Christians in Mersin also marked the holiday, “Noel” in Turkish, with the largest celebration taking place at the Roman Catholic church with a service including prayers and hymns. Church Pastor Roberto Ferrari noted in his sermon to the congregation that the holiday served to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. “May our Lord bless all of us and our beautiful country, Turkey. We must always share; we want for peace and fraternity to reign in the world,” he said. The pastor of the Mersin Orthodox church, Majiec Sokolovsk, and its spiritual leader Coşkun Teymur were also at the joint service and expressed wishes that unity and togetherness would continue in the nation.President Abdullah Gül issued a celebratory message on the occasion of the Christmas holiday. “I would like to extend my sincerest, most heartfelt greetings to our Christian citizens on the Christmas holiday that they will celebrate today,” Gül began his remarks. “I hope that Christmas will bring happiness, peace of mind, wellbeing and success.” The president emphasized togetherness and unity in his message, underlining the shared cultural and historic heritage of all religious groups in Turkey.
In İzmir’s Selçuk district Christmas services were held at the House of the Virgin Mary, including readings from the Gospel and prayers in Turkish, English and Italian. At the Catholic church in Hatay’s İskenderun district, the Vatican’s Apostolic Vicar of Anatolia Bishop Luigi Padovese and the church’s pastor, Yusuf Pedrila, led a special Christmas mass and gave messages emphasizing peace, tolerance and brotherhood.
