On 14 July 2020, the Divine Liturgy was celebrated at the church-museum of St. Nicholas in Demre, Turkey. Moleben with akathist to St. Nicholas of Myra in Lycia followed.
Rev. Georgy Sergeyev, who cares for the Russian-speaking believers in the Republic of Turkey, officiated at the divine service, the first after the easing of COWID-19 quarantine restrictions.
Prayers for the unity of the Orthodox Church, its keeping from heresies and schisms, for reducing of the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, for peace in Ukraine and for good neighbor relations between Russia and Turkey were offered up.
Attending the service were pilgrims from the Society of Russian-speaking Orthodox believers of Antalya and believers from Belarus and Ukraine vacationing in the region.
After the liturgy Fr. Georgy expressed gratitude to the local authorities and to the Russian Art and Culture Society in Antalya for their assistance with arranging the service.
Litiya was celebrated at the monument to the Hero of Russia Andrei Karlov, the Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Turkey assassinated by a terrorist in December 2016, Patriarchia.ru reports.
