Meeting of the catholic schools of Turkey

Monsignor Ruben, the apostolic vicar of Istanbul has wished to organize a gathering of all the catholic schools of Turkey. During our last visit to Istanbul, we have participated in a meeting of the federation of French catholic schools of Turkey, which are in total seven: six in Istanbul and one in Izmir. The association of French catholic schools of Turkey notably wanted to become an OIEC member to represent in it the catholic schools of Turkey. The reunion which was organized on the 2 March 2018 by Mgr. Ruben to enlarge the group of just French schools in respect of the other catholic but not French schools: an Austrian school under the tutelage of the Lazarist Fathers and two Italian schools among which one is under the tutelage of the Salesians of Don Bosco. This reunion was extremely interesting. It has shown the vitality of these schools but also their difficulty to exist in a societal context where it is difficult if not impossible to show oneself in the capacity of a catholic school.