Greeks gathered at the Monastery of Panagia Sumela in Pontus on Sunday for the annual Divine Liturgy, even as Turkish au...

Greeks gathered at the Monastery of Panagia Sumela in Pontus on Sunday for the annual Divine Liturgy, even as Turkish authorities imposed strict restrictions on attendance and barred media from the site. The number of pilgrims allowed inside was kept to a minimum, but the service went ahead regardless. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew was absent from the ceremony but gave his blessing for it to proceed. Metropolitan Varnavas of Neapolis and Stavroupolis presided over the liturgy in his place, leading the small congregation through one of the most emotionally charged observances in the Pontic Greek calendar. The restrictions were widely seen as an attempt to diminish the visibility and reach of the event, which has historically drawn both Greek and Turkish faithful to the 4th-century cliff-side monastery in the Trabzon region. But the service continued, and those present described the atmosphere as deeply moving despite the limited numbers. Panagia Sumela carries enormous weight for Pontic Greeks and the broader Greek Orthodox world. The monastery was abandoned during the population exchanges of the early 1920s and was only permitted to hold liturgies again in 2010, after decades of silence. Each year's service is a reminder of what was lost, and a declaration that the connection to the site has never been severed. Turkish authorities have varied the terms of access from year to year, and this year's restrictions were among the tighter ones imposed in recent memory. No official explanation was given publicly for why media were excluded. #PanagiaSumela #PonticGreeks #Greece