Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew attended, at the invitation of Metropolitan Yusuf Çetin of the Syrian Jacobites of Constantinople, the official inauguration of the newly-built Syrian Jacobite Church of St. Ephraim, in the suburb of St. Stephen. It is the first Christian Church to be built in Turkey since 1923.
The official inauguration was made by the President of the Republic of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Representatives of the Christian communities of Constantinople, Cardinal Kurt Koch, President of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity, on behalf of the Pope of Rome, State officials, representatives of the Local Government and many believers from the Syrian-Jacobite Community were also present.