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Vol. 3, # 3

Saturday, June 30, 2007

Reaction to court ruling on Ecumenical Patriarchate

From Zaman:

Verdict on ‘ecumenical’ title causes row

A top Turkish court ruled on Tuesday that the spiritual head of the world's Orthodox Christians, İstanbul-based Patriarch Bartolomeos, has no legal right to use the title ‘ecumenical’ -- a ruling experts suggest is paradoxical for a secular judicial system.

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"There is no legal significance in the court's comments," said Kezban Hatemi, the lawyer defending the Patriarchate. "The court has taken a political decision. The ‘ecumenical’ status is a spiritual and honorary title that has lain with the Fener Greek Patriarchate for 17 centuries, which has no legal status by nature of being a religious institution." She underlined that it was both theoretically and practically impossible to make a "legal" statement concerning ‘ecumenism’.

Hatemi also criticized the court statement that said the Patriarchate does not have any "corporate identity." She told Today's Zaman: "There are assets, foundations and churches registered under the Patriarchate. How can it not have a corporate identity?"

Reiterating that ‘ecumenism’ is a completely spiritual authority, Hatemi said: "For this reason a secular state cannot engage in such a religious discussion. For the secular state there is no difference between 'accepting' and ‘rejecting' ecumenism." She added that the court statement was an unprecedented legal mistake for the Office of the Court of Appeals that made it and that the chamber had acted outside its jurisdiction. Such decisions "deal the biggest damage to the Republic of Turkey," she added.

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From Kathimerini:

US State Department supports ecumenical status of leader

The US State Department said yesterday it supports the ecumenical status of the Istanbul-based Orthodox Patriarch Vartholomaios but stopped short of commenting on a Turkish court ruling that recognizes him only as the spiritual leader of the local Greek community. The Athens Bar Association (ABA) meanwhile said yesterday that the Turkish court’s disputing of the patriarch’s status was politically motivated. “The legal culture in the neighboring country remains undeveloped and is light years behind the respective (culture) in Europe,” it said. On Tuesday, an appeals court ruled that Istanbul-based Vartholomaios is only head of the local Greek Orthodox community. The Turkish government has long sought to curtail Vartholomaios‘s influence and objects to the use of the title “ecumenical” or universal.

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Post columnist slams 'hideous' ground-zero tower plan over rebuilt St. Nicholas

From New York Post:

WHAT A ZERO!

JPMORGAN PLANS HIDEOUS ‘BEER BELLY’ TOWER AT WTC

By STEVE CUOZZO

June 22, 2007 -- HERE’S the first look at JPMorgan Chase’s new headquarters across the street from Ground Zero - a 42-story skyscraper with a stack of floors protruding like a beer belly over a rebuilt church.

How did we end up with this lemon?

The midriff bulge accommodates giant trading floors. The odd design was necessary to save room on the ground for a new St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox church, which will replace the original one destroyed on 9/11, and to minimize shadows on a new park.

The church will be built just north of JPMorgan on the same block, and Liberty Park will be on the block to the west.

Last week, the bank inked a $300 million deal with the Port Authority to build the tower on land where the ruined Deutsche Bank building at 130 Liberty St. is now being demolished.

Like much else at Ground Zero, the JPMorgan building’s bizarre form resulted from ever-changing plans that scrunched in more elements than easily fit.

Trading operations require the largest floors in buildings for Wall Street companies - so they’re usually at the bottom.

But three years ago, the state, city and PA decided to extend the World Trade Center to the block south of Ground Zero. The plan included the new church, the park - and an apartment building.

When JP Morgan came along instead, neighborhood residents expressed fears that giant trading floors starting at ground level would squeeze out the church or cast the park into complete shadow.

The tortured design by architects Kohn Pedersen Fox solves both problems. But it’s a glaring contrast to the eloquent, rational schemes in Ground Zero itself by architects David Childs, Norman Foster, Richard Rogers and Fumihiko Maki.

JPMorgan’s five cantilevered trading floors, starting at the 12th floor, will each have between 50,800 and 55,900 square feet - nearly twice as big as the floors above and below them.

Community Board 1 Chairwoman Julie Menin said, “I’m pleased to hear the preliminary shadow studies look promising,” but she did not want to comment further until a “full architectural presentation” next month.

scuozzo@nypost.com

Note: J.P. Morgan's CEO, James Dimon, the grandson of a Greek immigrant from Smyrna, was quoted on the plans to build at ground zero as saying, "We're going back home. We feel great about it."

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Turkish Court rejects Ecumenical Patriarch status

From Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

By SUZAN FRASER
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

ANKARA, Turkey -- A court Tuesday backed Turkey's long-held position that the Istanbul-based Orthodox Patriarch is only the head of the city's tiny Greek Orthodox community and not the spiritual leader of the world's 300 million Orthodox Christians.

The decision has no influence on the status of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I outside Turkey, where he is regarded as the so-called "first among equals" of the Orthodox leaders. But it bolsters Turkey's strong resistance to acknowledge a wider role for Bartholomew and his ancient Christian enclave.

Turkey has strongly objected to giving concessions to the patriarchate, fearing it could open the doors to similar claims by other minority groups including Kurdish rebels fighting for greater autonomy. Officials in mostly Muslim Turkey also have been suspicious of the patriarchate's close cultural and religious ties to longtime rival Greece.

The court said Turkey could not give "special status" to any minority group. The ruling came as part of an appeals proceeding that upheld Bartholomew's acquittal in a dispute with a Bulgarian priest.

"The Patriarchate, which was allowed to remain on Turkish soil, is subject to Turkish laws," the appeals court ruled. "There is no legal basis for the claims that the Patriarchate is ecumenical."

The Patriarchate's spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment.

Among Orthodox Christians, Bartholomew's position holds great historical weight. The patriarchate dates from the Byzantine Empire, which collapsed when Ottoman forces conquered Constantinople - now Istanbul - in 1453.

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Monday, June 25, 2007

Chris Spirou testifies on Agia Sophia: 'A Holy Site Violated'

See also:

Remarks of Raymond Buckley at The Congressional Human Rights Caucus

Remarks of Steven Schneebaum at The Congressional Human Rights Caucus

From Agia Sophia Council:

Agia Sophia: A Holy Site Violated

Prepared Testimony of:
The Honorable Chris Spirou
President of the “Free Agia Sophia Council of America”

Before the Congressional Human Rights Caucus
Room 2200 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C.
June 20, 2007, 9:00 am

Chairman Lantos and distinguished members of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus.

My name is Chris Spirou. I reside in the great State of New Hampshire and for many years like most of you have been involved in public life in this great country of ours.

I served for fourteen years in the New Hampshire House of Representatives, ten of them as the leader of the Democrats in the House.

In 1984 I was the Democratic nominee for Governor and from 1989 to 1993 I served as Chairman of the New Hampshire Democratic Party.

Chairman Lantos, today I am here as the Founder and President of “The Free Agia Sophia Council of America”. Our Council is made up of Americans from different walks of life, different political affiliations and varied religious beliefs.

The common denominator, which binds us, is that we believe in the right to be free. To think freely, to speak freely and to worship freely. In other words we believe in the basic tenets of Human Rights.

The Free Agia Sophia Council of America has thousands of members throughout the world and has its base in the State of New Hampshire. The Council is duly registered as a non-profit entity and it enjoys 501(c) 3 tax-exempt status.

The mission of the Free Agia Sophia Council of America is To demand that the sanctity of Agia Sophia be observed by the Government of the nation where the Great Church is located. To restore the great Church of Agia Sophia located in Istanbul (former Constantinople), Turkey, as a functioning Church of the Orthodox Christian Faith. To re-establish Agia Sophia as the Holy House of Prayer for all Christians of the world and the Basilica (the Seat) of Orthodoxy that it was before the conquest of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks in 1453 A.D.

Chairman Lantos, I want to thank and to congratulate you personally, and through you the members of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, for organizing the Caucus and for creating this noble vehicle in our country’s legislative process where ordinary citizens, representatives of organizations, religious leaders and concerned activists can come to solicit support for the protection of Human Rights.

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Thursday, June 21, 2007

Mysterious 120 codes in Hagia Sophia have been solved

From Turkish Daily News:

Saturday, June 16, 2007

One of the masterpieces of history of art and the world of architecture, Hagia Sophia was restored many times but the last research unrevealed a big secret, which lies on the marbles

VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU
ISTANBUL - Turkish Daily News

Byzantine construction heroes have recently been revealed thanks to coded signatures they left in the edifice of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. The signatures are a significant finding in the annals of early Byzantine history.

Hagia Sophia was constructed between 532 and 537 at the orders of Emperor Justinian I. In spite of all the research on this mysterious building, there is one detail that until recently everyone missed: the signatures on the marbles.

The signatures were brought to light when a team of six working for Professor Alessandra Guiglia, Department Head of Rome La Sapienza University Byzantine Art History, began her research on the building in early 1990s.

Within the Italian team there is also a Turkish national who is an expert in Byzantine art history, Asnu Bilban Yalçın from the department of Byzantine art at Istanbul University.

The mystery of 120 codes:

Over the past eight years of research the team discovered the signatures of 120 building masters, who constructed Hagia Sophia. The signatures were found on the marbles, pavement, pillars and barrier plaques of the building. The team followed the track of the signatures using a method resembling that was used in the popular film Da Vinci Code. The signatures were compared with other structures from the period of Emperor Justinian.

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Monday, June 18, 2007

Pray for Arat Dink and Sargis Serobyan

From the Diocese of the Armenian Church:

ARCHBISHOP ASKS FOR PRAYERS

Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate of the Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern), asks all Armenians to pray for the well being of Arat Dink, the son of slain journalist Hrant Dink, and another Armenian-Turkish journalist working at Agos, Sargis Serobyan.

The two have been charged under Turkey's Article 301 for "insulting Turkishness" because of their continued work in honoring Hrant Dink's memory. On Thursday, prosecutors were in court seeking up to three years of jail time for the pair in a case stemming from their publication of an interview in which Hrant Dink discussed the Armenian Genocide.

At this time, Archbishop Barsamian asks all Armenians to offer their prayers for the two journalists. He continues to monitor the situation and is in active consultations with leaders around the globe. The Diocese will provide further updates as they become available.

Hrant Dink was assassinated outside the offices of his Agos newspaper in Istanbul on January 19, 2007. Authorities have arrested 19 individuals in the killing.

Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)
www.armenianchurch.net

Saturday, June 16, 2007

ANA covers Chris Spirou press conference

From Athens News Agency:

Group unveils initiative on Hagia Sophia

A nascent international initiative to restore the Hagia Sophia Cathedral in Istanbul as a place of worship for all the world's Christians was outlined here on Thursday by a veteran Greek-American political leader, less than a week before a public hearing is scheduled on the religious monument's condition at the US Congress.

Chris Spirou, a noted New Hampshire Democratic leader and Greek-American political leader, said the organisation he heads up (Free Agia Sophia Council of America) will present evidence showing the "violation" of Eastern Orthodoxy's most renowned basilica over the past 554 years.

"We will demonstrate that the violations have turned this most sacred site for Christians into an international bazaar. We will present our belief, as a Council that believes in human rights, that no government has the right to determine the use of a church or has the right to appoint or approve of religious faiths, to ordain priests or to determine holy figures," Spirou charged in a clear reference to the Turkish government.

He nevertheless stressed -- at the beginning of his comments during a press conference in Athens -- that the initiative has absolutely nothing to do with Greece or sensitive Greek-Turkish relations and US-Turkish relations, or even Greek-US-Turkish relations. He also said he has had no contacts with Greek officials or the Ecumenical Patriarchate over the campaign, noting that he learned of his invitation to appear before the joint Congressional Human Rights Caucus while on a visit to Athens.

"The Ecumenical Patriarch is in the same position as the Hagia Sophia. He (the Patriarch) is in captivity ... I don't want to worsen his position," Spirou said in answer to a press question.

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