THE ECUMENICAL DEBATE CALLED TO MIND BY THE POPE’S VISIT
Abdulhamit Bilici
Zaman Online, Turkey
Nov 30 2006
As a country, when we postpone problems facing us that we have been
unable to resolve, we feel we have made gains. However, even though it
may appear this way in the short run, in reality no postponed problem
disappears because we have delayed its resolution. To the contrary,
it grows. In fact, many problems, which until yesterday had a national
character, have now become gangrenous. Before long, they take on an
international nature and give us an even bigger headache.
Despite the reality of our history and society, the method we followed
in the Kurdish issue was precisely this. We weren’t able to accept
the existence of this matter for a long time. Today we are following
a similar path in regard to the Alawi issue. We employed the same
method in Cyprus until about four years ago. Except for one or two
steps taken recently against the Armenian genocide claim, we are not
able to take bold moves. It isn’t necessary to list problems with
non-Muslim minorities, because the government has not even been able
to resolve many issues in its relations with devout Muslims.
If we look carefully, we see that all of these problems have
become internationalized one way or another. An issue’s taking on an
international nature means this: Even if you do not want to, you lose
the freedom of resolving the matter on the basis of your own truths.
Most of the time problems that you did not solve become trump cards
in the hands of others.
Of course, every problem mentioned here may not have an easy
solution. However, the reason most problems grow is their being seen
as insignificant when they first appear or their being neglecting
over a long period. For this reason, the important thing is to have
the will to resolve problems before they develop gangrene. One of
our unresolved problems is the ecumenical issue.
Patriarch Bartholomeos, who is seen as religious leader of the Greek
Orthodox Community by the nearly three thousand Greeks living in
Turkey, uses the adjective "ecumenical," meaning the universal leader
of 300 million Orthodox Christians in the world. Turkey’s objection
to this extends back to Lausanne, where there was discussion of the
Patriarchate being moved outside the country. It is a debate that
has continued for years in the form of dialogue between the deaf, or
arm wrestling. However, the visit to Turkey by Pope Benedict XVI that
began yesterday has brought the issue to the surface again, because
the invitation made two years ago to the pope, religious leader of
1.2 billion Catholics, was an initiative begun by the Patriarchate.
The attempt of the Patriarch, who is just the leader of a handful of
Greeks, to take on the world-wide task of drawing the Orthodox and
Catholics closer together, is incomprehensible when viewed from the
perspective of official suppositions.
The final shape the pope’s visit became possible after intense
diplomatic efforts to salvage this odd situation. The most important
of these is the pope’s being invited as a head of state by Turkish
President Sezer. Actually, his heavy criticism of Islam in a
speech made at the Regensburg University on September 12th and the
subsequent reaction of the Islamic world overshadowed this aspect
of the crisis. However, the adjective "ecumenical" being used on the
press cards distributed by the Patriarchate to reporters who wanted
to follow the pope’s Istanbul program again inflamed the crisis.
The Patriarchate does not hesitate to use this adjective everywhere,
from its official website to international events it participates in.
Patriarch Bartholomeus expressed his approach to this issue in his
latest interview with the Sabah newspaper as follows: "Administering
a church is not easy. Churches in North and South America, England,
Germany, Western Europe, New Zealand, Korea and Hong Kong are tied
to us. But we are not ecumenical! We do not have an ecumenical problem.
We have carried this title since the sixth century. We carried this
title during the Byzantine, Ottoman and Republican periods and we
will continue to carry it. The ecumenical title has created some
difficulty in recent years. They write as if I had invented it…"
Actually there is no full concurrence among the Orthodox on this
subject. According to the Moscow Patriarchate, the concept which
only expresses respect is given other meanings by the Phanariot
administration. Of course, this does not change the fact that everyone
from the U.S. President to the pope accepts this title.
We have to immediately concentrate on a right solution. Personally,
I do not find it appropriate for Turkey’s being a forced to remain
witness to a situation it does not approve of.