Former Vatican representative in Turkey passes away

Monsignor Georges Marovitch, a former Vatican diplomatic official in Turkey, passed away on Thursday morning. The 81-year-old cleric was being supported by a ventilator and his organs failed due to the blood infection and arrhythmia. First admitted this weekend, Msgr. Marovitch remained in the intensive care unit at Istanbul's private Sema Hospital until Thursday morning. Reportedly, his body would be retrieved by his family from the hospital on Saturday for burial. Marovitch was a prominent and well-known figure in Istanbul for making extensive efforts to encourage intercultural and interreligious dialogue. He has attended several meetings to improve relations between different religious communities in Turkey.