News (English)
Mons. Martin KMETEC, The President of CET announced the Eucharistic Year of Turkey in 2024
“The Church of Turkey wishes to know, love, serve and proclaim the Lord Jesus more and more and to recognize him present, like the disciples of Emmaus, in the act of breaking bread through the celebration of the Year of the Eucharist. We wish to deepen the faith of the church community on this Sacrament through catechesis and other means to participate more and more actively and consciously in liturgical celebrations, and to remember after eating the Bread of Heaven that we are called to share the earthly bread with all people in poverty and need.”
Mons. Martin Kmetec, President of CET and Izmir Metropolitan Archbishop published a congratulatory message for the 100th anniversary of the Republic of Turkey
In his message to the President of Turkey, Mons. Martin wrote that “On the happy occasion of the 100th anniversary of the birth of the Republic of Türkiye, I would like to
offer you the fervent good wishes of the Bishops and all Catholic Christians living in this nation”.
Solidarity with Palestine
The Church in Turkey stands with all suffering people.
Appointment of the Auxiliary Bishop of the Apostolic Vicariate of Anatolia (Turkey)
The Holy Father has appointed Rev. Father Antuan Ilgit of the Society of Jesus, hitherto Vicar General and Chancellor of the same Vicariate, as well as professor of Moral Theology and Bioethics at the St. Louis Section of the Pontifical Theological Faculty of Southern Italy, as Auxiliary Bishop of the Apostolic Vicariate of Anatolia (Turkey), assigning him the titular See of Tubernuca.
Curriculum vitae
H.E. Msgr. Antuan Ilgit was born June 22, 1972 in Hersbruck (Germany Federal Republic) to Turkish parents and grew up his early years in Germany and then moved to Turkey with his family. He received a four-year degree in Public Administration from the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences at Gazi Üniversitesi (Ankara) in 1994. After his first steps in religious life in the Order of Capuchin Friars Minor (Province of Emilia-Romagna), he entered the Novitiate of the Society of Jesus (Province of Italy) in Genoa on November 1, 2005. In 2007, in Padua, he made First Vows. After a baccalaureate in theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University (2008), he received a licentiate in Moral Theology with a focus in bioethics from the Alphonsian Academy of the Pontifical Lateran University (2011). Sent then to the United States of America for special studies, he earned first a two-year Master’s degree in Medical Ethics from Saint Joseph’s University (2013) and then a canonical doctorate in Moral Theology from the School of Theology and Ministry of Boston College (2017).
In the course of his special studies, he was named a member of Alpha Sigma Nu Honor Society of Jesuit Institutions of Higher Education, Alpha Epsilon Lambda National Honor Society – Omega Chapter of Saint Joseph’s University and FASPE (Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics).
Ė founding member of Friends of the Middle East odv.
He received presbyteral ordination from Em. Card. Giovanni Lajolo on June 26, 2010 in the Church of the Jesus in Rome. From September 2020 to April 2021 he did his final year of formation (Third Probation) in Salamanca, Spain. He made his Solemn Profession in the Society of Jesus on November 19, 2022 in Ankara.
During his life as a presbyter, he held the following positions: assistant pastor of the Turkish-speaking Catholic community of Meryemana Parish in Ankara; community bursar of the Jesuit Fathers (2010-2011); community animator, member of the formation team and spiritual father at the Pontifical Interregional Campanian Seminary in Naples (2017-2020); lecturer in Moral Theology and Bioethics at the St. Louis Section of the Pontifical Theological Faculty of Southern Italy (2017-present); national coordinator for youth and vocation ministry of the Turkish Bishops’ Conference (2022-present); Vicar General and Chancellor of the Apostolic Vicariate of Anatolia (2022-present).