The Rt Revd Geoffrey Rowell writes:
FURTHER to your obituary of Canon Geoffrey
Evans (Gazette, 24 April), he
devoted the largest part of a long and faithful ministry to the
diocese in Europe, and particularly to Turkey, serving for many
years in Izmir (for part of that time with his responsibilities as
Archdeacon of the Aegean and the Danube), in Ankara, and briefly in
Istanbul.
He built warm relationships with the diplomatic community, who
appreciated his personal pastoral care and his service to the wider
British community in Turkey. It was for this that he was awarded an
OBE.
He had a particularly close relationship with Willy Buttigieg,
the consul in Izmir, who tells how, when Geoffrey first arrived, he
had asked him to take care of the savings he had brought with him.
Unfortunately, Willy said, he did not keep them for long because he
was always raiding them to give to the many in need who came to him
- on one occasion taking off his coat to give to a shivering beggar
because "He needs it more than me." His generosity was shown in his
pastoral care of the poor, people in prison, mental patients, and
many others.
He built relationships with the NATO base in Izmir, to the
extent that Turkish generals came to his remembrance service. He
played a key role in developing the annual service of remembrance
for the British, Irish, and Commonwealth troops who gave their
lives in the Gallipoli campaign. It was a service at which he
presided for many years, most notably at the 75th Anniversary
commemoration attended by the then Prime Minister, Margaret
Thatcher.
He had a particular concern for the Christian minorities of
Turkey, and especially for the Syriac Christian communities in the
Tur Abdin, in the south-east of the country, and was a discreet
champion of their cause in difficult circumstances, supporting
young students from there, and raising funds for tractors and other
practical assistance.
It was a consequence of my own visit with Geoffrey to the
monastery of Mor Gabriel that led to the suggestion that Prince
Charles ought to visit, which eventually happened, part of the
Prince's continuing concern for the Christian minorities of the
Middle East.
It was fitting that he was a recipient of the Royal Maundy in
Westminster Abbey in 2011, the first occasion on which the diocese
in Europe had been able to nominate recipients.