Humbly sharing

“Living here, sharing our daily life, showing friendship and respect without making too much noise”, for Franciscan Fr. Ruben Tierrablanca, this is the prescription for dialogue between the Turkish, Islamic and Christian worlds. The ingredients result from seven years of ordeals, begun in 2003, when the international Fraternity of the Order of Friars Minor for ecumenical and inter-religious dialogue settled down in Istanbul. “Ours is a life of prayer and community – the Franciscan Fathers told SIR Europe – we have a rather large group of faithful, including some Turks, but the majority are foreigners. On Sunday, Turks and foreigners convene in our church of the Holy Virgin. Our time is devoted also to spiritual formation and to the organization of events for encounter and friendship. One of these activities is the formation of missionaries. We used to go to Brussels for the course, now the future missionaries come here in Istanbul for their formation, in close communion with the local Catholic Church”.The life of Christian communities in Turkey isn’t easy. The murders of Fr. Andrea Santoro and of Msgr. Luigi Padovese, along with widespread intimidations and acts of violence perpetrated by members of ultranationalist factions against Christian faithful and priests, cause a chasm. “After the murder of Msgr. Padovese past June”, said Fr. Tierrablanca, “the apostolic administrator, Msgr. Ruggero Franceschini, pastor of the diocese of Smirne, closed the church in Iskenderun. Franceschini himself, during the Synod for the Middle East, asked that a new bishop be appointed to replace Msgr. Padovese. A new pastor would be a dream. The Christian community in Iskenderun is very small, there is the need for someone that will fulfill their spiritual needs and for priests that are specifically formed for this mission”.The Fraternity in Istanbul is composed of four religious, a Congolese, a Frenchman, a Korean, and a Mexican, father Ruben. “It’s the charisma of ecumenical and interreligious dialogue. Much of our effort is devoted to this field – said Fr. Tierrablanca -. We cooperate with other Christian denominations, although the initiative is almost always taken by the Catholic Church. We do out best to attend the liturgies and the initiatives of the other Churches so as to make the most of all opportunities of encounter. Next November 30 we will be at the ecumenical Patriarchate for the feast of St. Andrew. A representative of the Orthodox Church often returns the visit by attending our celebrations. Our efforts of dialogue are not rejected, although we do acknowledge difficulties”. Father Ruben conveys his joy when recalling the procession of January 6, “the only day when the Orthodox are allowed to wear their religious habit. The procession led by patriarch Bartholomew I marches up to the sea where a Cross is placed in memory of the baptism of Christ, which is recovered by the swimming youth and returned to the Patriarch, who brings it back to the church. For the event we wear our cassocks. The event is attended by a lot of people. Given the habitual presence of nationalist protesters there are also hundreds of policemen guarding the area. Istanbul is a well-controlled city and the police are firm when it comes to extremist groups. A different atmosphere is felt in Tarsus or in Konya, these are more difficult places, compared to Istanbul. However, I am convinced that also in these cases it is possible to engage in dialogue with Islam”. Another important aspect of the commitment of the Fraternity of father Ruben is that of the dialogue with Islam, which is based “on mutual understanding and friendship”. In fact, far from the theological dialogue, there is daily ongoing communication with Muslims. “If you live with them, if they know you, if you show good will and friendship Islam will draw close”, underlines the Franciscan, who in order to underline the concreteness of his phrase reveals: “we have Mosques where to pray, if we want. We cannot pray with them but we can accompany them with our heart during Friday prayer without wearing our religious habit. One of the mosques is the one of Sisli where there are groups of Sufis, the Islamic mystics with whom we have established a relationship based on friendship and respect. Every year we gather for a joint interreligious prayer, on October 27, in memory of the major prayer for peace in Assisi called by John Paul II, in 1986. The prayer is organized in our church, where our Muslim brothers take part with their dance”. “Mutual understanding – continues father Ruben – enables us to speak openly of the theological differences and this is a way to step up faith, respect, and friendship”. According to the Franciscan Father, Turkey’s adhesion to the EU would boost interfaith dialogue. “Turkey’s EU membership requires a transformation that must take place slowly and gradually in order to be effective. It will be a new page for the life of the Catholic Church, since it entails what we are lacking today, religious freedom most of all. The limits imposed by Turkish laws can be overcome if the Turkish government will respect European regulations”.A last thought is addressed to the pilgrims, who are ever more numerous after the Pauline Year: “they give us the hope along with the certainty that their reception is fundamental to preserve our presence despite our low numbers. The Church was born here, in Antioch, already at the time there few faithful, now it’s the same. Being few makes us stronger in the faith and efficient in our Christian witness”.