Marta Sömek

On the third day of his visit to Turkey, Pope Leo XIV gave a sermon and celebrated Mass at the Maslak (İstanbul) Volkswagen Arena in front of thousands of people. Attendance at the sermon and Mass was high. Clergy from other Christian communities also joined the Pope on stage. Reservations for the sermon, which was a first, were filled days in advance.

Twenty patriarchs and clergy gathered in Iznik after 1700 years and prayed together with Pope Leo XIV in the ancient Basilica of Saint Neophytos. The spirit of "unity" signed in Iznik came to the fore once again after 1700 years.

Pope Leo XIV's "prayer meeting" at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit - Saint Esprit became a shared expression of enthusiasm that overflowed the cathedral and centuries-old faith. Hundreds of people witnessed the historic ceremony that transformed the Pope's "First Apostolic Journey" into a divine moment, as the spirit of "unity" from the First Council of Nicaea prevailed.

Şimuni Diril, a Chaldean couple believed to have disappeared in the village of Mehre in Şırnak on January 7, 2020, was found murdered by their children on March 17. Hurmüz Diril, who turns 76 today, has been missing for five years. His daughter, Gülcan Diril Üzümcü, said, "My father's age remains 71. This is murder, and my father is missing. I do not accept its normalization. As Assyrians and Chaldeans, meeting our demand for justice is not a favor, but an urgent necessity."

The Syriac community in Turkey, which has only one kindergarten, is unable to benefit from the right to education in their mother tongue. Thanks to the initiative of Adem Coşkun, an expert on the Syriac people and president of the Turabdin Institute, the first Syriac language course in the history of the Republic was launched in March in Midyat. Coşkun, who taught 29 students over the three-month course, stated, “The Syriac people must preserve their mother tongue.”