Fener Greek Patriarch Bartholomew officiated a service Wednesday at the Saint John Church in memory of the youngest apostle of Jesus and he wished Muslims success in Ramadan.
The grave of the Bible writer Saint John is located at the church in western Izmir province. Bartholomew delivered a portion of his address in Turkish and congratulated Muslims on the holy month.
“ALLAH MAY ACCEPT YOUR PRAYERS”
“I would like to offer most sincere congratulations and best wishes of myself and the Christian Orthodox community to Muslims for the incipient holy month of Ramadan,” Bartholomew said. He thanked national and local authorities for giving his community permission to hold the liturgy. “We pray that Allah will accept your fasts and prayers,” he said. “We wish you to celebrate your holy Ramadan feast with enthusiasm and love a month hence.”
Many Orthodox members from Turkey and Greece attended the liturgy, including Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos’s wife, Vlasia; Greek Ambassador to Ankara Petros Mavroidis; Greece’s Consul-General in Izmir Argyro Papoulia and the Head of Greek Orthodox community in Izmir Yorgo Teodoridis.