Wednesday, June 08, 2005

LOWEY STANDS UP FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN TURKEY

"Congresswoman Nita Lowey (D-Westchester/Rockland) Thursday pushed the Speaker of the Turkish Parliament to return property that had been confiscated from the Orthodox Church and allow the reopening of the Theological School at Halki. Lowey pressed for these actions during a congressional delegation trip to Turkey and the Middle East."

"In recent years, the Turkish government has confiscated 75 percent of the 1,747 properties belonging to the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople in Istanbul, Turkey, including an orphanage the Church has held since 1902. The government has also limited to Turkish nationals the candidates available to the Holy Synod for selection as the Ecumenical Patriarch, and has indefinitely closed the Theological School at Halki, preventing the training of Orthodox Christian clergy in Turkey."
Hellenic News of America

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