Dear Brother Archons and Friends,

With immense gratitude to Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and His All-Holy Mother, we are delighted to announce that His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew has been granted the permission of the Turkish government to celebrate the Divine Liturgy for the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos at the historic Panagia Sumela Monastery in Trabzon on August 15. This is a reversal of the Turkish government’s previous decision, as we noted here in deploring the earlier prohibition of this celebration. This reversal is a heartening indication of the necessity to stand fearlessly for religious freedom against all efforts to curtail it.

In the Service of the Ecumencial Patriarchate,

Anthony J. Limberakis, MD

Archon Aktouarios

National Commander