Nikos Maginas
August 24, 2016
Projects of renovation being done on the premises of Soumela Monastery in Pontus are the reason why the Divine Liturgy was not celebrated at Panagia Soumela this year, which has taken place annually since 2010.
The Ecumenical Patriarchate was informed last year that there would not be an opportunity to celebrate the Dormition of the Theotokos at the historic Monastery in August of 2016. As early as last September the premises of the Monastery have been fenced around. It should be noted that previous restoration work was not appropriate, according to the former Turkish Minister Of Culture and Tourism Ertugrul Gunay.
Rather, permission was granted to celebrate the Divine Liturgy at Phaneromeni Monastery in Artaki of Cyzicus, where on the 23rd of August Patriarch Bartholomew came for a second time to the ruins of the historic Monastery.
Translated by John Sanidopoulos.