The traditional cutting of the New Year’s pie by the Greek Orthodox associations of Constantinople, held in the presence of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, was marked by several unusual setbacks.

As reported by SKAI’s correspondent in Turkey, Manolis Kostidis, the ceremony experienced what he called “three evils.”

First, a power outage occurred right as the event began. Then, when Patriarch Bartholomew started cutting the pie, the knife provided to him broke, forcing organizers to bring a replacement. However, the second knife also proved faulty, bending during use.

Before finishing the pie-cutting, the Ecumenical Patriarch remarked that it was a “bad omen.”