Istanbul Religious Council Chair Withdraws His Candidacy

ISTANBUL””The tumultuous start to the election of a new patriarch in Istanbul took another unexpected turn Tuesday, when the head of the Istanbul Patriarchate’s Religious Council, Bishop Sahak Mashalian withdrew his candidacy for the locum tenens position urging his supporters to cast their votes for another cleric vying for office, Radio Agos reported.

On Wednesday, the Patriarchate’s will convene to vote for a locum tenens””the patriarchal alternate””after which the current Vicar-General Archbishop Aram Ateshian is expected to step down.

In announcing his withdrawal from the candidate’s pool, Mashalian called on his supporters to vote for Archbishop Garegin Bekchyan, the Primate of the Diocese of Germany.

“The voting will be held on March 15 at 15:00 [3 p.m. local time]. Thirty clergymen are eligible to vote. There I will announce the removal of my candidacy from the locum tenens election so that the votes are not divided,”