Turkish authorities allow Russian priests to celebrate liturgy in Ephesus
Believers of the ROC in Turkey. Photo: mospat.ru
On September 22, the commemoration day of Righteous Joachim and Anna and the remembrance of the Third Ecumenical Council, priests and Orthodox believers of the Russian Orthodox Church celebrated the liturgy in the Turkish city of Ephesus, reports the DECR ROC website.
The liturgy was led by the clergyman responsible for the pastoral care of Moscow Patriarchate believers in the territory of the Turkish Republic, Priest Georgy Sergeyev, concelebrated by Fr Alexiy Golovin, who ministers to the Moscow Patriarchate community in Antalya.
Pilgrims from Istanbul, Izmir, Antalya, Marmaris, and Kuşadası attended the religious service.
After the liturgy, the clergyman thanked the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Turkey for granting permission to conduct the religious service at the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos, located in the historical city of Ephesus.
Previously, the head of the Department for External Church Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, said that the Russian Orthodox Church cannot deny pastoral care to Orthodox believers in Turkey.
Read also
Greece signs memorandum on protection of Jerusalem Patriarchate's shrines
Next week, the Greek Parliament will ratify a document on the protection of the cultural heritage of the Jerusalem Patriarchate.
Greek bishop calls imposition of same-sex marriage a threat
Metropolitan Seraphim of Kythera urged families to become a “domestic church” amid threats to the Christian family in Greek laws and school curricula.
Patriarch Bartholomew arrives in Budapest for opening of Orthodox center
The Ecumenical Patriarch has arrived in Hungary, where he will preside over the consecration of the Orthodox center "Phanarion."
OCU raiders stage attack on seized church in Kyiv, media
OCU "hierarch" Serhiy Horobtsov published a provocative post online regarding St. John's Church in Bykivnia seized by his people.