After 90 years of expropriation, change of destination and abandonment, the monastery is once again a place of worship. Patriarch Ignace Joseph III Younan presided over the ceremony. The place was founded in 1881 and was requisitioned during the First World War; later the building was used as a barracks and a prison. The city of Mardin, a place of passage and encounter between civilizations.
Mardin () – A true community festival (here the video) marked the official reopening, with a re-consecration ceremony, of the Syrian Catholic monastery of Mor Efrem (Saint Ephrem), in Mardin, in southeastern Turkey, after 90 years of expropriation, closure and abandonment. During an official visit to Turkey, the Patriarch of the Syrian Catholic Church Ignace Joseph III Younan presided on October 13 at the solemn Eucharistic concelebration that accompanied the restitution of the building, which now functions again as a place of worship to the joy of the faithful of the zone.
The monastery was expropriated by the Turkish state at the beginning of the last century. It was used as a military barracks during the First World War, and later as a prison, then an orphanage and finally it was used as a military hospital. In the early 2000s, when a foundation linked to the Syro-Catholic Church managed to repossess the property, what used to be a monastery was used as a barn.
The re-consecration ceremony was attended by numerous bishops and high-ranking ecclesiastical officials of the country: the Apostolic Nuncio Marek Solczyński and the Apostolic Vicar of Istanbul, Bishop Maximiliano Palinuro, as well as representatives of sister Churches such as the Syrian Orthodox Church. After blessing the altar, the Patriarch celebrated the solemn mass -with readings from the scriptures, songs and hymns-, followed by the participation of the entire community gathered inside and outside the building.
During his homily, Ignace Joseph III Younan, addressing all those present, expressed his “profound joy” “on this historic occasion.” Next, he pointed to a word written in Syriac on the great cross of the altar, which means: “Look at him.” The Patriarch asked the faithful to “always turn their gaze” to Christ on the cross, because “in him we place all our hopes”. Finally, he renewed his invitation to place “our trust, our faith in Him” who is the love “that unites and unites us”.
The laying of the foundation stone of the Mor Efrem monastery and church dates back to 1881; three years later, in 1884, the construction works were completed, with the consecration ceremony and the opening for worship. On February 16, 1916, during the First World War, the Turkish army requisitioned the monastery, only to return it two years later, at the end of the conflict. In 1922, it was converted into a military hospital and a prison, and later used as a coal cellar and warehouse. A part of the structure was totally altered with the changes of destination, other parts were demolished. However, today it is once again a place of worship and looks just as it was originally, thanks to a meticulous reconstruction and restoration work carried out by experts and volunteers from the local Christian community.
In addition to the monastery, the Christian leaders wanted to highlight the role and importance of the place where it is located: the city of Mardin, in fact, has always been a place of passage and meeting between different civilizations and religions. And all the peoples who have lived there in the past have done so benefiting from long periods of peace and coexistence in mutual respect, making up a rich mosaic of religions and cultures, in which differences – of faith, culture, language and race – were exalted and valued.
