Turkey bans the liturgy at Panagia Sumela for the second consecutive year

The Divine Liturgy at the Panagia Soumela Monastery in previous years, before the restrictions were imposed by the Turkish authorities. Photo: Orthodoxia News Agency

On August 13, 2025, it became known that for the second year in a row, the Turkish authorities have banned the celebration of the Divine Liturgy on August 15 at the Panagia Soumela Monastery in Trabzon, actually disrupting the Feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos. This was reported by the Orthodoxia News Agency.

The feast, which draws Orthodox pilgrims from around the world, coincides with the anniversary of the fall of Trebizond in 1461. In Turkey, this date is interpreted as an “Ottoman ancestors’ victory” and is used as a pretext to deny services in one of the chief shrines of Pontic Hellenism. According to local observers, nationalist rhetoric in the country has noticeably intensified since 2023, becoming the main obstacle to holding the liturgy.

According to the Turkish newspaper Günebakış, the Ecumenical Patriarchate appealed to Turkey’s Ministry of the Interior with a request to move the service to August 23 – the feast of the Apodosis (Leavetaking) of the Dormition of the Theotokos. Even if permission is granted, Patriarch Bartholomew will not attend the service – it will be the third year in a row he has missed it.

Last year, the liturgy at Panagia Soumela also did not take place, and the faithful could celebrate only the Apodosis. The number of pilgrims then did not exceed 100 – the lowest figure since 2010, when services resumed at the monastery after a decades-long break. By comparison, in the early years after the liturgy was reinstated, attendance reached into the thousands.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that the Turkish authorities plan to convert a 10th-century Christian church into a mosque.

Read also