Milan () – “From the moment I took office I said that I would have favored in every way the birth of a local Church, of Turkish language and culture” and over time “I have remained faithful to this principle” in the wake outlined by the Second Vatican Council. This is what Monsignor Paolo Bizzeti, vicar of Anatolia for many years, said, whose resignation was accepted yesterday by Pope Francis, appointing in his place the auxiliary Monsignor Antuan Ilgitnow apostolic administrator sede vacancy et ad nutum Sanctae Sedis. In promoting the mission, the prelate has always considered “the formation of the laity to be a very important point,” along with “welcoming those who come in search of Christianity,” showing themselves capable of bearing witness to the “reasons for their hope, as Saint Peter would say. And he adds: “a conscious Church is essential, which renounces proselytism but is alive in society, with a proposal of meaning, spirituality and salvation.”
The 77-year-old Jesuit of Italian origin had been at the head of the ecclesiastical district since 2015, assuming the position at a time of deep criticism and confessional tensions due to the assassination, in June 2010 in Iskenderun, of his predecessor. Monsignor Luigi Padovese, stabbed by MuratAltun’s driver. Monsignor Bizzeti continues to serve the Church in Turkey as president of Caritas, thus maintaining a strong bond with the land where he spent nine years of his mission. However, he states: «I really believe that these Churches must have pastors who speak their language and know their culture; We, foreigners, have been supplying, but the future is in the hands of the Christians of Turkey.
Earthquake, open wound
Recounting the reality of the vicariate, Monsignor Bizzeti explains that for months his successor Monsignor Ilgit has been working alongside him in the management of the community, whose main emergency remains linked to the devastating February 2023 earthquake and to the “aftermath” of the earthquake, a wound that remains open. “The cathedral remains destroyed,” he explains, “people struggle to find housing or work,” and in this context “the most critical situations occur, which are flanked by ordinary pastoral work,” although the presence of a Turkish bishop “ “It will allow us to make a qualitative leap.” Now, at last, begins the story of a truly local Church, with a pastor of its own language and culture. Among the positive elements linked to the natural disaster, the prelate highlights “the solidarity that has been created among the people; We saw it at the time of the earthquake, when everyone lent a hand, got involved, many barriers fell, it was discovered that we were all affected by the same drama and all eager to do something: it was a truly extraordinary moment.
The priority is to return “a real life, houses and economic activities to the victims of the earthquake, but also to be able to retain Christians who would otherwise flee: they are already”, underlines Bishop Bizzeti, “very small communities, we must try to help people to stay, otherwise there will be an emptying of presences. The number one challenge is the “living stones”, then there is the cathedral, but the walls will come later. Meanwhile, he continues, the local Church “has grown in self-awareness, in the importance of the role of the laity, for which I have fought and have also carried out specific formation initiatives. Today the laity of Turkey,” he says, “are beginning to be aware that the Church of the future must be built together, it cannot be left in the hands of foreigners or only pastors.” And in this perspective, the replacement with Monsignor Ilgit, which has already occurred in practice in recent months, is situated “in a perspective of continuity, although I do not want to condition the legacy. However, I believe that many things will continue along the same lines.
The legacy of Monsignor Padovese and Islam
When reviewing his years as vicar, the prelate cannot avoid starting from the heavy legacy – and the void – left by the brutal murder of Bishop Padovese: “The situation – he remembers – was disastrous, because almost six years without a bishop had deprived them of resources, coordination: the faithful were still shocked, not only by his death, but also by the fact that nothing had been done to continue the previous work. So the main task was, first of all, to raise the morale of the people, and help them to continue believing that it was not a “Forgotten Church.” And on ecumenism and interreligious dialogue, he continued, “in recent years, the Episcopal Conference has worked very well: we have cordial relations with all the other Churches, in particular with the Syriac Church, for which I have worked hard to value its artistic heritage, its churches and its monasteries, also through the publication of a guide. “They have been good steps and there is mutual esteem, although they are very small realities that must be consolidated and linked to different legal situations.”
Regarding the Islamic-Christian dialogue – in a nation with a large Muslim majority, where faith also influences predominant sectors of politics – he says he has found “many people with a strong spirituality, a healthy and clean vision of life.” There is the “problem of a political Islam that perhaps does not sufficiently distinguish between the religious and political spheres,” he emphasizes, “but this is a problem that affects the entire Middle East.” However, “decisive steps have been taken, we are not in the years of the murders of Bishop Padovese, of the father Andrea Santoro. The memory of them is still alive, but there is no sterile nostalgia, because the very life of the Church has continued and others have taken their place.’ Finally, there remains a broader problem that concerns the entire region, which is going through a “very complicated” phase also dictated by the “excessive interference of Western powers, particularly the United States.” However, he adds, at this precise historical moment Ankara “is distinguishing itself by a more balanced (political) proposal when it comes to addressing conflicts, especially between the Israeli government and the Palestinians: I very much appreciate that there is someone who has the courage to denounce, like Pope Francis, that a genocide is taking place and this is being said in Turkey by so many people, as well as the president [Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan.
Young people, fugitives and refugees
«These years as vicar – he emphasizes – have been a formidable experience, because they have allowed me to broaden my horizons culturally, spiritually, in the encounter with other Christian worlds and other realities. “It would be really interesting if each shepherd had the opportunity to live far away, for a few years, in lands different from their own.” In this perspective, the prelate frames “the numerous encounters with refugees from Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq and Syria”, who surprised him “by their resistance, their will to fight, their attempt to preserve traditions, to put their faith into practice.” . With refugees it was also possible to discover a new dimension in the “value of the encounter”, because they are people “bearers of an inner, human wealth, but also of work commitment, of culture, who flee precisely because they do not want to surrender to the logic of war, of indifference. They do not mind their own business to the detriment of others, but rather have much to give. “It amazes me,” he confesses, “that they are considered a burden when they are a resource,” especially for nations, especially Western ones, that have fewer and fewer children and a population that “ages and withdraws into itself.”
“I believe that neophytes, young people, refugees are the great resources of a Church that wants to fully embrace the present and look to the future,” emphasizes Bishop Bizzeti. «Hence my wish for Bishop Antuan so that with his abilities he can put into practice what I have just begun. I have known him for many years,” he recalls, since “he came to me in search of his vocation. I accompanied him in this search in the first stage, then he continued on his path, he dedicated himself to his studies and his ministry with tenacity, a pastor who sincerely desires to serve the Church and the people.
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