- World Religion News has published an article by Claude Moniquet, Co-Founder of the European Strategic Intelligence and Security Center, contemplating the difficult position Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew finds himself in, while trying to navigate between the goals and interests of his Turkish hosts and those of the USA, hosts of the Greek American Archdiocese which is the Ecumenical Patriarchate's biggest "donor". (Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/629379/World_Religion_News_Ecumenical_Patriarch.jpg ) To read the full article, published January 3, click here:http://www.worldreligionnews.com/featured-contributors/ecumenical-patriarch-ignore-problem-jerusalem This untenable position becomes especially clear in the aftermath of the controversial recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel by President Trump and, consequently, the extraordinary summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation held in Istanbul, which has decreed that the Islamic world regards East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine. In the wake of these events Patriarch Bartholomew keeps his silence, notes the author, despite being in the thick of things at the time (on the day of the historic recognition he was in Israel at the Hebrew University, being honored "in recognition of the merits in the interdenominational dialogue") and despite enjoying the unique position of having actual means of forging said interdenominational dialogue in this difficult time. The author then ponders over possible reasons of Ecumenical Patriarchate's lack of statements on the Jerusalem situation and what it might indicate about Patriarch Bartholomew's influence in the Christian world.