Patriarch Bartholomew is making an appeal to the Turkish government to open the school of Halki which was closed fifty years ago. This is a gesture worthy of support. The closure of Halki constitutes an act of state sponsored discrimination and the controversies Patriarch Bartholomew presides over elsewhere does not relinquish the Turkish government from its responsibilities to respect religious freedom.
Patriarch Bartholomew would have served the Patriarchate better had he concentrated on the problems of his Church in Turkey. Had the Patriarchate not caused division over Ukraine and had the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese in America been in better condition, the fight for Halki (and Hagia Sophia) might have been waged with greater support and sympathy. The Patriarchate is right to accuse Turkey of violating religious freedom but the reality is that the Church of Constantinople is an accomplice to the violation of religious freedom of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church by Ukrainian authorities.
As has been pointed out previously on this blog, the Patriarch and the Archbishop of America have made a major error in aligning with the American foreign policy establishment. Whatever cooperation exists between Constantinople and Washington has not paid off for the Patriarchate. Hagia Sophia has been converted into a Mosque and Halki remains closed.
Patriarch Bartholomew’s American friends have not come to the rescue. It would appear that Washington has no interest in the Patriarchate beyond a common fight against Russia. This means Washington will do nothing on the Halki issue.
The Patriarchate should be more concerned about its destroyed image in Orthodoxy than in maintaining a fraudulent alliance with Washington. If the Patriarchate wants to survive in Constantinople, it must be restored as a bastion of Orthodoxy. This means disavowing its mad Ukrainian venture and reconciling with the Russian Church.