Antiochian Patriarchate establishes a new eparchy in Turkey

Session of the Holy Synod of the Antiochian Orthodox Church, Balamand, Lebanon. Photo: Orthodoxia News Agency

On October 13, 2025, the Holy Synod of the Antiochian Patriarchate, meeting in Balamand (Lebanon), decided to establish a new eparchy on the territory of Turkey, reports Orthodoxia News Agency.

The new structure is titled “The Holy Eparchy of Tarsus, Adana, and Alexandretta (Hatay)”. The Patriarchate emphasized that this decision was made in response to appeals from local parishes for improved pastoral care and was coordinated with the Primate of the Antiochian Church, Patriarch John X, as well as with the hierarchs of the Patriarchate who supported the creation of the new eparchy.

The new ecclesiastical unit will unite parishes along Turkey’s southern coast – in Adana, Mersin (Myrsini), and Hatay (Alexandretta). Antioch, meanwhile, remains the historical seat of the Patriarchate and is not included in the new eparchy.

Oversight of the eparchy has been entrusted to a bishop representing the Patriarch in the region. The Holy Synod elected Archimandrite Pavlos Orduloglu as Vice-Patriarchal Bishop to carry out this mission. As part of the reorganization, the former name of the Metropolis of Aleppo and Alexandretta has been adjusted to Metropolis of Aleppo and Surrounding Areas.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that in Syria, an Orthodox church dedicated to Saint Michael had been looted and burned.

Read also