New era starts for Orthodox Christians
Source: Agencies |
August 16, 2010, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
Orthodox Christians held the first Mass in almost 90 years at an ancient monastery on the side of a Turkish mountain yesterday, after the government allowed worship there in a gesture toward religious minorities.
At least 1,500 pilgrims, including from Greece and Russia, traveled to the Byzantine-era monastery of Sumela for the service led by Patriarch Bartholomew I, the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians.
The Islamic-oriented government, which is aiming to expand freedoms as part of its bid to join the European Union, has said worship can take place at the monastery once a year. Services were previously banned.
The symbolic event was also likely to boost reconciliation efforts between Turkey and Greece, two NATO allies that came to the brink of war three times between 1974 and 1996 over the ethnically divided island of Cyprus and territorial rights in the Aegean Sea.
Sumela, a spectacular structure cut into the side of a mountain, was abandoned around the time of Turkey's foundation in 1923. The last Mass was held a year earlier amid conflict between Turks and Greeks. The remote site near the Black Sea has become a big tourist draw.
The patriarch, who is based in Istanbul, wore a white robe with golden lace, and carried a staff. Priests sang hymns and spread incense amid faded frescoes. Visitors who could not fit into the crowded monastery watched on a giant television screen several hundred meters below the building.
"It is a very exciting moment for us Greeks because it's the first time we get to have such a Mass," said 24-year-old Ketevan Nadareishvili. "We can pray on the land of my great-great-grandfathers."
The patriarch said he hoped the desire to pray would not be misinterpreted.
"The culture of living together is a heritage our civilization left for us. Let's make that heritage live on, and let us teach all, so that we do not suffer anymore, and families do not perish," Bartholomew said in Turkish after the service. "The Sumela monastery has lived like a legend for decades among us, patiently waiting for this day to come."
Most of Turkey's 72 million people are Muslim, but even many of those feel that their rights are curtailed by law.
At least 1,500 pilgrims, including from Greece and Russia, traveled to the Byzantine-era monastery of Sumela for the service led by Patriarch Bartholomew I, the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians.
The Islamic-oriented government, which is aiming to expand freedoms as part of its bid to join the European Union, has said worship can take place at the monastery once a year. Services were previously banned.
The symbolic event was also likely to boost reconciliation efforts between Turkey and Greece, two NATO allies that came to the brink of war three times between 1974 and 1996 over the ethnically divided island of Cyprus and territorial rights in the Aegean Sea.
Sumela, a spectacular structure cut into the side of a mountain, was abandoned around the time of Turkey's foundation in 1923. The last Mass was held a year earlier amid conflict between Turks and Greeks. The remote site near the Black Sea has become a big tourist draw.
The patriarch, who is based in Istanbul, wore a white robe with golden lace, and carried a staff. Priests sang hymns and spread incense amid faded frescoes. Visitors who could not fit into the crowded monastery watched on a giant television screen several hundred meters below the building.
"It is a very exciting moment for us Greeks because it's the first time we get to have such a Mass," said 24-year-old Ketevan Nadareishvili. "We can pray on the land of my great-great-grandfathers."
The patriarch said he hoped the desire to pray would not be misinterpreted.
"The culture of living together is a heritage our civilization left for us. Let's make that heritage live on, and let us teach all, so that we do not suffer anymore, and families do not perish," Bartholomew said in Turkish after the service. "The Sumela monastery has lived like a legend for decades among us, patiently waiting for this day to come."
Most of Turkey's 72 million people are Muslim, but even many of those feel that their rights are curtailed by law.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
