Turkish authorities allow Russian priests to celebrate liturgy in Ephesus

On September 22, the commemoration day of Righteous Joachim and Anna and the remembrance of the Third Ecumenical Council, priests and Orthodox believers of the Russian Orthodox Church celebrated the liturgy in the Turkish city of Ephesus, reports the DECR ROC website.

The liturgy was led by the clergyman responsible for the pastoral care of Moscow Patriarchate believers in the territory of the Turkish Republic, Priest Georgy Sergeyev, concelebrated by Fr Alexiy Golovin, who ministers to the Moscow Patriarchate community in Antalya.

Pilgrims from Istanbul, Izmir, Antalya, Marmaris, and Kuşadası attended the religious service.

After the liturgy, the clergyman thanked the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Turkey for granting permission to conduct the religious service at the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos, located in the historical city of Ephesus.

Previously, the head of the Department for External Church Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, said that the Russian Orthodox Church cannot deny pastoral care to Orthodox believers in Turkey.