THE GREEK AUSTRALIAN The oldest circulating Greek newspaper outside VEMA Greece JUNE 2019 Tel. (02) 9559 7022 Fax: (02) 9559 7033 Archbishop Makarios of Australia: Ecumenical Patriarchate is our life source PAGE: 20 His Eminence will arrive at Sydney on Tuesday, 18th June and His Enthronement will take place on Saturday 29th June PAGE: 21 Elections in Greece ND enters parliamentary race with momentum, SYRIZA scampers to recover Travel Chania, the beauty of Crete PAGE: 22 PAGE: 30 2/20 VEMA The Greek Australian VEMA JUNE 2019 Meeting between President Pavlopoulos and Archbishop Makarios of Australia rchbishop Makarios of Austra- lia received a warm welcome Atoday at the Presidential Hall by the President of Hellenic Republic Prokopis Pavlopoulos. Mr. Pavlopou- los congratulated Archbishop Makari- os for his election at the Archiepisco- pal Throne of Australia, wished him “power and success” and stressed the “great mission of the Archdiocese of Australia”, which, as Mr. Pavlopoulos said, “has many dimentions”. “First of all, your mission is to sup- port the Archdiocese of Australia and the large and creative Greek ex- patriates there. Secondly, to enhance the Ecumenical Patriarchate itself, in this difficult time, something that is extremely important for Orthodoxy in its entity”, said the President of Hellenic Republic. From his point, Archbishop Makarios of Australia thanked President Pav- lopoulos for his warm welcome add- ing that he takes his remarks “as a spiritual deposit by the First Ruler of my country”. “Did you know” contin- ued Archbishop Makarios addressing Mr. Pavlopoulos, “that our role is Mr . Prokopis Pavlopoulos and Archbishop of Australia not only religious but also nation- al? Indeed, it is more national than were slaughtered and tortured for livening spirit of the Ecumenical Pa- Hellenic Republic to “use every ef- religious, because we are aware that our Country and Faith. I am keenly triarchate all over the continent”. fort” for the reopening of the Theo- in our veins there flows the blood aware of this”. In concluding, Archbishop of Aus- logical School. of heroes, who fought to defend our Archbishop Makarios added that “In tralia referred to the issue of Halki faith and the blood of saints, who Australia, I shall try to instill the en- Seminary, asking the President of Source: www.romfea.news, Jun 02, 2019 Archbishop of Australia: Ecumenical Patriarchate is our life source he 46 years old Hierarch thanked Ecumenical Patriarch for entrusting him such a crucial mission, stressing that he wishes to approach visionless and Thopeless people and surround them with fraternal love. “I do not go to Australia as a savior or a subverter. I wish to eliminate myself, so as to put forward my Church and my people”, says in his interview to “Sunday Ethnos” newspaper the new Archbishop of Australia, Makarios. The Archbishop has an impressing curriculum vitae that many would envy. He has studied Theology, Christian Ethics, History of Science, Philosophy and Med- icine, with specialty in Bioethics. He admits that it never occurred to him that Church would assign him such a powerful Archdiocese. The Archbishop thanks from the depth of his heart Ecu- menical Patriarch Bartholomew for this blessing, and claims that he focuses on man himself. On the supposed division of the Archdiocese of Australia into metropolises, Archbishop Makarios emphasized that such a decision presupposes particular attention, because hasty movements may cause an irreparable damage to the local Church and Ecumenical Patriarchate. He also admitted that he is not aware of the particularities of the Archdiocese of Australia and the difficulties he may face there, but he wishes to have firsthand experience and not a journalistic account of things. In general, he estimates that there will be no special or great difficulties. The Archbishop of Australia also expressed his views on the Ukrainian issue, stressing that Moscow came to Ukraine with no ecclesiastic decree and decision, adding that, undoubtedly, the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Patriarch did the right thing for the local Church of Ukraine. Concluding, he sends the message that “the Ecumenical Patriarchate is our life source. If we detach ourselves from it, we shall wither in our bloom, lost in sol- itary gloom, as waterless trees”. Source: www.romfea.news, Jun 02, 2019 JUNE 2019 The Greek Australian VEMA VEMA 3/21 4/22 VEMA The Greek Australian VEMA JUNE 2019 Meeting of the Archbishop of Athens and the Archbishop of Australia BY ROMFEA.NEWS The new Archbishop of Australia, Makarios, had a meeting with Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece, today, Monday, June 3. Upon his arrival at the Holy Archdiocese, Archbishop Makarios was warmly welcomed by Protosyncellus and Bishop of Thespies, Symeon. Then, Archbishop Ieronymos welcomed the new Archbishop to the Archdio- cese of Athens. “Thank you, Your Beatitude. Despite your tight schedule, thank you for this meeting today. It is a great honor and a blessing to talk to you,” said Arch- bishop Makarios. On his part, Archbishop Ieronymos congratulated Makarios on his election while he wished him to have a brilliant ministry in Australia. Source: www.romfea.news , Jun 03, 2019 The President of the Hellenic Photo: Christos Bonis Parliament, Nikolaos Voutsis, welcomed the new Archbishop of Australia, Makarios. The President of the Hellenic Parliament, Nikolaos Voutsis, welcomed today the new Archbishop of Australia, Makarios. “We are confident that through your work you will leave your mark in the Greek community and will greatly facilitate our country, Greek community and the Parliament in their relations with the Greek diaspora,” said, welcoming the Archbishop of Australia, the President of the Parliament. Nikolaos Voutsis noted that the Parliament was in contact, on an annual basis, with the World Inter-Parliamentary Union of Hellenism, the elected represen- tatives and prominent figures of the Greek diaspora all over the world, which “strengthens, encourages and supports the meetings and conferences that take place in Greece “. The President of the Parliament also referred to the important role that the Arch- bishop of Australia, in cooperation with the Greek community, could play in attracting investment in Greece that needed assistance and solidarity to get out of the crisis. On his part, Archbishop Makarios of Australia said: “I am going to Australia having one main objective, something of high priority: to reunite the people of Australia, who are alive, Greek, with the Greek language, customs, mores, and our tradition. This people I want to unite with Greece, with everything that entails, that is spiritual renaissance, and investment for Greece. Our homeland needs both. 80% of my flock is not just affluent. They are extremely affluent. Therefore, there may be a ray of hope for our country, which is going through difficult times.” Source: romfea.news, 4/6/2019 JUNE 2019 The Greek Australian VEMA VEMA 5/23 ND enters parliamentary race with momentum, SYRIZA scampers to recover In the month-long general election campaign, ND and SYRIZA will work toward limiting defections to other parties. ND will call on the electorate to hand it a strong single-party absolute majority in Parliament ew Democracy achieved a major political victory in the 26 May European Parliament Nelection with over 33 percent of the vote and a 9.5 percentage point lead over ruling SYRIZA, which had placed the bar for a limited, manageable defeat at five percentage points. SYRIZA managed to improve its position when com- pared to various polls over the last four years that gave ND a lead of over 10 percentage points, but the results dashed its hopes of minimising the spread by means of an economic stimulus package with gen- erous benefits and tax cuts announced nearly three weeks before the election. The result is a harsh defeat for SYRIZA and a crush- ing defeat for PM Alexis Tsipras who single-handed- ly ran the campaign, criss-crossing the country and running on a class-based platform which depicted the ruling party as the representative of “the many” and the conservative opposition as the representa- tive of the elite. Tsipras opted for a major gamble by framing the elec- tion as a referendum on his stimulus package and for the first time in nearly four years he lost the bet. Momentum for ND ahead of general election Undoubtedly, New Democracy is entering the gener- al election campaign with strong momentum, hav- ing trounced the ruling party. Nevertheless, the European Parliament election re- sult confirmed two-party predominance. The cen- tre-right pole of ND and the centre-left pole of SYR- IZA garnered an aggregate 60 percent of the vote. The 7.5 percent of the vote garnered by the cen- tre-left Movement for Change represents a signifi- cant victory in an extremely polarised political cli- mate that tends to tightly squeeze smaller parties. However, the result in no way threatens – at least for now – the hegemony of SYRIZA in the pool of centre-left voters who once upon a time flocked en masse to Pasok. Smaller parties and the protest vote The source of his funding is unclear as there is no ZA were the centre-right To Potami, the centre-right The Europarliament elections also rewarded two new- indication of financial transparency in the party. Centrists’ Union, and the Independent Greeks. fangled Eurosceptic parties (there were 19 such in the Velopoulos is the only party member with any na- In the month-long general election campaign, ND European Parliament), Kyriakos Velopoulos’ Elliniki tionwide recognition. and SYRIZA will work toward limiting defections to Lysi and former finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis’ other parties. MeRa25 (Diem 35 on tickets in other EU countries). Varoufakis’ comeback ND will call on the electorate to hand it a strong sin- Velopoulos managed to absorb a substantial chunk gle-party absolute majority in Parliament by draw- of the protest vote that once went to extreme-right, Varoufakis an on a strong Eurosceptic platform and ap- ing right-wing and centrist voters.