The Syriac Catholic Patriarchal Exarchate of Turkey (informally Turkey of the Syriacs) is the presence of the

Syriac Catholic Church The Syriac Catholic Church ( syc, ܥܕܬܐ ܣܘܪܝܝܬܐ ܩܬܘܠܝܩܝܬܐ, ʿĪṯo Suryayṯo Qaṯolīqayṯo, ar, الكنيسة السريانية الكاثوليكية) is an Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Catholic Christianity ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. It is part of the Syriac Catholic Church, an Eastern Catholic particular church that conducts its

liturgy Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. ''Liturgy'' can also be used to refer specifically to public worship by Christians. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and partic ...

in the

Syriac language The Syriac language (; syc, / '), also known as Syriac Aramaic (''Syrian Aramaic'', ''Syro-Aramaic'') and Classical Syriac ܠܫܢܐ ܥܬܝܩܐ (in its literary and liturgical form), is an Aramaic language, Aramaic dialect that emerged during ...

and uses the

West Syrian Rite The West Syriac Rite, also called Syro-Antiochian Rite, is an Eastern Christian liturgical rite that employs the Divine Liturgy of Saint James in the West Syriac dialect. It is practised in the Maronite Church, the Syriac Orthodox Chur ...

. It is under the jurisdiction of the Syriac Catholic Patriarch of Antioch.

History

It was established in 1991 as

Patriarchal Exarchate An exarch (; from Ancient Greek ἔξαρχος ''exarchos'', meaning “leader”) was the holder of any of various historical offices, some of them being political or military and others being ecclesiastical. In the late Roman Empire and ea ...

of Turkey on territory that previously had no proper

ordinary Ordinary or The Ordinary often refer to: Music * ''Ordinary'' (EP) (2015), by South Korean group Beast * ''Ordinary'' (Every Little Thing album) (2011) * "Ordinary" (Two Door Cinema Club song) (2016) * "Ordinary" (Wayne Brady song) (2008) * ...

for the particular church, which previously administered it as a patriarchal vicariate, whose first vicar was promoted to be the first exarch. In 2018, the Syriac Catholic community in Istanbul was leased Sacre Coeur Church, in the

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul, Turkey, located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and Şişli, on the west by Kağıthane and Şişli, on the south by Beyoğlu, and ...

district of the city, by the government to use free of charge for the following 49 years. The church was originally built by the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

in 1910, but was soon taken into possession by the Turkish state and fell into ruin. In the 1970s the Syriac Catholic community settled in Istanbul and, finding no other church available, used the church. In 1997, the community was originally granted the church for 99 years by the Directorate General of Foundations, but this was disputed by the Ministry of Treasury and Finance, before being finally approved on 23 July 2018.Deal gives ownership of Istanbul church to Catholic community
from ''

Daily Sabah The ''Daily Sabah'' (lit. "Daily Morning") is a Turkish pro-government daily, published in Turkey. Available in English, Arabic, and owned by Turkuvaz Media Group, ''Daily Sabah'' published its first issue on 24 February 2014. The editor-in-chief ...

'', 23 July 2018, retrieved 15 February 2021

Patriarchal Exarchs

(all West Syriac Rite) ;''Syriac Catholic Patriarchal Exarchs of Turkey'' * Monsignor

Yusuf Sağ Yusuf Sağ (born 1934 in İdil, Şırnak, Turkey) is the Syriac Catholic chorbishop, who served as the Patriarchal Exarch of the Syriac Catholic Patriarchal Exarchate of Turkey since 1991 until his retirement on 2 July 2017. Life After primary stu ...

(1991 – 2 July 2017), previously last Patriarchal Vicar of Turkey of the Syriacs (1985 – 1991) * Monsignor Orhan Abdulahad Çanli (2 July 2017 - ...)

Bibliography

Patriarchal Exarchate of Turkey
from ''GCatholic.org''. ;References {{DEFAULTSORT:Turkey, Syrian Catholic Patriarchal Exarchate

Turkey Eastern Catholicism in Turkey Catholic Church in Turkey Eastern Catholic dioceses in Turkey Eastern Catholic dioceses in Asia

History

Patriarchal Exarchs

See also

Bibliography