Thursday, August 25, 2011

Good news for Christians in Turkey

Turkish leaders smooth way for Christians

TURKEY The recently reelected Muslim prime minister of Turkey is making the country more comfortable for its Christian minority. Recep Tayyip Erdogan has granted Turkish citizenship to a number of young Eastern Orthodox bishops around the world. This makes the bishops eligible for leadership in the Patriarchate of Constantinople, currently run by 71-year-old Patriarch Bartholomew and an aging cohort. Erdogan's government has also allowed Christians to reclaim land they had lost illegally, restored old churches, and criticized ultranationalists responsible for recent violence against Christians.


From Christianity Today.

2 comments:

Athanasis Contra Mundum said...

God is great! Some day the Middle East will reconvert to Christianity.

Abu Daoud said...

In sha' allah. The good news here specifically though is that there are multiple people who can be drawn from to be the next Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople. Before there were very few as I believe he has to be a Turkish citizen and do you know how many Orthodox Christians have Turkish citizens nowadays? Very few, but now there are more than before.