Thaindian News

Ankara, Aug 9 (THAINDIAN NEWS) The world of the Christianity is ruled by the Vatican and the Orthodox Church. Ironically, the second-in-command of the Orthodox Church, which has about 300 million members, lives in a country where most of the people are not Christians.

The person in question is Bartholomew, and he is a Turkish and most of his countrymen are Muslims. In fact it is estimated that 99 percent of Turkish are Muslims and that makes it surprising that the head of the second largest Christian Church is a native of that country.

It ought to be mentioned that Turkey has been a very important country since the death of Jesus Christ. And Bartholomew has come down from the line of most of the Patriarchs. After Jesus Christ’s death, Istanbul that was called - Constantinople was the most important city in the early Christian world.

Referred to as ‘His All Holiness’, Bartholomew spoke with 60 Minutes from his office in Turkey. During the interview, Bartholomew said his office is called Phanar and said it has been the headquarters of the church since 1599. At the interview he was asked that, “I think a lot of people would want to know, your all holiness, why the leader of so many millions of Orthodox Christians in the world lives in a country that is 99 percent Muslim?” And to this query he said that, “Because we are here before this country becomes a Muslim country, much earlier. Since ever. Since the very beginning.”