 18 Marzo 2024THE REMEMBRANCE OF THE ECUMENISM OF ANTIOCH...
PASSED AWAY ON FEBRUARY 6, 2023
Fr. Domenico Bertogli
I have been living in Turkey for the past 58 years at the service of the church that lives in this country as a Capuchin from Emilia Romagna.
In my initial plan to be a priest outside of Italy,, there was Australia to help the many Italian immigrants in that new continent due to a lack of priests. When I had already begun to study English, my Superior suggested that I come to Turkey, which I did. To date I have spent 21 years as parish priest in Smyrna and 35 in Antioch, while currently, for 15 months, as "patriarch of Antioch", although "emeritus", as they kindly call me, I continue to help in the church of St. Stephen in Yesilkoy Istanbul.
It has been a lifetime and now I can see it as a grace of the Lord to whom all my praise and gratitude belong. When I arrived in Turkey, I myself did not know exactly what I was going to do and what direction I was going to take. Among other things, there was a reputation that was not too exciting, like a church where, it was said, there was nothing to do...
At the beginning it wasn't easy because I found myself in a very different world with no experience behind me except for the one on books! In other words, I saw myself as a child thrown into a tub without knowing how to swim.... Yet I never lost heart because I saw that interesting things could be done with the Lord's help. This is how my priestly-religious adventure began in this land that I began to respect and then love as if it were my country.
During the Covid epidemic I wrote a volume of MEMORIES (334 pages) that may one day be published.
What I have tried to do has always been dictated by the situations in which I have found myself and to which an answer had to be given. I believe that the first twenty years were apprenticeship because Turkey was evolving as it continues to be today, but now with a certain turnaround, even if it is very difficult to go back for a population of 85 million!
An important turning point, after 21 years spent in Smyrna, was in 1987 when I was sent to Antioch, a city rich in Christian history. In addition to, it was there that Jesus' disciples were called Christians for the first time!
It is truly incredible how it was possible to create, in just a few years, a Christian structure in the center of old Antioch, in the old Jewish quarter where Paul, Barnabas, Peter, Mark and the nascent church had worked. It was simply the Lord's work!
In those years, the prior of Bose, Enzo Bianchi, came to our church and enthusiastically exclaimed: finally a Latin church that respects the local tradition, referring to the icons that decorated it. He added another phrase that has always been my guide in acting: remember Dominic, that ecumenism is always gratuitousness! In fact, I had told him that I had begun to celebrate Easter on the same date as the Greek Orthodox, since there were more than a thousand of them compared to the 70-80 Catholics, but always with many perplexities on the part of my confreres, acting without asking for counterpart, but adapting only to their calendar...
Then came the involvement of the Orthodox Church in the celebration of the feast of St. Peter both at the Grotto of St. Peter and in the respective churches to become, the feast of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in Antioch, two days lived in full ecumenism. It began with the Eucharist in the Orthodox Church in the evening of the vigil, then in the morning ecumenical liturgy at the Grotto with the authorities, lunch together and conclusion in the afternoon with Mass in the Catholic Church.
The first ecumenical prayer with the Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch, Ignatius IV in 1992 in St. Peter's Grotto, and the Apostolic Nuncio Msgr. Sergio Sebastiani and our bishop Msgr. Giuseppe Bernardini remains memorable.
Then a Caritas office was opened, involving the Orthodox in helping Christians and in collecting aid during Lent of sharing throughout the community. In the years 2003-5 Caritas Italy financed a charitable social project for the Orthodox Church with a large sum. It had an area with dilapidated houses and there was built a complex with 17 apartments for the poor, 2 halls for social and recreational works and several warehouses to maintain the structure. A concrete example of charity that has been echoed in all the Orthodox Churches of the Middle East! And still without conditions for present and future management. If that's not gratuitousness...
Finally, the pastoral initiatives with the Neocatechumenal Way that has practically helped many Christians of Antioch, mostly Orthodox, to become aware of the gift of baptism which should be lived as an experience with Jesus Christ rather than a cultural fact without impact on personal life.
What has been experienced since 1988, especially the celebration of Easter together with the Orthodox, is hoped for today by many because divided Christians are less and less credible, if not often ridiculed. Let us remember that Jesus left us two signs to call himself his disciples: to be united and to love one another! (St. John, chapters 16-17). If they are lacking, "let us walk in darkness ... and we are liars" (1st John’s letter 1:6 ) as St. John warns us.
Mgr. Luigi Padovese with the Orthodox Bishop of Aleppo Paul Yazici – Fr. Domenico with the Greek Orthodox Patriarch Ignatius IV
What was initially a practical initiative to overcome the problems that existed in the community with various mixed marriages, between Catholics and Orthodox, is now perceived as a necessity that can no longer be postponed.
In Antioch there was no week of prayer for Christian unity: every day we tried to live unity and love together by praying and living "as Christians".
Unfortunately, on February 6, 2023, a terrible earthquake struck south-western Turkey and the city of Antioch “disappeared”!
All that's left was a dream, a beautiful dream!
Yet it was the city of interreligious dialogue, ecumenism, respect and tolerance. With more than 60 dead in the Christian community and 24.171 in other communities, the destruction of places of worship, except that of the Catholic church and the synagogue, there are only ruins and the inhabitants have emigrated elsewhere...
This is my experience in Turkey about ecumenism. I focused on Antioch, because here I was able to live the mission as I dreamed of it with local Christians who speak Turkish, feel they belong to this nation and were proud of it.
For me, the “mission” is always dialogue, listening, respect, collaboration and witness. It is the path indicated to us by St. Francis, of whom I am an unworthy disciple....
Istanbul 25.01.2024
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