ANKARA, Turkey, Sept. 20 (UPI) -- Turkey's Milliyet reports that Turkey's President Ahmet Necdet Sezer has issued an invitation for Pope Benedict XVI to visit Turkey in 2006.
Earlier it had been discussed that pope might visit in November. The proposed November visit led to concerns in Ankara that one of the issues that might be raised was the status of the Fener Greek Patriarchate. The Patriarch of Constantinople is the Ecumenical Patriarch, the "first among equals" of Eastern Orthodoxy. The current Patriarch of Constantinople is Bartholomew I. Turkish officials maintain that he is the leader for only the Greek Orthodox in Turkey among the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches. The Ecumenical status accorded the Patriarch of Constantinople within Eastern Orthodoxy has on occasion been a source of controversy with Turkey, which under its laws regarding religious minorities officially recognizes him as only the "Patriarch of Fener," Fener being the Istanbul district where his headquarters are located.
The Orthodox Church of Constantinople is one of the Orthodox Church's 16 autocephalous churches. Turkey requires the patriarch to be a Turkish citizen but allows the Synod of Constantinople to elect him.
