Vartholomeos Denounces Desecration Of Panagia Soumela, Greek President shocked  — Greek City Times greekcitytimes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from greekcitytimes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
'A most sacred shrine of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and of the Greeks of Pontus, but also a monument of world religious and cultural heritage, was offered for purposes that do not befit its religious character and history,' Vartholomeos wrote.
His All-Holiness, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew sent a letter of protest to His Excellency Mr. Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, Minister of Culture and Tourism of the Turkish Republic, regarding the sacrilege of the Patriarchal and Stavropegial Monastery of Panaghia Soumela of Trabzon. His All-Holiness, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew sent a letter of protest to His Excellency Mr. Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, Minister of Culture and Tourism of the Turkish Republic, regarding the sacrilege.
In 1998, the Greek Parliament recognised the genocide of the Pontic Greek population carried out by the Turks and made 19 May a day of commemoration. The Panaghia Soumela icon was taken to Greece when Pontian Greeks fled.