.

  US Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe
   (Helsinki Commission)
  Briefing, March 16, 2005

  "The Unfair Treatment of
  The Ecumenical Patriarchate by
  The Turkish Government"

  A Testimony by
  His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios
  Primate of the Greek Orthodox Church in America and
  Exarch of the Ecumenical Patriarchate

  Honorable U.S. Senators, Representatives, and members of the Helsinki
  Commission, ladies and gentlemen, we thank you for giving us the
  opportunity to speak about the very difficult situation in which our
  venerable Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople finds itself
  vis-à-vis the Turkish government.

  I am speaking to you as the Archbishop of the Greek Orthodox Church in
  America with a constituency close to two million people, a constituency
  which ecclesiastically belongs to the Ecumenical Patriarchate.  As the
  Archbishop of this Church, I feel that what happens to the Ecumenical
  Patriarchate has a direct impact on us here both as Orthodox Christians
  and as American citizens.

  The foundation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate may be traced to the very
  Apostolic times, to the first century A.D., when Christianity reached
  what is now Turkey.	In the fourth century A.D., Emperor Constantine
  transferred the capital of the Roman Empire to the East, to Byzantium,
  and named the new city Constantinople.  It was in this context that the
  Ecumenical Patriarchate began to take its institutional form that we know
  today, as the religious and ecclesiastical administrative center of the
  Orthodox Church worldwide.  The Ecumenical Patriarchate and its
  surrounding areas served as the locations for the seven Ecumenical
  Councils of the Undivided Christian Church, which were convened over the
  course of the first millennium.

  The Ecumenical Patriarchate continued to exist even after the dissolution
  of the Byzantine Empire in 1453.  It existed and at times even thrived
  under the rule of the Ottoman Empire and since the founding of the
  Turkish Republic in the twentieth century.  Today, there is great
  importance for the continued ministry of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in
  coordinating the affairs of other Orthodox Christian jurisdictions
  worldwide, in fostering dialogue with other Christian denominations, and
  in promoting peace, tolerance and reconciliation among the religions of
  our world.

  Despite this realized importance of its ministry, the Ecumenical
  Patriarchate today continues to suffer from an unfair treatment at the
  hands of the Turkish state.	A tragic instance of this treatment were the
  riots of 1955, carried out in Smyrna and Istanbul against the Greek
  Orthodox minority community.  These sad phenomena, which were tolerated,
  if not provoked, by the Turkish government, unjustly, and violently
  reduced a flourishing community of over 100,000 Greek Orthodox citizens
  in the city of Istanbul alone to the present day remnant of 2,000-3,000.
  The effects of this reduction led to an expropriation against the Greek
  Orthodox community by the Turkish government that continues to this day.
  Characteristic of this expropriation was the closure of the Theological
  School of Halki (on the island of Heybeli) in 1971, on the pretext of its
  being a privately run university level academic institution.  In spite of
  numerous petitions and appeals to the Turkish government for its
  reopening, including personal appeals made by Presidents George H.W. Bush
  and Bill Clinton, this government still refuses to allow this important
  school to reopen.   The Theological School of Halki is the only
  institution of the Ecumenical Patriarchate for the training of its
  clergy.  One cannot underestimate its importance for the essential
  survival of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

  Another major problem facing the Ecumenical Patriarchate today is the
  continuous confiscation of Church property by the Turkish government,
  which refuses to recognize titles to Greek Orthodox minority properties
  purchased or acquired by donation after 1936.  Recently, the Supreme
  Court of Turkey ruled against the Ecumenical Patriarchate, allowing the
  government to confiscate a very large and historic orphanage belonging to
  the Greek Orthodox community on the island of Pringipo.  Approximately
  1400 properties belonging to the Ecumenical Patriarchate have been
  confiscated, of which 152 were recently taken from the Baloukli hospital
  in Istanbul.  This hospital of the Ecumenical Patriarchate serves the
  needs of the general Turkish citizenry, with quite advanced centers for
  drug and alcohol treatment.	Today, the Baloukli hospital is threatened
  with bankruptcy by the recent imposition of an unbearable retroactive tax
  on the grounds that it is not considered a non-profit organization.

  Yet another problem is the refusal of the Turkish government to recognize
  the legitimate "Ecumenical" title of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.  This
  title refers to the conciliatory role of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in
  its global ministry.  It is a title that is historically established
  since the sixth century and internationally recognized by political and
  religious communities, yet the Turkish government refuses to allow the
  Ecumenical Patriarchate to use this title in all contexts.

  There is not only this unhistoric prohibition of the title "Ecumenical
  Patriarchate", but the Government refuses to allow the Patriarchate to
  have a legal status as such.

  In closing, I would like to express my deep pain and serious concern at
  the very existence of these phenomena in Turkey today, especially at a
  time when the international community is especially sensitive to the
  importance of religious freedom, human rights, and the protection of the
  rights of religious minorities.  These problems are all the more
  distressing when one considers that the Ecumenical Patriarchate has been
  a major proponent over the recent years in favor of Turkey's accession to
  the European Union.	It is my hope that the Commission will give urgent
  attention to these problems so that the Greek Orthodox community of
  Turkey, together with all other minority communities in Turkey, such as
  the Jewish and Armenian communities, may be protected in its lawful right
  to contemplate a secure existence and a prosperous future.	 Thank you.

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