Istanbul, January 2013

Young People’s Impressions

After the Pilgrimage to Istanbul several young people from different countries and church backgrounds wrote about some of their experiences. Here are a few extracts:Maud (France) – A Way of Trust and Peace For me, finding myself in Istanbul in 2013 was also to be in Byzantium and Constantinople centuries ago! And in the end it was a going back in our own story, returning to one of the places which is a source of our Christian faith. I very much enjoyed meeting those Churches that I knew very (...)

11 March 2013

Pilgrimage, day by day

Immediately after the European Meeting in Rome, Brother Alois, together with several brothers of the community and around one hundred young adults from 25 different countries, went on pilgrimage to Istanbul from January 4-6, 2013. They went to celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany together with Christians of the different Churches of the city and were received in particular by the Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew. Here, one of the brothers tells the story of this pilgrimage.Thursday (...)

21 January 2013

Taizé and the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople

The first contacts between the Taizé Community and the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople go back to the 1960s. In February 1962, Brother Roger and another brother visited Patriarch Athenagoras in Istanbul. He met the Patriarch again at the celebration of the thousand years foundation of Mount Athos and returned a second time to Istanbul in 1970. In Brother Roger’s room, there is still today an icon of the Mother of God that the Patriarch gave him at that last meeting. Brother (...)

15 January 2013

Meditation by brother Alois

We feel a great joy to celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany with you, the Christians of Istanbul. Since our arrival we have gone from one surprise to the next: everywhere, in different churches, we find a warm welcome. Is it not a sign that Christ unites us already, that we are in communion beyond different confessions and traditions? Indeed, through our baptism, we are all part of the Body of Christ. We have come from 25 different countries to join your churches, which themselves are also (...)

14 January 2013

A word of welcome by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew

Dear Brother Alois, Beloved Brothers of the Taizé Community,Dear Young Pilgrims, We are honored to celebrate vespers for the feast of Epiphany at the Phanar with you, and we are happy to join you in prayer with Christians in this historic City. Named after its founder St. Constantine, this celebrated place which you are visiting this week was called Constantinople in earlier times, and it is now referred to as Istanbul - the largest city in Turkey and home to the Ecumenical Patriarchate. The (...)

13 January 2013

Photos of the pilgrimage

10 January 2013