In a meeting at the White House on Thursday, September 25, 2025, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke of the reopening of the Halki Theological School, telling U.S. President Donald Trump: “We will do our part. I will discuss the issue when I return with Bartholomew,” that is, His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.

In response, President Trump stated: “The Greek Orthodox Church was here and they would really like to have some help.” Trump was referring to his private Oval Office meeting with His All-Holiness on Monday, September 15, 2025. His All-Holiness later recounted that at that meeting, he briefed President Trump regarding the issue of the Halki Theological School, stating that “a dialogue began last year with the initiative of President Erdogan,” and adding, “We want to expedite this dialogue so that in September 2026 we can welcome the first students.”

Turkish authorities forcibly closed the Theological School of Halki, the main theological educational institution of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, in 1971. Since its closure, the Ecumenical Patriarchate has had to send the young men from its community desiring to enter the priesthood to one of the theological schools in Greece. In many instances, they do not return, given the onerous restrictions in getting work permits and the general climate of intimidation.

His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew said in September 2024: “I am very optimistic that the reopening of our school will be achieved soon and the sacred wish of all of us will be fulfilled, because the order to the officials of the Ministry of Education came from above, from His Excellency President Erdogan. We are now certain that we are on the verge of reopening our school always with the grace of the holy God.”

In June 2025, His All-Holiness spoke again about the reopening of the seminary, saying: “our hope in Christ has not waned. This is evident in the major renovations underway—thanks to the generous support of Mr. Athanasios Martinos, Archon and Grand Benefactor of the Ecumenical Patriarchate—as well as in recent positive developments regarding the school’s potential reopening.”