November 10- Preparing for the Tour

I get dressed in my black suit and tie. This is the dress of the Constantinopolitan clergy outside the Patriarchate and within Church compounds. The clerical collar that people in the west identify with clergy does not exist here. Plus the fact is that wearing Orthodox clothing subjects priests and deacons to derision. There are different rules here.

Turkey is supposedly a secular society but that is becoming blurred as Islam makes its presence known more and more. Of course, the sounds of the muezzin waft over the city at various times of muslim prayer then I see more women with scarves on their heads and then there are some women who wear the full body veil although there faces remain uncovered. It seems to me that there is more accommodation here than some other muslim  countries.

The Turkish flag flies half mast at the Patriarchate and all over Turkey for the Ataturk holiday. My gut instinct is one of revulsion to see the Turkish (Islamic?) flag over the Ecumenical Patriarchate. After all it has the Muslim elements of the crescent moon and star. What is a flag? Is it not an identification of your country and a symbol of Patriotism and love for your country? And the Turkish flag flies everywhere. This is new to me and I am sure that I will see it everywhere for a while. Think about the US flag and where it flies. Buildings, churches, synagogues, government buildings, homes, hospitals, emblazoned on uniforms of all types, bumper stickers on cars. Why cannot the Turks (or any country and nationality) be proud of who they are just as we are?

The United States has a subtle exception to the notion of one nation- one flag. We are a nation of immigrants. We are a nation where someone of our family came to this country be it through colonization of the English, Spanish, Dutch and French, in the 1500's and 1600's or through the influx of immigrants through our nation’s history. We brought over heritage, customs and traditions and let them co-exist. We also have our secondary flags to show our cultural identification. Where else can you see the Mexican, Greek, Cuban, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Israeli, etc,  flags flying side by side with the American flag? Only in America!  We are not a melting pot. We are not coalescing into one unique American culture. We are a wonderful stew!

If the Patriarchate had to hoist another flag, whose would it be? This is the Ecumenical Patriarchate it may be located in Turkey but her children are all over the world. It has been here through the Roman (Byzantine) Empire, Ottoman Empire, and Turkish State. This is her home as it has been since the 4th century. The Church has known plenty and poverty throughout her existence. We can only look at the Russian Church that suffered through communism and now is once again a force in Russia, perhaps even more so that in Tsarist times.

In these modern times with technology and globalization, the Patriarchate may be functioning better, communication better and is more visible since the end of the Ottoman era, but Turkish law still inhibits full exercise of religious freedom and rights. Is that changing slowly? Who would have imagined a Patriarchal liturgy at Panagia Soumela in Pontus some 88 years after the Pontian Greeks left in the exchange of populations? Seeds are laid all the time, the fruit is gathered only in the fullness of time.

Side Note: Grand Archimandrite Athenagoras made an observation that the mosques in Greece- and there are some- hoist the Greek flag and not the flag of another nation. The Greek flag has a cross on it, doesn’t it? They may be a religious minority but they are Greeks nonetheless.

I come down from my room and Panagioti the tour guide is ready. We are going in the mini- van. The gentleman that was in the Cathedral during Orthros is coming as well. So many miles away from California and who is here at the Patriarchate but- Dr John Klentos of the Patriarch Athenagoras Orthodox Institute in Berkely, California on a sabbatical studying the liturgy at the Patriarchate.


I have taken many pictures with my camera. However, I don’t have a way to download them to my computer or upload them on shutterfly/ facebook.