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Autocephalous Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate

December 15, 2023

The Autocephalous Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate (Turkish: Bağımsız Türk Ortodoks Patrikhanesi), also referred to as the Turkish Orthodox Church (Turkish: Türk Ortodoks Kilisesi), is an unrecognized autocephalous Eastern Orthodox organisation based in Turkey, descending from Turkish-speaking Eastern Orthodox Christians, the Karamanlides, with approximately 30 members.[1][2] It was founded in Kayseri by Pavlos Karahisarithis, who became the Patriarch and took the name of Papa Eftim I, in 1922.[3]

Autocephalous Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate
Bağımsız Türk Ortodoks Patrikhanesi
TypeEastern Orthodox
ClassificationIndependent Eastern Orthodox
PrimatePapa Eftim IV
RegionTurkey
LanguageTurkish
LiturgyByzantine Rite
HeadquartersMeryem Ana Church, Istanbul
TerritoryTurkey, United States
FounderPapa Eftim I
Origin1922 in Kayseri
Independence1924
RecognitionUnrecognized by other Eastern Orthodox churches
Separated fromGreek Orthodox Church (1922)
Members30[1][2]

General Congregation of the Anatolian Turkish Orthodox edit

Main article: General Congregation of the Anatolian Turkish Orthodox
 
Official insignia of the Autocephalous Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate

The start of the Patriarchate can be traced to the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922). In 1922 a pro-Turkish Eastern Orthodox group, the General Congregation of the Anatolian Turkish Orthodox (Turkish: Umum Anadolu Türk Ortodoksları Cemaatleri), was set up with the support from the Orthodox bishop of Havza, as well as a number of other congregations[4] representing a genuine movement among the Turkish-speaking, Eastern Orthodox Christian population of Anatolia[3] who wished to remain both Eastern Orthodox and Turkish.[5] There were calls to establish a new Patriarchate with Turkish as the preferred language of Christian worship.[6]

Foundation edit

On 15 September 1922 the Autocephalous Orthodox Patriarchate of Anatolia was founded in Kayseri by Pavlos Karahisarithis, a supporter of the General Congregation of the Anatolian Turkish Orthodox.[3]

The same year, his supporters, with his tacit support, assaulted Patriarch Meletius IV of Constantinople on 1 June 1923.[7]

With a new Ecumenical Patriarch Gregory VII elected on 6 December 1923 after the abdication of Meletius IV, there was another occupation by Papa Eftim I and his followers, when he besieged the Patriarchate for the second time. This time around, they were evicted by the Turkish police.[8]

In 1924, Karahisarithis started to conduct the Christian liturgy in Turkish, and quickly won support from the new Turkish Republic formed after the defeat and dissolution of the Ottoman Empire (1908–1922).[9] The church remains a staunch supporter of the Republic system of Turkey, and the church's spokeswoman vowed to defend it against any threats.[10]

 
Entrance to the Meryem Ana (Virgin Mary) Turkish Orthodox Church in Galata, Istanbul

On 6 June 1924, in a conference in the Church of the Virgin Mary (Meryem Ana in Turkish) in Galata, it was decided to transfer the headquarters of the Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate from Kayseri to Istanbul. In the same session it was also decided that the Church of Virgin Mary would become the headquarter of the new Patriarchate of the Turkish Orthodox Church.[3]

Karahisarithis and his family members were exempted from the population exchange as per a decision of the Turkish government.[11]

Attempts of integrating the Gagauz to the church edit

There have been a number of attempts from the 1930s into the 21st century to tie the Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate with the ethnically Turkic, Greek Orthodox Gagauz minority in Bessarabia.[12]

A similar project was put into motion in October 2018, when the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited the Republic of Moldova and toured the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia.[13]

Alleged links to the Ergenekon affair edit

On 22 January 2008, Sevgi Erenerol [tr], granddaughter of the Autocephalous Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate's founder Papa Eftim I, daughter of Papa Eftim III, and sister of the current primate Papa Eftim IV, was arrested for alleged links with a Turkish nationalist underground organization named Ergenekon. At the time of her arrest, she was the spokeswoman for the Patriarchate. It was also alleged that the Patriarchate served as headquarters for the Ergenekon network. Sevgi Erenerol was well known for her militancy in Turkish nationalist activities, as well as for her antagonism to the Ecumenical Greek Patriarchate and the Armenian Apostolic Church. During the time of Alparslan Türkeş, she had run as a parliamentary candidate for the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), political arm of the Turkish far-right and ultra-nationalist Grey Wolves paramilitary organization.[14] On August 5, 2013, Sevgi Erenerol was found guilty of involvement in the so-called "Ergenekon conspiracy" and sentenced to life imprisonment.[15][16] After the retrial she was found not guilty and released on 12 March 2014.[17]

List of Patriarchs of the Turkish Orthodox Church edit

Deputy Patriarch
  • Prokobiyos (1922-1923) - also known as Prokopios Lazaridis and Prokopios of Iconium, was the metropolitan bishop of Konya. He was elected as the deputy patriarch of General Congregation of the Anatolian Turkish Orthodox in 1922.[18] He died in prison on 31 March 1923.[18]
Patriarchs
  • Papa Eftim I (1923–1962) - Born name Pavlos Karahisarithis, later changed to Zeki Erenerol. As the founder of the Turkish Orthodox Church, he was awarded the "Medal of Independence", the highest decoration of the Republic of Turkey.[19] Following the death of Prokobiyos, he served as the spiritual leader of the Turkish Orthodox Church until 1926. He was elected as the patriarch in 1926 just after his consecration. He resigned due to health reasons in 1962 and died on 14 March 1968.
  • Papa Eftim II (1962–1991) - Born name Yorgo, later changed to Turgut Erenerol, elder son of Papa Eftim I. Died on 9 May 1991.
  • Papa Eftim III (1991–2002) - Selçuk Erenerol, younger son of Papa Eftim I. He died on 20 December 2002 just weeks after his resignation.
  • Papa Eftim IV (2002- ) - Paşa Ümit Erenerol, grandson of Papa Eftim I and son of Papa Eftim III. Current primate of the church.

Churches edit

 
Meryem Ana Church

Today, three churches are owned by Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate and all of them are located in Istanbul.

  • Meryem Ana Church in Karaköy, is the headquarters of the Patriarchate. The church is located at Ali Paşa Değirmen St. 2, Karaköy. It was built in 1583 by Tryfon Karabeinikov, and was known as the Panaiya Church (in Greek Pan-Hagia Kaphatiani)[13] because it was founded by the Crimean Orthodox community of Kaffa. The church underwent a number of fires and several reconstructions with the major one in 1840, the date to which the present construction belongs. The church community left the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople on March 5, 1924, and adhered to newly found Turkish Orthodox Church.[20] The church's name was changed to Meryem Ana Church (Mother Mary Church) by the Autocephalous Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate in 2006 in honor of Virgin Mary.[13]
  • Aziz Nikola Church (in Greek Hagios Nicholaus)[13]
  • Aziz Yahya Church (in Greek Hagios Ioannis Prodromos).[13]

In 1924, Eftim I acquired the Hristos Church illegally from the owner, the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Hristos Church was returned to the Ecumenical Patriarchate in 1947, after a legal case, only to be confiscated and bulldozed later on for road enlargement. Compensation for the bulldozed church was paid however to the Erenerol family foundation instead of the Eastern Orthodox community.[13]

Turkish Orthodox Church in the United States edit

Main article: Turkish Orthodox Church in the United States

The Turkish Orthodox Church in the United States was an Old Catholic group of 20 predominantly African American churches in the United States loosely linked to the Patriarchate. It formed in 1966 under Christopher M. Cragg, an African American physician. He was consecrated by Papa Eftim II in 1966 with the name of Civet Kristof. It continued to exist throughout the 1970s, but fell away in the early 1980s when Cragg opened a clinic in Chicago.[21]

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Türkiye'de ortaya çıkan Rum Ortodoks Kilisesi kim veya nedir?". Zentralrat Orientalischer Christen in Deutschland e.V. (in German). Retrieved 2023-03-09.
  2. ^ a b "Türkiye'nin din haritası çizildi". Milliyet (in Turkish). 28 October 2009. Retrieved 2023-03-09.
  3. ^ a b c d "The Political Role of the Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate (so-called)". www.atour.com. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  4. ^ Özdalga, Elisabeth (2006-03-07). The Last Dragoman: Swedish Orientalist Johannes Kolmodin as Scholar, Activist, and Diplomat. I. B. Tauris. p. 152. ISBN 978-91-86884-14-7.
  5. ^ Luffin, Xavier (2000). "Baba Eftim et l'Église orthodoxe turque: De l'usage politique d'une institution religieuse". Journal of Eastern Christian Studies. 52 (1–2): 73–95. doi:10.2143/JECS.52.1.565615.
  6. ^ Özdalga, Elisabeth (2006-03-07). The Last Dragoman: Swedish Orientalist Johannes Kolmodin as Scholar, Activist, and Diplomat. I. B. Tauris. p. 153. ISBN 978-91-86884-14-7.
  7. ^ "Ecumenical Patriarchate Under the Turkish Republic". www.orthodoxchristianity.net. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  8. ^ "The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate and the Turkish-Greek Relations, 1923-1940". Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  9. ^ HELICKE, JAMES C. (2002-12-20). "Leader of Turkish Nationalist Church Dies". Midland Daily News. Retrieved 2023-03-09.
  10. ^ "Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate vows to 'defend republic under all circumstances'". www.duvarenglish.com. Retrieved 2023-03-16.
  11. ^ Ayda Kayar and Mustafa Kinali, "Cemaati değil malı olan patrikhane," Hürriyet, January 30, 2008 (in Turkish)
  12. ^ The Political Role of the Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate (so-called) by Dr. Racho Donef
  13. ^ a b c d e f Abdullah Bozkurt (5 February 2019). "Turkish intel agency-linked bogus Orthodox church campaigns against ecumenical patriarch". NordicMonitor.com. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  14. ^ . Milliyet. 28 January 2008. Archived from the original on 2008-01-31. Retrieved 2023-03-09.
  15. ^ Gul Tuysuz Talia Kayali and Joe Sterling. "Ex-military chief gets life in Turkish trial". CNN. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  16. ^ "Bianet: Verdict Issued in Ergenekon Case". Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  17. ^ "Sevgi Erenerol tahliye edildi". CNN Türk (in Turkish). Retrieved 2020-03-05.
  18. ^ a b Turkish Orthodox Christians & The Establishment of the Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate, Türk-İslam Medeniyeti Akademik Araştırmalar Dergisi, 2009. vol.8, p.7
  19. ^ . Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2013-08-27.
  20. ^ Türkiye'de Din İmtiyazları, Ankara University Journal of Faculty of Law. 1953, C.X. p.1
  21. ^ Melton, J. Gordon (ed.). The Encyclopedia of American Religions: Vol. 1. Tarrytown, NY: Triumph Books (1991); pg. 135

Further reading edit

  • Dr. Bestami Sadi Bilgic, "", Turkish Weekly, June 15, 2005 (about the Phanar occupation episode).
  • Xavier Luffin, "Le Patriarcat orthodoxe turc", Het Christelijk Oosten, 52, Nimègue, 2000, p. 73-96.
  • Xavier Luffin, "Baba Eftim et l'Église orthodoxe turque - De l'usage politique d'une institution religieuse", Journal of Eastern Christian Studies, Volume 52, issue 1-2, 2000 (abstract in Journal of Eastern Christian Studies).
  • Harry J. Psomiades, "", Balkan Studies 2, Thessaloniki, 1961, pp. 47-70.
  • J. Xavier, "An Autocephalus Turkish Orthodox Church", Eastern Church Review, 3 (1970/1971).

December 15, 2023
autocephalous, turkish, orthodox, patriarchate, turkish, bağımsız, türk, ortodoks, patrikhanesi, also, referred, turkish, orthodox, church, turkish, türk, ortodoks, kilisesi, unrecognized, autocephalous, eastern, orthodox, organisation, based, turkey, descendi. The Autocephalous Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate Turkish Bagimsiz Turk Ortodoks Patrikhanesi also referred to as the Turkish Orthodox Church Turkish Turk Ortodoks Kilisesi is an unrecognized autocephalous Eastern Orthodox organisation based in Turkey descending from Turkish speaking Eastern Orthodox Christians the Karamanlides with approximately 30 members 1 2 It was founded in Kayseri by Pavlos Karahisarithis who became the Patriarch and took the name of Papa Eftim I in 1922 3 Autocephalous Turkish Orthodox PatriarchateBagimsiz Turk Ortodoks PatrikhanesiTypeEastern OrthodoxClassificationIndependent Eastern OrthodoxPrimatePapa Eftim IVRegionTurkeyLanguageTurkishLiturgyByzantine RiteHeadquartersMeryem Ana Church IstanbulTerritoryTurkey United StatesFounderPapa Eftim IOrigin1922 in KayseriIndependence1924RecognitionUnrecognized by other Eastern Orthodox churchesSeparated fromGreek Orthodox Church 1922 Members30 1 2 Contents 1 General Congregation of the Anatolian Turkish Orthodox 2 Foundation 3 Attempts of integrating the Gagauz to the church 4 Alleged links to the Ergenekon affair 5 List of Patriarchs of the Turkish Orthodox Church 6 Churches 7 Turkish Orthodox Church in the United States 8 References 9 Further readingGeneral Congregation of the Anatolian Turkish Orthodox editMain article General Congregation of the Anatolian Turkish Orthodox nbsp Official insignia of the Autocephalous Turkish Orthodox PatriarchateThe start of the Patriarchate can be traced to the Greco Turkish War 1919 1922 In 1922 a pro Turkish Eastern Orthodox group the General Congregation of the Anatolian Turkish Orthodox Turkish Umum Anadolu Turk Ortodokslari Cemaatleri was set up with the support from the Orthodox bishop of Havza as well as a number of other congregations 4 representing a genuine movement among the Turkish speaking Eastern Orthodox Christian population of Anatolia 3 who wished to remain both Eastern Orthodox and Turkish 5 There were calls to establish a new Patriarchate with Turkish as the preferred language of Christian worship 6 Foundation editOn 15 September 1922 the Autocephalous Orthodox Patriarchate of Anatolia was founded in Kayseri by Pavlos Karahisarithis a supporter of the General Congregation of the Anatolian Turkish Orthodox 3 The same year his supporters with his tacit support assaulted Patriarch Meletius IV of Constantinople on 1 June 1923 7 With a new Ecumenical Patriarch Gregory VII elected on 6 December 1923 after the abdication of Meletius IV there was another occupation by Papa Eftim I and his followers when he besieged the Patriarchate for the second time This time around they were evicted by the Turkish police 8 In 1924 Karahisarithis started to conduct the Christian liturgy in Turkish and quickly won support from the new Turkish Republic formed after the defeat and dissolution of the Ottoman Empire 1908 1922 9 The church remains a staunch supporter of the Republic system of Turkey and the church s spokeswoman vowed to defend it against any threats 10 nbsp Entrance to the Meryem Ana Virgin Mary Turkish Orthodox Church in Galata IstanbulOn 6 June 1924 in a conference in the Church of the Virgin Mary Meryem Ana in Turkish in Galata it was decided to transfer the headquarters of the Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate from Kayseri to Istanbul In the same session it was also decided that the Church of Virgin Mary would become the headquarter of the new Patriarchate of the Turkish Orthodox Church 3 Karahisarithis and his family members were exempted from the population exchange as per a decision of the Turkish government 11 Attempts of integrating the Gagauz to the church editThere have been a number of attempts from the 1930s into the 21st century to tie the Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate with the ethnically Turkic Greek Orthodox Gagauz minority in Bessarabia 12 A similar project was put into motion in October 2018 when the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited the Republic of Moldova and toured the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia 13 Alleged links to the Ergenekon affair editOn 22 January 2008 Sevgi Erenerol tr granddaughter of the Autocephalous Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate s founder Papa Eftim I daughter of Papa Eftim III and sister of the current primate Papa Eftim IV was arrested for alleged links with a Turkish nationalist underground organization named Ergenekon At the time of her arrest she was the spokeswoman for the Patriarchate It was also alleged that the Patriarchate served as headquarters for the Ergenekon network Sevgi Erenerol was well known for her militancy in Turkish nationalist activities as well as for her antagonism to the Ecumenical Greek Patriarchate and the Armenian Apostolic Church During the time of Alparslan Turkes she had run as a parliamentary candidate for the Nationalist Movement Party MHP political arm of the Turkish far right and ultra nationalist Grey Wolves paramilitary organization 14 On August 5 2013 Sevgi Erenerol was found guilty of involvement in the so called Ergenekon conspiracy and sentenced to life imprisonment 15 16 After the retrial she was found not guilty and released on 12 March 2014 17 List of Patriarchs of the Turkish Orthodox Church editDeputy PatriarchProkobiyos 1922 1923 also known as Prokopios Lazaridis and Prokopios of Iconium was the metropolitan bishop of Konya He was elected as the deputy patriarch of General Congregation of the Anatolian Turkish Orthodox in 1922 18 He died in prison on 31 March 1923 18 PatriarchsPapa Eftim I 1923 1962 Born name Pavlos Karahisarithis later changed to Zeki Erenerol As the founder of the Turkish Orthodox Church he was awarded the Medal of Independence the highest decoration of the Republic of Turkey 19 Following the death of Prokobiyos he served as the spiritual leader of the Turkish Orthodox Church until 1926 He was elected as the patriarch in 1926 just after his consecration He resigned due to health reasons in 1962 and died on 14 March 1968 Papa Eftim II 1962 1991 Born name Yorgo later changed to Turgut Erenerol elder son of Papa Eftim I Died on 9 May 1991 Papa Eftim III 1991 2002 Selcuk Erenerol younger son of Papa Eftim I He died on 20 December 2002 just weeks after his resignation Papa Eftim IV 2002 Pasa Umit Erenerol grandson of Papa Eftim I and son of Papa Eftim III Current primate of the church Churches edit nbsp Meryem Ana ChurchToday three churches are owned by Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate and all of them are located in Istanbul Meryem Ana Church in Karakoy is the headquarters of the Patriarchate The church is located at Ali Pasa Degirmen St 2 Karakoy It was built in 1583 by Tryfon Karabeinikov and was known as the Panaiya Church in Greek Pan Hagia Kaphatiani 13 because it was founded by the Crimean Orthodox community of Kaffa The church underwent a number of fires and several reconstructions with the major one in 1840 the date to which the present construction belongs The church community left the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople on March 5 1924 and adhered to newly found Turkish Orthodox Church 20 The church s name was changed to Meryem Ana Church Mother Mary Church by the Autocephalous Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate in 2006 in honor of Virgin Mary 13 Aziz Nikola Church in Greek Hagios Nicholaus 13 Aziz Yahya Church in Greek Hagios Ioannis Prodromos 13 In 1924 Eftim I acquired the Hristos Church illegally from the owner the Ecumenical Patriarchate Hristos Church was returned to the Ecumenical Patriarchate in 1947 after a legal case only to be confiscated and bulldozed later on for road enlargement Compensation for the bulldozed church was paid however to the Erenerol family foundation instead of the Eastern Orthodox community 13 Turkish Orthodox Church in the United States editMain article Turkish Orthodox Church in the United States The Turkish Orthodox Church in the United States was an Old Catholic group of 20 predominantly African American churches in the United States loosely linked to the Patriarchate It formed in 1966 under Christopher M Cragg an African American physician He was consecrated by Papa Eftim II in 1966 with the name of Civet Kristof It continued to exist throughout the 1970s but fell away in the early 1980s when Cragg opened a clinic in Chicago 21 References edit a b Turkiye de ortaya cikan Rum Ortodoks Kilisesi kim veya nedir Zentralrat Orientalischer Christen in Deutschland e V in German Retrieved 2023 03 09 a b Turkiye nin din haritasi cizildi Milliyet in Turkish 28 October 2009 Retrieved 2023 03 09 a b c d The Political Role of the Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate so called www atour com Retrieved 21 January 2019 Ozdalga Elisabeth 2006 03 07 The Last Dragoman Swedish Orientalist Johannes Kolmodin as Scholar Activist and Diplomat I B Tauris p 152 ISBN 978 91 86884 14 7 Luffin Xavier 2000 Baba Eftim et l Eglise orthodoxe turque De l usage politique d une institution religieuse Journal of Eastern Christian Studies 52 1 2 73 95 doi 10 2143 JECS 52 1 565615 Ozdalga Elisabeth 2006 03 07 The Last Dragoman Swedish Orientalist Johannes Kolmodin as Scholar Activist and Diplomat I B Tauris p 153 ISBN 978 91 86884 14 7 Ecumenical Patriarchate Under the Turkish Republic www orthodoxchristianity net Retrieved 21 January 2019 The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate and the Turkish Greek Relations 1923 1940 Retrieved 21 January 2019 HELICKE JAMES C 2002 12 20 Leader of Turkish Nationalist Church Dies Midland Daily News Retrieved 2023 03 09 Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate vows to defend republic under all circumstances www duvarenglish com Retrieved 2023 03 16 Ayda Kayar and Mustafa Kinali Cemaati degil mali olan patrikhane Hurriyet January 30 2008 in Turkish The Political Role of the Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate so called by Dr Racho Donef a b c d e f Abdullah Bozkurt 5 February 2019 Turkish intel agency linked bogus Orthodox church campaigns against ecumenical patriarch NordicMonitor com Retrieved 2 June 2020 Ergenekon un karargahi Turk Ortodoks Kilisesi Milliyet 28 January 2008 Archived from the original on 2008 01 31 Retrieved 2023 03 09 Gul Tuysuz Talia Kayali and Joe Sterling Ex military chief gets life in Turkish trial CNN Retrieved 21 January 2019 Bianet Verdict Issued in Ergenekon Case Retrieved 21 January 2019 Sevgi Erenerol tahliye edildi CNN Turk in Turkish Retrieved 2020 03 05 a b Turkish Orthodox Christians amp The Establishment of the Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate Turk Islam Medeniyeti Akademik Arastirmalar Dergisi 2009 vol 8 p 7 Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy Archived from the original on 2016 03 04 Retrieved 2013 08 27 Turkiye de Din Imtiyazlari Ankara University Journal of Faculty of Law 1953 C X p 1 Melton J Gordon ed The Encyclopedia of American Religions Vol 1 Tarrytown NY Triumph Books 1991 pg 135Further reading editDr Bestami Sadi Bilgic The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate and the Turkish Greek Relations 1923 1940 Turkish Weekly June 15 2005 about the Phanar occupation episode Xavier Luffin Le Patriarcat orthodoxe turc Het Christelijk Oosten 52 Nimegue 2000 p 73 96 Xavier Luffin Baba Eftim et l Eglise orthodoxe turque De l usage politique d une institution religieuse Journal of Eastern Christian Studies Volume 52 issue 1 2 2000 abstract in Journal of Eastern Christian Studies Harry J Psomiades The Ecumenical Patriarchate Under the Turkish Republic The First Ten Years Balkan Studies 2 Thessaloniki 1961 pp 47 70 J Xavier An Autocephalus Turkish Orthodox Church Eastern Church Review 3 1970 1971 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Autocephalous Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate amp oldid 1179538738, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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