The Metropolitan of Zambia, His Eminence Ioannis, on Sunday officiated at a memorial service at the Metropolitan Cathedral’s side chapel, for the victims of the Pontian Genocide, ahead of Tuesday’s May 19 commemoration of the 101st anniversary of the genocide.
With tears in his eyes, the Metropolitan prayed before the holy icon of St. George of Mouzamana, which was preserved and carried out of the Black Sea region of Trabzon (ancient Trapezounta), from where the hierarch’s family roots lies, along with a photograph of his great-grandfather, a priest from the same region.
The Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa in 2019 recognized the Genocide of the Pontian Greeks, allowing for the holding of memorial services in all Greek Orthodox places of worship on the continent for the thousands of Pontians systemically killed by the Young Turks and later Kemalist forces in northeast Asia Minor in the first quarter of the 20th century.
