25 years in Ankara!

As on October 5th we celebrated 25 years of Jesuit presence in Ankara, on the patron saint’s day of our church, which our Assumptionist predecessors had dedicated to Saint Theresa of Lisieux, we remembered with gratitude all the companions who contributed to this adventure: Tom Michel and Christian Troll (who both prepared this adventure), Patrice Jullien de Pommerol (the founder), Herman Pillaert, John Lucal, Jean-Marc Balhan, Felix Körner, Oliver Borg Olivier, Antuan Ilgıt, Paolo Bizzeti, Arij Roest-Crollius, Alexis Doucet, Paul Brouwers, Stefan Hengst, Michael McGuckian and Changmo Cho.

We also didn’t want to forget our major superiors who accompanied us throughout this adventure, either from PRO (Jan Bronsveld, Fadel Sidarouss, Victor Assouad, Dany Younes) or from JCEP (Franck Janin and Dalibor Reniç). Nor did we forget Michael Zammit who, after managing our finances, continues to accompany us with his kind attention from Beirut.

Of course, at the dawn of this adventure, it was Fr. Hans Kolvenbach’s decision that was decisive, and we were very grateful to him for this. His visit to Ankara in 2006 was then followed by that of Fr. Adolfo Nicolas in 2011: we are now awaiting that of Fr. Arturo Sosa in a year’s time for the same occasion, in October 2026.

All those years, our presence in Turkey took different shapes, from interreligious dialogue to pastoral work and JRS. Currently, our main work is the service of the Turkish Church and the dialogue with Turkish society. The future is now open: two young companions have been touched by our mission and may join us in a few years, God willing, and collaboration is now being sought with JCAM.

On the picture, you can find the Jesuits presents at the celebration of the 25th anniversary at Saint Theresa Church in Ankara, that is, from left to right: Fr. Michael, Fr. Jean-Marc, Mons. Antuan (from Iskenderun) and Fr. Alexis. Our Korean companion Changmo Cho, currently in tertianship in Bikfaya, is unfortunately absent of it.

Once again, we thank each and every one of the direct contributors to that mission but also those who welcomed and accompanied us and praid for us during all those years, for the stone you have added to the edifice of this work: may the Lord accompany you in the mission that is yours today.

Fr. Jean-Marc Balhan SJ