60 Minutes Piece On Christianity In Turkey

[Apotheoun]

[quote name='Lil Red' date='20 December 2009 - 06:36 PM' timestamp='1261359372' post='2023784']
+J.M.J.+
anyone else see the piece on 60 minutes tonight? (hint hint Apotheoun?) opinions?
[/quote]
I live in California, so it has not aired here yet.

[Lil Red]

[quote name='Apotheoun' date='20 December 2009 - 08:05 PM' timestamp='1261361135' post='2023816']
I live in California, so it has not aired here yet.
[/quote]
+J.M.J.+
i'm interested in your thoughts when you see it.

[Apotheoun]

[quote name='Lil Red' date='20 December 2009 - 07:06 PM' timestamp='1261361207' post='2023819']
+J.M.J.+
i'm interested in your thoughts when you see it.
[/quote]
I probably won't be able to see it the interview till much later tonight (I'm recording the program with Media Center), but I will try post some thoughts after viewing it.

[Mercy me]

I was really pleased that 60 Minutes did it but to me it lacked depth. It seemed like there was so much that was left out. OK there is a letter from Mohammad at St. Catherine's, why? Tell me more about Cappadocia. How long has the Church been in Turkey? Since the beginning of the Christianity. Tell me more about the persecution. The closed seminary says a lot but it hinted at much more. To me it seemed to leave me wanting more. It was not quite the typical 60 Minutes story.

[Resurrexi]

I'm disappointed that I missed this. Will there be a re-run?

[Mercy me]

[quote name='Resurrexi' date='21 December 2009 - 01:51 AM' timestamp='1261374697' post='2023941']
I'm disappointed that I missed this. Will there be a re-run?
[/quote]


They usually do their reruns in the summer.

[JimR-OCDS]

I saw the 60 Minutes report on Christianity in Turkey.

The report made me think about how perhaps Islam is actually the religion of the Anti-Christ.

Lets face it, Islam has a history of being very anti-Christian and at times surpassing atheism.



Jim

[Apotheoun]

It was a good segment, because - as limited as it was - it showed the plight of Christians in the Muslim world.

That said, some of the remarks by the narrator at the beginning of the report do not conform to Orthodox ecclesiology (e.g., Bartholomew is not the patriarch of 300 million Orthodox Christians, the word "ecumenical" does not mean "universal," etc.), but nevertheless it was good to see a report on a major television network that highlights the sufferings of Christians (and of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in particular) in Turkey and throughout the Middle East.

[JimR-OCDS]

And yet members of the Turkish government can't understand why the Vatican is opposed to allowing Turkey into the Europian Union.


Jim

Edited December 21, 2009 by JimR-OCDS

[brightsadness]

I saw it. I believe that just as communism was unable to destroy the Church in Poland and the former Soviet Union--rather it has been strengthened and blessed by the New Martyrs, so it will be in the ancient Church of Constantinople. I am saddened, and humbled, and strengthened by the witness of Patriarch Bartholomew and the remaining Christians in Turkey. God grant them many years.

[Apotheoun]

[i][b](CBS) Written by 60 Minutes Associate Producer Magalie Laguerre-Wilkinson.[/b][/i]

Last May I had the privilege of traveling to Istanbul, Turkey. We were heading there to profile the Ecumenical Patriarch of the Orthodox Church, Bartholomew I. I didn't know very much about him. For one, I always assumed the heart of the Orthodox Church was in Athens, Greece. Finding out it was in Istanbul, Turkey was the beginning of my history lesson.

My knowledge of Greco-Turk relations was also very thin and so learning about the fragile position the Orthodox Church finds itself in, in a country that is 99 percent Muslim was also an eye opener. As with all stories done on "60 Minutes" the first step is research; some stories require more than others and this one involved 17 centuries worth of research! I knew that I was going to see Istanbul; Cappadocia in Eastern Turkey, the Sinai in Egypt and our trip would end in Jerusalem. Overall our story was about the Ecumenical Patriarch of the Orthodox Church and the position of Christianity in the part of the world where it all began.

Seeing Istanbul for the first time is like walking into a giant museum; not only is it a beautiful city, but you somehow get a sense that things happened there a very long time ago. Turkey in general is a beautiful country with lovely people and such a rich culture. So I constantly had to remind myself that our story was about a controversial issue in Turkey which had to do with a minority of people - Turks of Greek ancestry - whose presence had gone from a population of nearly 2 million in the early 1920s to only 4,000 today. The story was ultimately about discrimination and the lack of religious freedom on the part of the Turkish government. Our profile of His All Holiness, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew was to be his first on a major American television network and his candor, calm and determination are qualities to be appreciated considering the risk he took in speaking with us.

A slight man in stature, his presence is that of greatness. My first encounter with him is one that I will never forget. I was filming some shots with my camera crew at the Phanar - the Church's headquarters in Istanbul - when someone from His All Holiness's office came to us stating that The Patriarch wanted to meet us right then and there. Because this meeting was not to happen until that evening, I didn?t feel I was appropriately dressed to meet him right then and there. We are so focused on people's perceptions of first impressions that I feared his first impression of me wouldn't have been so positive. I felt - and was - underdressed to meet such a person of his stature, but of course I couldn't exactly say 'no, I'd rather go back and change and meet him later.' So here I am feeling both nervous and shy, walking through these lovely corridors and through two doors.

I walk in and up from his desk Patriarch Bartholomew walks towards me, with his hand out to shake mine and as soon as I felt him, I simply begin to weep. Rarely have I felt someone exude so much goodness, and he just held my hand for what seemed to be a good, long while in the most reassuring way. I composed myself and was invited to sit down.

Someone brought in a treat called "Mastica" which was a sweet, white paste on a spoon in a glass of cold water. I watched as the others began licking their spoons, so I followed and as the Patriarch was licking his, I couldn't help but think that here we are, so relaxed and this man is fighting a battle of survival, the survival of his church. It was really quite surreal.

That evening we had dinner with His All Holiness and other members of The Church. He talked of his travels and his education at the Halki School of Theology, his family and his life. He spoke fondly of his parents and his siblings and growing up on his home island of Imvros. A lot of the conversation was also in French, a language he's more comfortable in than English. Bob Simon and I are lucky to speak it and that made The Patriarch feel more at ease.

After that dinner we were to catch a flight to Cappadocia in Eastern Turkey and His All Holiness was very keen to know what our experience would be there upon our return to Istanbul. He told us that seeing the small churches there would make us better understand why the heart of the Orthodox Church is in Turkey and despite what he feels are efforts on the part of Turkish officials to eventually squeeze the church out of Turkey, seeing Cappadocia would, to him, make us better understand why leaving that land is out of the question.

With barely enough time to rest after our arrival in Cappadocia, our adventure began at about 5:00 a.m. in a hot air balloon. It was my first time in one and my curiosity and excitement about what I was about to see completely overshadowed any fear I had of getting in a balloon. The landscape just took my breath away and yet I also felt as though I was on another planet, or on the set of a George Lucas film. Seeing these caves carved into the side of these stone mountains was something unimaginable. I wondered how the people who lived in these caves survived and yet the evidence is there that these places were lived in for what seemed to be a long time.

I was also surprised to see quite a number of pilgrims there, yet another eye opener that not everything only happens in The Holy Land. Hearing that most of the caves with were built in the late 4th to early 5th centuries and seeing these frescoes painted on their walls just simply rendered me speechless.

We headed back to Istanbul and thanks to our trip to Cappadocia we were better prepared for the formal interview with His All Holiness at the Halki School of Theology.

The Halki was shut down by the Turkish government back in 1971 according to a Turkish law that states that due to that country’s secular position, there can be no religious instruction. The Halki's closure is His All Holiness's greatest battle and he’s determined that in his lifetime the school will reopen because he feels that its closure threatens the future of his church. The school is on a lovely property located on an island called Heybeliada, part of the Princes Islands. We took a private boat to the island from Istanbul because I was told that when His All Holiness would take the regular ferry, many times he was ridiculed and even spat on by non-Christians. The school, built in 1844, is inhabited by about three monks who maintain the grounds with a handful of helpers. It is kept in immaculate condition, at the ready, in case the Turkish government gives permission to reopen its doors. Throughout our tour, His All Holiness showed us the empty dormitories, classrooms and library. By the time we sat down with him he summed up the Turkish government’s actions towards him and his church in one word: crucifixion. Aside from the sniffles heard in that room, one could hear a pin drop.

Following our stay in Turkey, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew also sent us the Saint Catherine's Monastery in the Sinai in Egypt. That was yet another trip back in time and yet so 21st century. Seeing Christian monks living side by side with Bedouins, in total harmony was also an eye opening experience. It was an issue of National Geographic coming to life! It was a very peaceful place and the monks were, for the most part distant, but some were also very friendly and excited to see other faces. Seeing the largest collection of icons, protected by these 25 men was just another mind-blowing experience. I couldn’t believe that I was sleeping in a place, at the foot of Mount Moses (its correct name, I’m told - NOT Mt. Sinai), where Moses came down with the tablets of the Ten Commandments.

The end of our trip took us to Jerusalem and I saw the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Via Dolorosa… All of those Sundays of my life in (Catholic) Church all came to life during this trip; all the references to gospels and apostles were all now real in front of me and simply put, I felt like one of the luckiest people on Earth. What a privilege it was and I will never forget it.


[url="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/12/20/60minutes/main6002674.shtml?tag=contentMain;contentBody"]Read full article and see photos on 60 minute website here[/url]

[Lil Red]

[quote name='Apotheoun' date='23 December 2009 - 12:23 PM' timestamp='1261596213' post='2025086']
[url="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/12/20/60minutes/main6002674.shtml?tag=contentMain;contentBody"]Read full article and see photos on 60 minute website here[/url]
[/quote]
+J.M.J.+
thank you. it is good to read this.

[Apotheoun]

[center][b][size="5"]Nativity Message of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew[/size][/b]

[i][size="3"]BARTHOLOMEW
By God’s Grace
Archbishop of Constantinople-New Rome
and Ecumenical Patriarch[/size][/i][/center]

To the Plenitude of the Church Grace, peace and mercy from the Savior Christ Born in Bethlehem

[indent]Beloved concelebrants and blessed children in the Lord,
Heaven and earth have united
Through the birth of Christ.
Today, God has appeared on earth,
And man has ascended to heaven.
([i]Christmas Hymn[/i])[/indent]
The distance and separation between God and humanity resulting from sin has been abolished with the assumption of the entire human nature by the Only-Begotten Son and Pre-eternal Word of God. It was God’s good will – that is to say, His initiative and will – that the incarnation of His Son should abolish all such distance uniting heaven and earth, as well as creation with its Creator.

During the Feast of the Entrance of the Theotokos, the Church chanted: “Today is the beginning of God’s good will and the proclamation of human salvation.” During that feast, through the dedication of the blessed Mary to the temple and her preparation there to become the bearer of the boundless God, the road was paved for the incarnate dispensation of God, which foretold our salvation.

During the feast of the Annunciation, when the divine conception of the Inconceivable occurred through the Holy Spirit within the womb of the Theotokos and divine nature began to coexist with human nature in order that – as St. Athanasius the Great articulated it – “we might become deified,” the Church again chanted: “Today is the beginning of our salvation and the revelation of the pre-eternal mystery; the Son of God becomes the son of the Virgin.” Thus, the “divine good will” welcomed at the Entrance, as well as the salvation commenced and revealed at the Annunciation, are today rendered a tangible reality, as we celebrate the great and holy day of Christmas. Today, “the Word assumes flesh and dwells among us” (John 1.14), while the Angels celebrate the event, chanting: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will among humankind.” (Luke 2.14)

With the Incarnation of the Divine Word, the salvation of the human race has already potentially occurred. For those who believe in Jesus, live in accordance with this faith, fulfilling His commandments and practicing His teaching, are thereby elevated to become the friends and participants of God! They become “partakers of divine nature” (2 Peter 1.14), gods by grace! This takes place exclusively within the Church, where we are reborn in Christ and adopted by the Father through Holy Baptism and through the holy Sacraments, as well as by cultivation of virtue in order to be filled with divine grace and the Holy Spirit, growing “to maturity, to the measure o the full stature of Christ” (Eph. 4.13) until we reach the level of saying, like St. Paul: “It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.” (Gal. 2.20) Those who acquire such perfection are not regarded by Christ simply as His friends or brothers, but are recognized by Him as members of His Body. This is why, from the height of the Cross, he would say to His Most Holy Mother about the Evangelist John: “Woman, here is your son,” and to John: “Here is your mother.” (John 19.26-27) Christmas, therefore, opens wide the door of human “christification” and deification by grace; and for this reason, “the entire creation rejoices in celebration and the heavens delight with us” on this day of significance and salvation.” (Hymn of December 28)

With these joyful and hopeful realities before us, from the sacred See of the Ecumenical Patriarchate at the Phanar, we extend to you our fervent festive congratulations and wholehearted Patriarch wishes on this central feast of the Christian calendar. We greet all of our beloved faithful throughout the world, the beloved children of the holy Mother Church – clergy of all levels, monastics and laity, pastors and parishioners, and especially those suffering, experiencing sorrow, need or trial. May the pre-eternal Son of God – who was born in a cave and lay in a manger – who for our sake became Son of Man, render all of us worthy of his self-emptying love and of His sacred, venerable incarnate dispensation.

[indent]At the Phanar, Christmas 2009
Bartholomew of Constantinople
Fervent supplicant for all before God[/indent]


Taken from: [url="http://www.patriarchate.org/patriarch/encyclicals"]Ecumenical Patriarchate Encyclicals[/url]

[mortify]

n/m

Edited December 26, 2009 by mortify