His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I and His Beatitude Archbishop John of Albania concelebrated the Divine Liturgy on Sunday at the Church of Saint Theodore Tyron in the town of Malakope (Derinkuyu), near an underground city once inhabited by Cappadocian Christians.
“Coming here and celebrating the Mystery of the Church through the Divine Eucharist, we are not merely fulfilling a religious duty, but mystically joining the endless and divine chorus of the worthy sons of Cappadocia, of old and of today, who stand before the Throne of God,” Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew said.
“All monuments and pilgrimage sites constitute a theological and cultural language revealing the spiritual heritage of a people, faith in God and in His providence, the Orthodox phronema, values, love for culture and art, a way of life, the importance of relationships and solidarity — all handed down from generation to generation through family life, social action, and participation in another’s sorrow and joy, through customs, feasts and traditions, not as an imposition of the past upon the present, but as a heritage of life and freedom,” Archbishop John of Albania stated.
Also participating in the service were Metropolitan Gregory of Ancyra (Ecumenical Patriarchate) and Bishop Ignatius of Amantia (Church of Albania).
His All-Holiness Bartholomew also officiated a memorial service for all Christians martyred or fallen asleep in the Lord in the Cappadocia region.
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I and Archbishop John of Albania took part last week in a pilgrimage to Cappadocia.
Photo: Ecumenical Patriarchate / Nikos Papachristou
