The head of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan Hilarion, protested against the desecration of Orthodox shrines in Turkey over a disco in the famous functioning Orthodox monastery of Panagia Sumela of the Patriarchate of Constantinople in Trebizond, writes Romfea.

Metropolitan Hilarion noted that in the main historical shrine of the Greeks of Pontus, in the monastery of Panagia Sumela in Trabzon, local authorities allowed the holding of a musical and dance event. “They say it was done to attract tourists. I am convinced that Russian tourists, who are in the majority in Turkey, will never approve of such a cynical sacrilege of a Christian shrine. In Russia, such treatment of a temple or mosque leads to the punishment of those responsible. It is gratifying to see that at least representatives of the local population and travel companies are protesting against what happened,” Metropolitan Hilarion notes in his commentary.

“The Russian Orthodox Church has done a lot to make this glorious monastery accessible to pilgrims and to annual liturgies. We strongly condemn the desecration of Orthodox shrines in Turkey. We hope that its state leadership, especially in the context of strengthening Russian-Turkish relations, will not turn a blind eye to this egregious incident,” the Moscow Patriarchate said in a statement.

According to media reports, with the permission of the Turkish authorities, a musical event was held at the historical monastery of Pagia Sumela. The images, which have been posted on social media, have prompted scathing comments about the desecration of the monument, as the video clip dances to the sound of electronic music and the sound of a bell plays in the background. The video clip was made to promote the Panagia Sumela Monastery as a tourist site with the permission of the Turkish authorities.