The Salesians in Istanbul
Istanbul is Europe’s largest city. The Salesians run the only Turkish-speaking Catholic church in Istanbul. They also run a school and a youth club. Their ministry includes refugees and immigrants, and also catechumens who are entering the Catholic Church.
By ACN Staff
The Hagia Sophia. (Credit: Aid to the Church in Need)
Istanbul is the most populous city in Europe, with around 15.5 million residents. Today Istanbul is an overwhelmingly Muslim city, but it was previously one of the most important cities in the Christian world when it was Constantinople and the capital of the Byzantine Empire. The district of Bomonti in the centre of the city used to be a Christian region of the city. Today, the district has a large immigrant population.
A Catholic church in Istanbul. A Syrian mother and her child are going into the church to ask for help.(Credit: Aid to the Church in Need)
Notre Dame de Lourdes, the only church in Istanbul dedicated to ministering to Turkish-speaking Catholics, is located at the heart of Bomonti. Other Catholic parishes in Istanbul mostly serve French and Greek-speaking Catholics. There are now over ten times the number of Catholics in Istanbul than there were 50 years ago. Notre Dame de Lourdes is run by the Salesians of Don Bosco, who minister under the Apostolic Vicariate of Istanbul.
Father Simon Härting, a German-born Salesian based in the Apostolic Vicariate of Istanbul, recently visited Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). The Salesians spend much of their time ministering to the migrants and refugees in Bomonti. Fr. Simon explains further:
“Much is being said about the refugees from Iraq or Syria, but many others are coming as well, for example from Pakistan, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Mali or the Ivory Coast, to name just a few countries, and they stay for years. Some of them have to wait six or seven years for a visa.”
Youth Centre at Evrim Campus/ (Credit: Don Bosco Istanbul)
The education of migrant and refugee children of these families is a priority for the Salesians. They run a school for 400 children and a youth centre for 40 adolescents at the Evrim Campus in Bomonti.
The Salesians’ time is also taken up with ministering to the Turkish-speaking Catholics of Istanbul and helping to prepare children, adolescents and adults from Turkish-speaking families to receive first Holy Communion and the Sacraments of Confirmation and Marriage. Fr. Simone explains the Salesians also work with converts to Catholicism from Muslim backgrounds:
“In the Vicariate of Istanbul, we have about 100 catechumens who hail from many different countries, including Turks and Iranians. Becoming a Christian is not prohibited here. The degree of social acceptance varies from one case to the next. Some are disowned by their families, others do not have any problems, and it also sometimes happens that entire families decide to become Christian.”
A Christian boy from Iraq at the Salesians school in Istanbul. (Credit: Aid to the Church in Need)
As you can see, the Salesians in Istanbul are kept busy. They are also in need of adequate facilities to help maintain their ministry in Europe’s largest city. The Salesians have asked ACN for help to build a new parish and pastoral centre in the Evrim Campus, where the Salesians run their youth centre. “Kolay gelsin” is a common greeting in everyday Turkish. It literally means “may it come easy”. Speaking about the new centre, Fr. Simon said:
“The new centre is intended to be ‘Kolay gelsin’… It is our vocation to ease each other’s burdens and to bring salvation into the world for us all. The gift of light-heartedness and salvation, this is what we would like to give by founding the new centre on the Evrim Campus.”
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