Istanbul, Dec. 7, 2007 (CWNews.com) - For the first time in 5 years, the Orthodox community in Turkey, received official permission to celebrate the Divine Liturgy on the feast of St. Nicholas in the church where the saint served as bishop.
Metropolitan Kalaitsis celebrated the Liturgy in the church of St. Nicholas in Demre, Turkey, the KNA news service reports. The government of Turkey-- which is militantly secular in its ideology, but heavily influenced by the country's Islamic majority-- now maintains the church as a museum.
Metropolitan Kalaitsis said that he was hopeful the permission to celebrate the feast of St. Nicholas would be granted each year in the future.