The first steps toward creating a particular jurisdiction for Greek Catholics of the Byzantine Rite in the European part of the Ottoman Empire were made in 1907, when Greek Catholic priest
Isaias Papadopoulos was made
vicar general for the Greek Catholics within the jurisdiction of the Apostolic Delegation of Constantinople. The Greek Catholic Apostolic Exarchate of
Constantinople (Istanbul) was founded on June 11, 1911, as the
Greek Catholic Apostolic Exarchate of European Turkey. At the same time, on June 28 (1911), Isaias Papadopoulos was appointed titular bishop of
Gratianopolis, and he was also entrusted with the initial organization of the newly formed Exarchate, but he was not appointed apostolic exarch. That question had to be postponed because of the breakout of
Balkan Wars (1912-1913) when the Ottoman Empire lost most of its European territory, and the consequent breakout of
First World War (1914–1918). The first apostolic exarch,
George Calavassy, was appointed only after the war, in 1920. On June 11, 1932, it lost territory to establish the
Greek Catholic Apostolic Exarchate of Greece. In 1936, it was renamed as Apostolic Exarchate of Istanbul or of Constantinople. On November 25, 1999, Bishop Louis Pelâtre, A.A., Apostolic Vicar of the Roman Catholic
Apostolic Vicariate of Istanbul, was named apostolic administrator of the exarchate. On April 16, 2016, Fr. Rubén Tierrablanca Gonzalez, O.F.M, was named administrator of the exarchate, with the retirement of Bishop Pelâtre. He also held the office of
Apostolic Vicar of Istanbul. == Ordinaries ==