The impossibility to have seminaries for the formation of priests and ministers of cult; the impossibility to have priests from abroad, except for the “Latins”, who are not considered Turkish citizens; the submission of the clergy to committees formed by the laity: just some of the restrictions suffered by the religious minorities in Turkey, including the Catholic Church. They are pointed out by the general secretary and spokesman of the Turkish Episcopal Conference, Bishop Georges Marovitch. Over the last year, the representatives of the Christian churches and Jewish community have held various meetings with the government authorities, to try to “put an end to every form of religious discrimination”. The Church risks losing her property. “The Catholic Church explains Msgr. Marovitch is formed of various communities: Latin, Chaldaean, Maronite, Melchite, Armenian Catholic, Syrian Catholic, Bulgarian Catholic and Greek Catholic, all placed under the authority of the Pope, who appoints their bishops. It would be desirable he continues if a newly elected bishop could acquire Turkish citizenship and if new recruits to the priesthood and religious life could be trained in specially created seminaries”. But the difficulties of Turkish Catholics don’t end there. “The Catholic Church reports Marovitch possesses, and has done for centuries, numerous buildings, schools, hospitals and retirement homes, run by religious orders that continue to provide their assistance to citizens without any distinction of race, religion or language. Some of these institutions have juridical recognition; other lack it, with the result that their properties have passed under the general direction of the Foundations and the Treasury. If this trend were to be continued, the Catholic Church would risk losing all its real estate”. That’s why the Turkish Episcopal Conference has long been asking that “expropriated properties be restored to their former owners”. But the Government’s response has not so far been encouraging. And now we await the parliamentary elections on 3 November. It’s forbidden to open seminaries. In a letter of March 2002, addressed to Msgr. Marovitch himself, the prefecture of Istanbul rejected an application to open a seminary. The decision is motivated as the letter explains – “by the reduced number of persons who attend Latin Catholic churches and by the residence permits granted to religious coming from abroad. The department of ‘Culture of religions in the world’, part of the Faculty of Theology at the University of Istanbul, permits the needs of religious personnel to be met”. Similarly, with regard to the request to construct churches, both in new settlements and in tourist centres, the reply of the prefecture of Istanbul has been that “instructions have been given to the departments of Antalya, Aydin and Mugla to restore the churches that have the character of historic monuments under the direct control of the ministry of culture and on condition that their state property be maintained. The churches may be reopened to worship under the direct control of the said ministry and without any distinction of country or religious confession”. Daniele Rocchi
