Autocephalous Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate

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Autocephalous Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate
Bağımsız Türk Ortodoks Patrikhanesi

Founder Papa Eftim I
Independence 1924
Recognition Unrecognized by other orthodox churches
Primate Papa Eftim IV
Headquarters Istanbul
Territory Turkey
Possessions n/a
Language Turkish
Adherents Disputed, 4 - 161[1]
Website n/a

Autocephalous Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate (Turkish: Bağımsız Türk Ortodoks Patrikhanesi), also referred to as the Turkish Orthodox Church (Türk Ortodoks Kilisesi), is a Turkish nationalist denomination, whose doctrine and liturgy is drawn from the Eastern Orthodox Christianity.

Contents

[edit] History

In 1921, Autocephalous Orthodox Patriarchate of Anatolia was founded in Kayseri by Pavlos Karahisarithis who supported the Turkish nationalist struggle. Karahisarithis and his family members were exempted from the population exchange as per a decision of the Turkish government.[2]

In 1924, Karahisarithis started to conduct the liturgy in Turkish, and quickly won support from the new Turkish Republic formed after the fall of the Ottoman Empire. They claimed that the Ecumenical Patriarcate of Constantinople was ethnically-centered and favored the Greek population. Being excomunicated, Karahisarithis who later changed his name into Zeki Erenerol, called a Turkish ecclesial congress that elected him Patriarch in 1924. However most of the ethnic Turkish Orthodox in Turkey and Greece remained affiliated with the Greek (Ecumenical) Patriarchate of Constantinople.

Some 20 churches organised the Turkish Orthodox Church in America in 1966, under the Archbishop Civet Kristof, an African American physician originally named Christopher M. Cragg. In 1969 the church reported 14 churches and 6 mission parishes. The Turkish Orthodox Church continued to exist throughout the 1970s but during the early 1980s, Archbishop Cragg moved to Chicago and opened a health clinic. His stationary carried the title, American Orthodox Church, Diocese of Chicago and North America [3].

In 2008, Sevgi Erenerol, the daughter of Papa Eftim III and the sister of the current primate Papa Eftim IV, who is also the spokeswoman for the Patriarchate was arrested for alleged links with a Turkish nationalist underground organisation named Ergenekon. It was also alleged that the Patriarchate served as the headquarter for the organisation. Sevgi Erenerol is known for her nationalist activities. During the time of Alparslan Türkeş, she ran as a candidate of MHP for the Parliament. [4]

[edit] Patriarchs

  • Papa Eftim I- Born name Pavlos Karahisarithis, later changed to Zeki Erenerol - (1923-1962)
  • Papa Eftim II - Turgut Erenerol, son of Papa Eftim I - (1968-1991)
  • Papa Eftim III - Selçuk Erenerol, son of Papa Eftim I - (1991-2002) - renounced in protest over pressure of the Greek Patriarch of Constantinople, and some months later died.
  • Papa Eftim IV - Paşa Ümit Erenerol, grandson of Papa Eftim I - (2002- )

[edit] Churches

Currently there are three churches in Istanbul, one of whom (Aya Yani) is leased to the Assyrian Church of the East. According to most observers, there are no members outside the Erenerol family.

[edit] Gallery

Meryem Ana Church

[edit] References

  1. ^ Cemaati değil malı olan patrikhane January 30, 2008, Hürriyet (Turkish)
  2. ^ Cemaati değil malı olan patrikhane January 30, 2008, Hürriyet (Turkish)
  3. ^ Melton, J. Gordon (ed.). The Encyclopedia of American Religions: Vol. 1. Tarrytown, NY: Triumph Books (1991); pg. 135
  4. ^ Ergenekon’un karargahı Türk Ortodoks Kilisesi January 28, 2008, Milliyet (Turkish)

[edit] See also