50 years since the Turkish government closed the Greek Orthodox Theological School of Halki

It’s been 50 years since the Turkish government closed the Greek Orthodox Theological School of Halki, also known as the Halki Seminary.

Halki Seminary was the main school of theology of the Eastern Orthodox Church’s Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople until the Turkish parliament enacted a law banning private higher education institutions in 1971.

The school continues to be unable to educate or train clergy in a country with a historical but dwindling Greek Orthodox community. The Halki Seminary’s continued closure poses an obstacle to the survival of that community within Turkey.

This week, host Dwight Bashir is joined by His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros, head of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, to discuss the obstacles that the Ecumenical Patriarchate faces in Turkey today.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew: We are fighting for the reopening of the Theological School of Halki