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Greek prime minister COVID-positive day after Istanbul visit
Read full article: Greek prime minister COVID-positive day after Istanbul visitGreeceโs prime minister says he has tested positive for COVID-19 and will be self-isolating at home, a day after meeting in Istanbul with Turkeyโs President Recep Tayip Erdogan and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, considered the spiritual leader of the worldโs Orthodox Christians.
Live updates: Tulane delays spring start over virus surge
Read full article: Live updates: Tulane delays spring start over virus surgeTulane University in New Orleans is delaying the start of its spring semester because of the latest surge in coronavirus cases, and another private school says students must get booster shots before returning.
Greek priest charged over acid attack on 7 senior bishops
Read full article: Greek priest charged over acid attack on 7 senior bishopsA defrocked Greek Orthodox priest has been charged with multiple counts of causing grievous bodily harm over an acid attack that injured seven senior bishops and three other people.
Greek, Turkish FMs meet to mend ties, trade barbs instead
Read full article: Greek, Turkish FMs meet to mend ties, trade barbs insteadA meeting aimed to improve fraught ties between NATO allies Greece and Turkey quickly descended into a tense exchange of accusations between the two countriesโ foreign ministers on Thursday.
Pompeo meets Orthodox spiritual leader in Istanbul
Read full article: Pompeo meets Orthodox spiritual leader in IstanbulSecretary of State Mike Pompeo, right, speaks with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians, before departing the Patriarchal Church of St. George in Istanbul, Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2020. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, Pool)ISTANBUL โ U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with the Istanbul-based spiritual leader of the worldโs Orthodox Christians on Tuesday during a short trip to Turkey that raised the ire of Turkish officials and included no meetings with any of them. They said meetings had been sought, but Turkish officials were unable to come to Istanbul from the capital, Ankara, during the time Pompeo would be there. Turkish media reports said Turkish officials were giving Pompeo the cold shoulder, after he allegedly refused to travel to the capital to pay an official visit. A senior Turkish Foreign Ministry official wouldn't comment on the reports or say why Pompeo wasnโt meeting with Turkish officials.
Turkey offended by Pompeo's plan to discuss religious issues
Read full article: Turkey offended by Pompeo's plan to discuss religious issuesSecretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks during a media briefing, Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2020, at the State Department in Washington. The top U.S. diplomat plans to discuss religious issues in Turkey and to promote โour strong stance on religious freedom around the world,โ the statement read. Turkeyโs Foreign Ministry rebuked the statement โas extremely inappropriate,โ insisting that the country protects the rights of citizens of various faiths to freely practice their religions. The move led to accusations that the Turkish leader was trying to erase Orthodox Christians' cultural heritage. Turkey is also under pressure to reopen a Greek Orthodox theological school that was shut down in 1971.
Masked pope, faith leaders pray for peace and pandemic's end
Read full article: Masked pope, faith leaders pray for peace and pandemic's endPope Francis lights a candle for peace during an inter-religious ceremony for peace in the square outside Rome's City Hall, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2020 (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)ROME โ A masked Pope Francis welcomed religious leaders to a socially-distanced interfaith peace prayer Tuesday, appealing for a unified international effort to work for peace and an end to the coronavirus pandemic. โThe pandemic is reminding us that we are blood brothers and sisters,โ they said in a joint appeal issued at the end of the service. For weeks, Francis has shunned facemasks in his public and private audiences despite a surge in COVID-19 cases across Italy and even inside Vatican City. The service was organized by the Rome-based SantโEgidio Community, which each year organizes an interfaith peace prayer in the spirit of the first one of its kind, celebrated by St. John Paul II in Assisi in 1986. In the past week 11 Swiss Guards and a resident of the hotel where Francis lives have tested positive.