Turkey

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Byzantine era icons in the interior of the church.

Another Byzantine-era church in Turkey to revert to mosque

Feb 13, 2024

By ACI MENA

After serving as a museum for more than 79 years, the Turkish government is proceeding with plans to make the... Read more

President Recep Erdogan in 2020 converted the former Byzantine church, the Hagia Sophia back into a mosque.

How difficult is it to be a Christian in Turkey? What you need to know

Jan 29, 2024

By Jonah McKeown

Terrorists stormed a Catholic church during Mass on Sunday in Istanbul, Turkey, killing one person by shooting him in the... Read more

Turkish police stand guard outside the scene of an armed attack at a Catholic church in Istanbul, Turkey, on Jan. 28, 2024.

Islamic State claims responsibility for attack on Catholic church in Istanbul

Jan 29, 2024

By Courtney Mares

Two suspects described as members of the Islamic State group have been arrested following the shooting at Santa Maria Church... Read more

The scene outside a Catholic church in Istanbul, Turkey, where a reported armed attack took place on Jan. 28, 2024.

One person killed in shooting at Catholic church in Istanbul, manhunt underway

Jan 28, 2024

By Courtney Mares

Bishop Massimiliano Palinuro, the apostolic vicar of Istanbul, told EWTN News on Jan. 28 that a parishioner was killed “during... Read more

Refugees load a truck in Goris on Sept. 26, 2023, before leaving to Yerevan. A continuous stream of vehicles crept along the only road out of Nagorno-Karabakh toward Armenia, carrying tens of thousands of refugees now faced with an uncertain future.

Nearly all ethnic Armenians have fled Nagorno-Karabakh 

Oct 3, 2023

By Peter Pinedo

According to the Armenian government, 100,617 Nagorno-Karabakh refugees — out of a population of 120,000 – have been “forcibly displaced.” Read more

Bassel Habkouk is reunited with his two children after being trapped for 52 hours after the devastating Feb. 6, 2023, earthquake in Turkey and Syria.

Survivor of Turkey earthquake: ‘God protected me and the Virgin Mary did not leave me’

Mar 1, 2023

By Guitta Maroun

Only a few hours after Bassel Habkouk arrived for a visit in Turkey on Feb. 6, a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck... Read more

A pedestrian uses a smartphone as she walks past a collapsed building in Antakya, southern Turkey on Feb. 21, 2023. A 6.4-magnitude earthquake late Feb. 20, 2023, rocked Turkey's southern province of Hatay and northern Syria.

Archbishop asks for prayers following new 6.4-magnitude earthquake in Turkey and Syria

Feb 21, 2023

By Ana Paula Morales

Antoine Chahda, the Syrian Catholic archbishop of Aleppo, Syria, asked for prayers after a new 6.3-magnitude earthquake shook Turkey and... Read more

Pope Francis greets the crowd at his Angelus address on Feb. 19, 2023.

Pope Francis: God asks us to love beyond ‘the logic of self-interest’

Feb 19, 2023

By Courtney Mares

The pope reflected on what it means to “love your enemies” in his Sunday Angelus address. Read more

Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti with Pope Francis

Vatican archbishop to visit Catholics in Syria and Turkey as they confront earthquake fallout

Feb 16, 2023

By Hannah Brockhaus

A Vatican archbishop will visit Catholics in Syria and Turkey as they continue to help those affected by the result... Read more

Pope Francis at his Angelus address on Jan. 29, 2023.

Pope Francis contributes to earthquake relief efforts in Syria and Turkey

Feb 15, 2023

By Hannah Brockhaus

Boxes of thermal shirts took sail from the port of Naples, Italy, destined for Turkey, on the morning of Feb.... Read more

Pope Francis delivers the Angelus address on Feb. 12, 2023.

Pope Francis urges support for earthquake victims in Turkey and Syria

Feb 12, 2023

By Courtney Mares

Pope Francis prayed Sunday for the people of Turkey and Syria who are suffering after devastating earthquakes killed more than... Read more

Greek Catholic priest Father Fadi Najjar, who serves in Aleppo, Syria, appealed for prayers as his community faced the death and devastation after an earthquake struck Syria and Turkey on Feb. 6, 2023.

Priest after earthquake in Syria: We have seen death before us

Feb 10, 2023

By Nicolás de Cárdenas

Greek Catholic priest Father Fadi Najjar related how he and his community have faced the devastation caused by the Feb.... Read more

Pope Francis prayed for victims of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria during his general audience on Feb. 8, 2023.

Pope Francis leads Hail Mary for victims of earthquake in Turkey and Syria

Feb 8, 2023

By Hannah Brockhaus

“We pray that Our Lady will protect them,” the pope said at the end of his Wednesday general audience. Read more

Image of the Virgin Mary in the rubble of the Cathedral of Alexandria in Turkey, Feb. 6, 2023.

Statue of Mary untouched in earthquake that demolished cathedral in Turkey

Feb 7, 2023

By CNA Staff

The image of Our Lady was unharmed in the quake that brought down Annunciation Cathedral in the city of Alexandretta... Read more

A Syrian woman and her children warm by a stove at an emergency shelter in the center of the city of Maarat Misrin, in the rebel-held northern part of the northwestern Idlib province Feb. 7, 2023, one day after a deadly earthquake hit Syria and Turkey.

Catholic aid agencies respond after devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria

Feb 7, 2023

By Jonah McKeown

According to the latest available estimates as of midday Tuesday, the 7.8-magnitude quake ​​has left at least 6,200 people dead... Read more

A woman reacts as rescuers search for survivors through the rubble of collapsed buildings in Adana, Turkey, on Feb. 6, 2023, after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck the country’s southeast. The combined death toll for Turkey and Syria after the region’s strongest quake in nearly a century is in the thousands.

Pope Francis, Syriac Patriarch call for prayers after devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria

Feb 6, 2023

By AC Wimmer

The series of earthquakes — up to 7.8 magnitude — killed an estimated 1,700 people and injured thousands more, with... Read more

Bishop Paolo Bizzeti, S.J., Apostolic Vicar of Anatolia, Turkey.

Catholic bishop in Turkey: Jesus is drawing people to the Church in ‘unthinkable ways’

Jul 17, 2021

By Luke Coppen

Bishop Paolo Bizzeti’s precessor as Apostolic Vicar of Anatolia was murdered. Read more

Pope Francis meets with Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran's foreign minister, on May 17, 2021.

Pope Francis meets with Iran’s foreign minister, speaks to Turkish president about Palestinians

May 17, 2021

By Courtney Mares

Iran's foreign minister said that he and the pope “exchanged views” on Palestine, interfaith dialogue, and U.S. sanctions on Iran. Read more

Armenian refugees at Novorossiysk, 1920

Christian advocates praise Biden for recognizing Armenian genocide

Apr 26, 2021

Christian advocates praised President Joe Biden for officially recognizing the Armenian genocide over the weekend. Read more

A billboard in Yerevan featuring the flags of Armenia and the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh Republic on Oct. 7, 2020.

Armenia’s ambassador to Vatican stresses threat of Syrian fighters in Nagorno-Karabakh

Nov 12, 2020

By Courtney Mares

The Armenian ambassador to the Holy See said Wednesday that the recruitment and deployment of Syrian Islamist extremists to the... Read more