Athens News Agency: News in English, 11-08-15
CONTENTS
[01] Message of peace from Panaghia Soumela Monastery
[01] Message of peace from Panaghia Soumela Monastery
ANA-MPA/Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos (Bartholomew) on Monday
officiated at the service of the Dormition of Virgin Mary at the historic
Panaghia Soumela Monastery in the Trabzon province, on Turkey's Black
Sea coast..
Vartholomeos, who was joined by Archbishop of America Demetrios, called
for peace and love in the world, speaking in both Greek and Turkish.
Additionally, the Ecumenical Patriarch thanked the Russian Orthodox
Church for its presence at the celebration and expressed a wish that
one day he will co-offiiciate a religious service at the site with the
Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Cyrill. ana-mpa
Approximately 700 pilgrims from around the world attended the liturgy
inside the monastery, which is located at an altitude of 1,200 metres.
The occasion marks the second consecutive year that the Patriarch
has officiated at a service on Aug. 15 at the specific monastery, the
second such event since the 1923 population exchange between Greece and
Turkey. ana-mpa
In June 2010, the Turkish government accepted the Patriarchate’s request
to hold mass in the monastery, which was converted into a museum and has
not operated as a Christian place of worship since 1923.The monastery
is considered as the spiritual metropolis of Pontian Hellenism
|