Message to His Eminence Metropolitan Filüksinos Yusuf Çetin
on the inauguration of the Mor Ephrem Syriac Orthodox Chuch in Istanbul

8 October 2023

Your Eminence,

It is a joy and an honour for me to take part in this opening ceremony of the Mor Ephrem Syriac Orthodox Church in Istanbul as the representative of His Holiness Pope Francis, alongside so many illustrious religious and civil authorities of this country.

I would like to convey the closeness and prayer of His Holiness Pope Francis to Your Eminence, to the clergy and to all the faithful of the Syriac Orthodox Church on this historic day for your community, which now has this new and splendid church in Istanbul.

This day is also significant for all Christians in Turkey, since the Mor Ephrem Syriac Orthodox Church is officially the first Christian temple to be built since the proclamation of the Republic of Turkey. It is a sign of hope for all Christians living in this country, whose presence here dates back to the very origins of Christianity and continues to contribute, albeit as a minority, to the identity of their homeland, alongside their Muslim brothers and sisters and believers of other faiths.

The construction of this new church also illustrates the fraternal relations between the Catholic Church and the Syriac Orthodox Church, whose Patriarch, His Holiness Moran Mor Ignatius Aphrem II, was in Rome a few days ago and will next Sunday consecrate this church.

I hope that this sacred place will help to deepen the communion already existing among the Christians of this city and this country, with a view to the one spiritual temple that all the baptised are called to form, “built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit”, as the Apostle Paul wrote to the Christians of Ephesus (Eph. 2:22), a place not far from here.

I am convinced that the prayers of Saint Ephrem the Syrian, our common saint and doctor and heavenly patron of this temple, will continue to guide us along this path. With this confidence, I assure Your Eminence and your community once again of the prayerful best wishes and fraternal love of your Catholic brothers and sisters. May the Lord abundantly bless you all!

From the Vatican, 4 October 2023

Kurt Cardinal Koch

Prefect