Patriarch Asks Turkey to End Stalemate Over Shuttered Seminary

This is the best overview that I have come across concerning the closure of the Halki Seminary of the Ecumenical Patriarchate by Turkey in 1971.

OCP Media — 8/24/2013

Yasemin Çongar for Al-Monitor Turkey Pulse

Clad in ceremonial attire complete with a jeweled crown and the patriarchal crozier in one hand, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew stood, Aug. 15, on the terrace of the Sumela Monastery and prayed. His face was damp with sweat and his silk white robe with powder-blue patterns of the cross shimmered under the noon sun.

I was not there, but as I watched Greece’s TV 4E livestreaming the Divine Liturgy from Turkey’s northern province of Trabzon, I could feel the heat of the moment. While the Biblical verses the patriarch recited in classical Greek sounded ethereal, the symbolism of the service, which was also attended by grim-faced government representatives in grey suits, could not have been more mundane.

Keen on verbally demoting Bartholomew’s mandate to that of a neighborhood priest’s, Turkish officials still refer to him as “the Fener Greek Patriarch,” but the ecumenical leader of the 300 million-member Orthodox Christian Church has indeed come a long way in his very mundane struggle for recognition in Turkey.

This was the fourth time in a row, after a government-imposed ban for 86 years, that a religious service was held at the Sumela Monastery to mark the Dormition of Theotokos, one of the great feasts of the Orthodox Church. A strong advocate of religious freedom, Bartholomew had a key role in persuading the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government to lift the ban in 2009.

He was installed as patriarch in 1991 and has been speaking out ever since for the rights of not only the very-much diminished community of less than 3,000 ethnic Greeks but all religious minorities in Turkey. Today, a 73-year old man with a cotton-white beard covering his chest and a voice that has mellowed with age, he still makes the same demands with eloquence.

Speaking at an iftar dinner recently, Bartholomew looked his host — Istanbul’s top Muslim clergyman Mufti Rahmi Yaran — in the eye and said, “Religious officials should be properly educated and set examples based on their trainings. Now that we are entering a dangerous stage of lacking qualified religious officials, we would like to emphasize the gravity of the situation at the Halki Seminary.”

SHOCKING PHOTOS: Christian Churches in Egypt under Worst Attack in Years

Russia Today via Pravmir — 8/24/2013

The interior of a burned and destroyed Coptic Christian church in Minya province, Egypt. Fifty places of worship were looted and torched in just three days following the dispersal of Muslim Brotherhood camps:

Prophesies by St. Kosmas Aitolos

Pemptousia — 11/24/2012

Father Kosmas Aitolos was born in 1714 in the Greek village Megalo Dendro (Big Tree) in the region of Aitolia. He studied in Mount Athos, in “Athonias School”, and later he became a monk in Philotheou Monastery.  Because of the lack of education in most of the population, especially in the remote areas of Greece, Father Kosmas was “forced” to live Athos and begin missionary tours in the villages with the aim of educating the poor people. This way he would also be able to help people understand the Scriptures better. In a period of six years he managed to establish 250 schools as well as charities and rural churches.

On August 24, 1779 he was executed at Kolkondas, Fier District, near the mouth of the Seman river (in present day Albania) by the Ottoman authorities. There were no formal charges against him.

He was recognized as a saint by the Patriarchate of Constantinople Athenagoras in 1961.

St. Kosmas received from God the gift of prophecy. He seems to have foreseen everything. He predicted the future of the world, he warned of the great cataclysms which await us in our Apocalyptic times but also he foretold the new technological developments.

Some of them became reality and others are about to be fulfilled. In the following quotes several of his prophecies are presented.

The Holy Hieromartyr Kosmas Aitolos (24 August)

From Pemptousia — 8/23/2013

On the 24th day of the month of August, the Church celebrates and honours the sacred memory of the holy hieromartyr Kosmas Aitolos. Saint Kosmas is one of those saints of the Church who are called New Martyrs and who appeared in the years of Turkish rule. After the Fall of Constantinople, the Turks became the new persecutors of the Church in the East and then many Christians, man and women, preferred to give up their lives rather than convert to Islam. It was these who, through their example, kept alive the Orthodox faith of the subject Orthodox peoples of the East.

Hispanic Americans committing apostasy, leaving Catholicism for Islam

According to a BBC survey. You can watch the video here.

With more than 50 million Hispanics living in the US, the Latino community is now the country's biggest minority.

While most are brought up within the Catholic Church, a number of them are turning to Islam. Precise figures are difficult to pin down as the US Census does not collect religious data, but estimates for the number of Latino Muslims vary between 100,000 and 200,000.

The BBC's Katy Watson went to Union City in New Jersey - where the population is more than 80% Hispanic - to meet some converts.

Orthodox church in Izmir (Smyrna) faces demolition

Rapidly re-Islamicizing Turkey seeks to literally pave over every last vestige of region's Christian history.

by Dimitris Rigopoulos, Ekathimerini — via Pravmir — 8/23/2013

Profitis Ilias is set to be demolished at a time when the ambitious plans of the

Izmir Municipality to revive lost city monuments are in full swing. [Esref.Ucar/Panoramio]

Plans for a new highway are threatening one of the last surviving Greek Orthodox churches in the region of Izmir (Smyrna) in Turkey.

Profitis Ilias (named after the Prophet Elias/Elijah, a revered figure for both Christians and Muslims) is a three-aisled basilica commissioned in 1846 by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Anthimus VI.

Its dimensions are 10 by 19 meters and it has a quadrilateral rooftop. It lies on a prominent spot on the road to the suburb of Budjah, 2 kilometers southeast of the city center, in St Anne’s Valley, where the Meles River (Yeşildere) flows under the Sirinyer and Yesildere aqueducts, which date to Roman times.

Profitis Ilias is set to be demolished at a time when the ambitious plans of the Izmir Municipality to revive lost city monuments are in full swing.

 

Patriarch of Antioch thanks Russian Church for defending Christians in Middle East

PRAVMIR - 8/23/2013

See also: Head of Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of North America expresses gratitude to the Russian Church for her concern for Christians in Syria.

His Beatitude Patriarch John X of Great Antioch and All the East sent a message to His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, in which he expressed his gratitude for the efforts that the Russian Orthodox Church makes to defend Christians in the Middle East.

In his letter, His Beatitude Patriarch John X mentioned the celebration marking the 1025^th anniversary of the Baptism Russia, which was held in Moscow, Kiev and Minsk with the participation of the Primates and representatives of all Local Orthodox Churches, saying in particular, “I was… so happy to see the brothers gathering about the holy Divine Altar and praising the Author of Life, Our Lord Jesus Christ who blessed Russia and the Russian People and granted this great nation all his heavenly blessings to be a true and sincere witness of Christendom. The baptism of Russia is not only an historical event, but it is also a concrete and lived reality that all people and nations can “come and see” (John 1:46) and praise the Lord Jesus Christ.”

According to His Beatitude, “with deep feeling of respect and appreciation” he read the Statement by Heads and Representatives of the Local Orthodox Churches Assembled for the Celebration of the 1025^thAnniversary of the Baptism of Russia. The main theme of the joint statement is the situation of Christians in the Middle East.

“I consider it my duty to raise an Antiochian thankful voice to support and share every word of the released statement,” Patriarch John’s letter reads. “Truly, Christians are persecuted and damaged in the Middle East, in the land of Jesus Christ. The salvation of Syria and of all the Middle East comes, as mentioned, through the logic of dialogue and peaceful political settlement. Extremism, fundamentalism and blind radicalism are the most great dangers which threaten not only the Christian presence, but the existence of the States and the peace of all the nations.”

His Beatitude Patriarch John X of Great Antioch and All the East expressed his wish to pay a brotherly visit to the Russian Orthodox Church and said in conclusion of his letter, “May Lord, Jesus Christ, the King of Peace give us His Divine Peace, grant you, the Russian Synod and the Russian People His heavenly blessings and bless the efforts of all the orthodox world to settle the peace in the Middle East and in all the world redeemed by the precious blood of our Savior.”

Sentencing Major Nidal Hasan

The Fort Hood Jihadist was found guilty on all 45 counts against him. Now comes the sentencing phase.

For what it's worth, in my estimation, he should be given 14 consecutive life sentences (for the thirteen counts of premeditated murder, plus the murder of the unborn child being carried by slain PFC Francheska Velez), without possibility of parole.

He should also not be allowed to profit from his crimes through publication or correspondence.

A death sentence would stiffen his resolve to die as a mujahideen for Allah and Islam, and would elevate him to the stature of a martyr in the eyes of the Muslim world.

Time is the providential tool the Lord uses to draw us to repentance. Consider how a steady flow of soft, humble water carves a hollow from hardened stone over the period of many years.

Time — life in prison — is the Christian punishment for Major Nidal Hasan. Time, and the Lord's providence, might even lead him to repentance, and to salvation in and through Jesus Christ.

Remember the Wise Thief crucified with Jesus.

Egyptian bishop: Christians live in fear as attacks continue

Luxor, Egypt, Aug 21, 2013 / 12:09 pm (CNA).- Bishop Joannes Zakaria of Luxor, Egypt, said that Christians in his country are running out of food, but are “afraid to come out of their homes” for fear of attacks by the Muslim Brotherhood.

In statements to the Fides News Agency, Bishop Zakaria explained that even those who have money cannot buy food because stores are closed.

“I would like to help Christians but I can’t because I myself am confined to my home,” he said.

Bishop Zakaria said that he was the victim of an Aug. 16 attack by members of the Muslim Brotherhood. Fortunately police arrived on the scene in time to protect him, and two armored cars are now parked out front to shield his home.

However, the region is experiencing great unrest, with numerous Christian homes burned to the ground as the Muslim Brotherhood calls for “death to Christians,” he said.

Syrian Church Destroyed, Christians Killed and Abducted

by Raymond Ibrahim — 8/22/2013

As the Obama-supported proxy war on freedom and Christianity in Egypt rages on, it’s easy to forget that the same atrocities are being commited all around the world — and also with Obama’s support.  While dozens of churches in Egypt have been destroyed by the Muslim Brotherhood, so too have they been, and continue to be, destroyed in nearby Syria, where U.S. supported Islamic jihadis have been terrorizing Christians, including by beheading them and destroying their churches.

Recently in the middle of the night, a jihadi group largely consisting of foreigners and calling itself the “Lions of the Islamic Brigade” invaded the Christian village of al-Diwayr and began bombarding the Church of Isaiah the Zealous (pictured above), as well as Christian homes, leading to the killing of four, including women and children, the wounding of 20, and the abduction of four.