With obstacles, restrictions on public attendance (only 80 people were allowed), strict surveillance, and a complete absence of media
With obstacles, restrictions on public attendance, strict surveillance, and a total absence of news media, as ordered by the Turkish authorities, the Divine Liturgy was held again this year at the Monastery of Panagia Soumela in Trabzon, for the third consecutive year, eight days after August 15. The service took place in an atmosphere of profound reverence and emotion.
The Divine Liturgy was celebrated yesterday, August 23, the day on which the Nine Days of the Virgin Mary are commemorated, because the competent Turkish authorities did not grant permission for it to take place on August 15, the Feast of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew instead presided over the liturgy at the Monastery of Panagia Faneromeni in Artaki of Cyzicus.
Simply being present at the emblematic monastery on Mount Mela, in the sacred land of Pontus, inspires awe and reflection in visitors—especially for those fortunate enough to be included on the list of invited guests whom the authorities permit to be there on the day honoring the miraculous grace of the Virgin Mary.
Built at an elevation of 1,063 meters, within a steep cave, the monastery served as a spiritual beacon for Pontus and for Greeks throughout the ecumenical world. In 1922, following the Asia Minor Catastrophe, the monastery was abandoned. After the population exchange, in 1951, the new refugee-founded Holy Monastery of Panagia Soumela was established on the slopes of Mount Vermio, at Kastania in Imathia, where the miraculous icon of the Virgin Mary is kept.
Panagia Soumela is the sacred symbol of Pontic Hellenism, with the historic monastery holding within it the unconquered spirit of the Pontic Greeks. For this reason, the presence of clergy and pilgrims at the historic site has always carried powerful symbolic significance. Through the centuries, the monastery has symbolized the heart of Pontic Hellenism, which beats each year on the small wooden platform where the liturgy is celebrated.
The service, attended by three bishops, was presided over by His Eminence Metropolitan Barnabas of Neapolis and Stavroupolis.
Once again, there were objections in Trabzon from hard-line figures, including the president of a Turkish trade union, Coşkun Dilber, who has persistently demanded that permission to hold the liturgy be revoked—not only on August 15, but on any other day as well—citing the site’s status as a museum.
Yet it is precisely this museum status—which Recep Tayyip Erdoğan abolished in the cases of Hagia Sophia and the Chora Monastery—that Dilber is now invoking in an effort to stop religious services at the emblematic monastery. Turkish double standards!
One of those fortunate enough to attend the Divine Liturgy and to share several images in a social-media post was the mayor of Oreokastro, Pantelis Tsakiris, who was included on the official list of 80 people whom Ankara authorized to travel to the sacred site.
The monument remained closed to tourists and other visitors until noon, at which point general admission was once again permitted.
