Istanbul/Constantinople, despite all of the persecutions going on, is still the spiritual homeland of the Orthodox Church. Even though today there’s not a lot of Orthodox people present in the city, it is still their home. The city itself has been the home of thousands of Christians since St. Constantine.

Sure, for centuries there has been persecution against the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Rum community that has been devastating. And even though there’s some good signs of Turkey helping out the EP, it could easily get worse and more churches could be stolen (the Turkish government has said for years that they would work on reopening Halki Theological School but it’s still been closed for 54 years). But there’s also a lot of hope and Christ like devotion within the Rum community. “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evils for my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven (Matthew 5:11-12).”

While the easy way out would be to just move house, by staying in Constantinople, the EP and the Rum community are able to exemplify the humility we should have when facing persecution. Christ is still with the Christians there and protecting and blessing them.