Halki seminar
| Halki seminar | |
|---|---|
| founding | October 1, 1844 as a theological college |
| Sponsorship | Ecumenical patriarchy |
| place | Heybeliada (Chalki) |
| country | Turkey |
| management | Chrysostomos Koroneos (last director) |
| Website | - |
The seminary of Chalki ( Greek Θεολογική Σχολή Χάλκης Theologikí Scholí Chálkis , German 'Theological School of Chalki' ), also transcribed Halki , was the most important Christian theological college of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantine until its closure by the Turkish state in 1971 (Heybeliada -Istanbul). The university building is located on Heybeliada (Chalki), one of the Prince Islands in the Marmara Sea .
The seminary building was built next to the ruins of the Holy Trinity Monastery , which was founded by Photius I , Patriarch of Constantinople 858–867 and 878–886. In 1844 the Patriarch Germanos IV rededicated the monastery as a theological college. The inauguration took place on September 23, 1844. All buildings except the chapel were destroyed by an earthquake in June 1894 and later rebuilt by the architect Periklis Fotiadis to be inaugurated in October 1896. A major renovation took place in the 1950s.
Many Orthodox scholars, theologians , bishops and patriarchs , including Bartholomew I , completed their studies in Chalki. Some are also buried on the school grounds.
Closure of the seminar and international criticism
In 1971 the seminary was closed by a Turkish law prohibiting the operation of private universities. In 1998 the Turkish state decreed the dissolution of the Halki trustee company. After international criticism, this decision was reversed. In 1999, US President Bill Clinton visited Halki and asked Turkish President Süleyman Demirel to reopen the university. In October 1998 the Senate and House of Representatives of the US Congress passed resolutions that supported the reopening of Chalki. In the accession negotiations with Turkey, the European Union put the subject of the reopening of the university in connection with obstacles to the free practice of religion by Christians in Turkey on the list of demands made on the candidate country, the Republic of Turkey.
The International Society for Human Rights criticizes the closure of the seminar and sees it as an obstacle to the Republic of Turkey's accession to the EU.
The Turkey is striving to improve the legal situation of religious minorities in the country. With the appointment of the Metropolitan of Bursa , Elpidophoros Lambrinidis as the new abbot of the Trinity Monastery on Chalki, the reopening of the university is on the horizon .
In January 2013, the Turkish newspaper Today's Zaman reported that the Turkish Council of Foundations returned 190 hectares of land to the Holy Trinity Monastery Foundation. Said foundation is the owner of the Chalki seminary. Most of these lands are around the seminar area.
After meeting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Davutoglu on April 25, 2018, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I announced that he was "optimistic" after both Erdogan and Cavusoglu 'assured that the seminary would reopen soon' .
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ The Last Monks from Istanbul Berliner Zeitung, September 25, 2008
- ↑ ISHR: First drive out the Christians, then into the EU? ( Memento from November 10, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Turkey: Soon reopening of the Orthodox seminary in Chalki
- ↑ 190 hectares of forest given back to Halki Seminary ( Memento from January 11, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Today's Zaman, Jan 10, 2013.
- ↑ Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew: Halki Theological School will be opened soon , May 5, 2018, accessed on November 20, 2018
Coordinates: 40 ° 52 '56 " N , 29 ° 5' 42" E