Appointment of auxiliary bishop of the apostolic vicariate of Anatolia, Turkey

The Holy Father has appointed the Reverend Fr. Antuan Ilgit, S.J., until now vicar general and chancellor of the apostolic vicariate of Anatolia, Turkey, as auxiliary bishop of the same apostolic vicariate, assigning him the titular see of Tubernuca.

Curriculum vitae

Msgr. Antuan Ilgit was born on 22 June 1972 in Hersbruck, Germany. He moved with his parents to Turkey, and was awarded a degree in public administration from the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences of Gazi Üniversitesi, Ankara, in 1994.

After an experience of religious life in the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, on 1 November 2005 he entered the novitiate of the Society of Jesus (Province of Italy). In 2007, he gave his first vows. He was ordained a priest on 26 June 2010 in Rome.

He obtained a bachelor’s degree in theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in 2008, and a licentiate in moral theology with a focus on bioethics from the Alphonsian Academy of the Pontifical Lateran University in 2011.

He was then sent to the United States of America to continue his studies, where he was awarded a master's degree in medical ethics at Saint Joseph’s University in 2013 and a doctorate in moral theology at the School of Theology and Ministry of Boston College in 2017.

From September 2020 to April 2021, he completed his final year of formation (Third Probation) in Salamanca, Spain. He gave his solemn vows in the Society of Jesus on 19 November 2022 in Ankara.

He has held the following offices: assistant to the parish priest of the Turkish-speaking Catholic community of the parish of Meryemana in Ankara; bursar of the Community of the Jesuit Fathers (2010-2011); animator, formator and spiritual father at the Pontifical Interregional Seminary of the Campania Region in Naples (2017-2020); lecturer in moral theology and bioethics in the San Luigi Section of the Pontifical Theological Faculty of Southern Italy (from 2017 to the present).

Since 2022 he has served as vicar general and chancellor of the apostolic vicariate of Anatolia, as well as national coordinator for youth and vocational pastoral care of the Turkish Episcopal Conference.

Besides Turkish, he speaks Italian, English, Spanish and French.