Service Held At Turkey’s Historic Sümela Monastery

16/8/2012 (RTTNews) – Hundreds of Greek Orthodox Christians gathered for the annual religious service at the Sümela Monastery in Turkey’s Black Sea coastal province of Trabzon on Wednesday morning, marking the third religious ceremony to be held at the monastery in the history of the Turkish Republic. This year’s divine liturgy, held on the occasion of the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos in accordance with the Orthodox liturgical calendar, was officiated by Greek Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I at the monastery located in Trabzon’s Maçka district, Turkish media reported. The Turkish government in 2010 allowed for an annual religious service to be held at the monastery in a gradual loosening of restrictions on religious expression.