Spotlight
on ecumenical and interfaith relations in Turkey
(Vatican Radio) Catholic-Orthodox relations and dialogue with
the Muslim world are the two main issues under the spotlight as Pope Francis
travels to the Turkish capital of Ankara on Friday for his 6th international
journey. The Pope will then spend Saturday and Sunday in Istanbul where he was
invited by the Orthodox leader, Ecumenical Patriarch, Bartholomew 1st to
celebrate the feast of St Andrew on November 30th.
Just six months ago,
the two leaders met in Jerusalem and signed a joint declaration marking half a
century since the lifting of mutual excommunications and the beginning of a new
era of improved relations between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. So what
are the expectations ahead of this latest encounter in the Patriarch’s
headquarters at the Phanar in Istanbul? And how can the tiny Christian minority
in Turkey help to promote better relations with the wider Muslim world?
To find answers to
those questions, Philippa Hitchen spoke with Dominican Father Claudio Monge,
director of a Centre for Cultural and Interreligious Dialogue in Istanbul….
Fr Claudio says
Patriarch Bartholomew is a very important point of reference for the Christian
world vis-à-vis the Turkish authorities and the Turkish state. At the same
time, he notes that while the Orthodox leader has really fraternal relations
with many people in the Catholic Church, that friendship is not always shared
within the wider Greek-Orthodox community…..
While Fr Claudio
believes the meeting in Turkey may not significantly change the relationship
between the two local churches, he says there is a wider importance as both
Catholics and Orthodox pray for the pan-Orthodox Synod that Bartholomew is
trying to organize for 2016. “We are convinced that this is not only a very
important goal for the Orthodox world, but for the whole of Christianity, in
Europe and in the Middle East,” Fr Claudio says, since improved relationships
between the different Orthodox churches may help them “ to give a new face, a
new hope to the Christians in this area, that is majority Islamic, Islamic
area.”
Regarding the role of
interfaith dialogue in Turkey today, Fr Claudio says it’s not possible to talk
about Christian –Muslim dialogue as a “dialogue of systems”. The Islamic world,
he says, is very, diverse, very complex and real dialogue is always dialogue
between believers who can meet together “in daily life for the common question
of living together, but also for spiritual and even theological reasons.” Fr
Claudio says he’s increasingly convinced that “real believers are concerned of
the importance to be together as believers, witnesses of a new hope in a world
that suffers a lot, a world that is characterized by violence, and where human
life and dignity are very often forgotten.” It is a huge task, he continues, to
build bridges between believers and although religion may be instrumentalized
by a populist political vision, more and more people are against such
exploitation, preferring to see religion as “ a resource to build a new
relationships between countries and people.”
Asked if he believes
the Pope’s words can have any impact on the political situation in the region,
Fr Claudio says: “I think so…… I am more and more convinced that for example as
Christian and Muslims, we define God as creator. And it’s more and more
difficult to accept, among real believers, that a creator can destroy and can
let lives be destroyed in such a way….. The challenge, he says, is how to
translate and give shape at political level to this “ very deep feeling” but he
says more and more people are saying--- “Not in my name”—the famous
hashtag that many Muslim people all over the world started a few weeks ago
speaking for example about violence and so on..”
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