Andrei Novac, secretary of state for the relationship with the Romanian Cultural Institute and for cultural policies, visited on Thursday the Halki Seminary of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. The Romanian official was accompanied by Dragoș Tiberiu Niță, Director of the Romanian Cultural Institute in Istanbul, Turkey.
The guests were received by Bishop Kassianos of Aravissos, the abbot of the monastery, and by the Halki congregation, who offered their guests a guided tour of the church, the school and of the historical library of the seminary.
The seminary is located on a hilltop on Halki Island, near Constantinople (Istanbul) and it was established on the site of a Byzantine monastery dedicated to the Holy Trinity.
The Halki Seminary has not functioned as a Theological Academy for five decades, after a decision of the Turkish government to close or nationalize all institutions of higher education in Turkey.
Photo credit: Facebook / Halki Theological School
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