German lawmaker Thomas Rachel urged Turkey to reopen the long-shuttered Theological School of Halki ahead of Thursday’s visit by Pope Leo XIV to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians.
Rachel, a CDU member of the German Parliament and chairman of the German-Greek Parliamentary Group, said the “school is an important educational institution of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Constantinople, now Istanbul,” and remains vital for the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s ability to train clergy.
“Until its closure, it was regarded as the leading Orthodox theological school in the world.” He said the school’s decades-long closure has caused “deep concern and distress,” noting that educating theological students is essential to Orthodoxy’s future.
Rachel called the visit of Pope Leo XIV to Bartholomew, marking the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, an “appropriate occasion” for reopening the school as a signal of religious freedom and respect for Orthodoxy.