THE GREEK AUSTRALIAN the Oldest Circulating Greek Newspaper Outside VEMA Greece NOVEMBER 2019 Tel
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
THE GREEK AUSTRALIAN The oldest circulating Greek newspaper outside VEMA Greece NOVEMBER 2019 Tel. (02) 9690 6100 Fax: (02) 9698 5368 ‘Greek Identity Throughout History’ at St Catherine’s Greek Hiking in Sydney to financially Archbishop Makarios support the Welfare Centre of Orthodox Church, Mascot visited St Basil’s building the Archdiocese of Australia site in Western Australia PAGE: 21 PAGE: 22 PAGE: 21 First inauguration for the Archbishop of Australia PAGE: 21 The new administrative structure of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia PAGE: 20 2 /20 VEMA The Greek Australian VEMA NOVEMBER 2019 MAKARIOS by God’s mercy, Archbishop of the Most Holy Archdiocese of Australia, Primate and Exarch of All Oceania, to the God-loving Bishops, the gracious clergy and monastic brotherhoods, to the Presidents of the honourable Administrative Committees and Philoptochos Associations, to the teachers and students in the Schools, to those who work in the philanthropic institutions and to all the Christ-loving plenitude of the Orthodox Church in Australia, grace and peace from our Saviour Jesus Christ. Venerable Brother fellow Bishops and my beloved children, As you already know, at the behest and commendation of His All Holiness, our Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, and at the recommendation of our own humble person, the Holy and Great Church of Christ, worthily and justly elevated their Graces in Australia, Bishop Seraphim of Apollonias and Bishop Nikandros of Doryleum, who laboured for many years in the vineyard of the Fifth Continent, to Metropolitans of Sevasteia and Eirinoupolis respectively. The intention of His All Holiness our Patriarch, but also our own, was to honour, in the same way, His Grace Bishop Ezekiel of Derbe, a brother worthy and respected in all things, by a similar such promotion. In contrast to the two aforementioned brother Hierarchs, who accepted this proposal of promotion at once, and voluntarily resigned from their administrative positions, His Grace Bishop Ezekiel declined, preferring rather to continue his ministry in Melbourne, “next to the new Archbishop”, as he stated repeatedly. I personally congratulated the two aforementioned brothers on behalf of all of us, namely the gracious clergy and the devout flock of our Holy Archdiocese of Australia. I was present at their election and I advised both to continue to remain with us in Australia. In this regard, His Eminence Metropolitan Seraphim of Sevasteia, formerly bishop of Apollonias, stated that he would continue to reside in his home in Sydney, whereas His Eminence Metropolitan Nikandros of Eirinoupolis stated that he would like to continue to dwell in the Archdiocesan residence in Adelaide, where he resided up till now. Permission for this was given wholeheartedly. I am certain that the presence of the two fine brother Hierarchs in Australia is beneficial for our Church, and I firmly believe that only positive results are able to emerge from our good and brotherly collaboration. For this reason, I urge all of you to continue to invite the two brother Hierarchs to your parishes on your feast days, to your school and community events, as our own humble person will do, inviting the two fine and honourable Brothers to all significant events of our local Church. Honour, in like manner the aforementioned Hierarchs, and respect their immense past contribution here. I believe that their longstanding ecclesial experience, but also their love for the local Church are able to contribute positively to the advancement and successful progress of the godly aims and objectives of our Holy Archdiocese. I consider their presence to be invaluable to us. Likewise, I would like to inform you that, within the framework of the administrative reorganisation of the Holy Archdiocese of Australia, resulting from the vacancies in the administrative positions created from the promotion of the new brother Metropolitans, we undertook the following decisions: A. The Very Reverend Archimandrite, Father EvagriosKoutouzis has been appointed the new Vicar-General (Πρωτοσύγκελλος) of the Holy Archdiocese of Australia. B. His Grace Bishop Iakovos of Miletoupolis has been appointed the Archiepiscopal Vicar of Brisbane. C. The Very Reverend Archimandrite, Father ElpidiosKaralis has been appointed the Archiepiscopal Vicar of Perth. D. The Very Reverend Archimandrite, Father SilouanFotineas has been appointed the Archiepiscopal Vicar of Adelaide. E. The Very Reverend Archimandrite, Father EvmeniosVasilopoulos has been appointed the Archiepiscopal Vicar of the newly established Archdiocesan district of Northcote in Victoria. F. The Very Reverend Archimandrite, Father ThalassiosVoultsidis has been appointed the Abbot of the Holy Monastery of St John in Perth. G. The Reverend Deacon, Father Athenagoras Karakonstandakis, recently made Archdeacon on the 27th October, has been appointed the Director of Finance. H. The Reverend Deacon, Father ChristophorosKrikelis has been appointed the Director of the Personal Office of the Archbishop. I. The Reverend Deacon, Father Stephanos Tinikasvili has been appointed Archivist. The new co-workers of our Holy Archdiocese are distinguished for their ecclesial ethos, hard work, their dedication to the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the local Church, their self-sacrifice, their theological education, their spirituality and their love towards their fellow human beings. For this reason, we are certain that they will show themselves worthy of the expectations of the Church and their Shepherd. My paternal wish and Archiepiscopal hope to all of you is that you support the abovementioned clergy in their difficult task, working with them for the glory of Christ and the advancement of the work of our Holy Archdiocese of Australia. With these thoughts, wishing you strength from God in your god-loving ministry and in your life, I remain, With much love in Christ and paternal blessings. The Archbishop † Makarios of Australia 3rd Encyclical, 28th October 2019 NOVEMBER 2019 The Greek Australian VEMA VEMA 3 /21 First inauguration for the Archbishop of Australia Archbishop of Australia announced permanent placement of a priest in Burbury rchbishop Makarios of Australia presided at the inauguration of the Greek Orthodox Church of St. Stylianos, Sts. Peter & Paul & St. Gregory of Palama in Sutherland Shire, Gymea, Sydney. he faithful of the small parish of St. Nicholas in Burbury of Western Australia He concelebrated the Divine Liturgy with Metropolitan Seraphim of Sevas- welcomed Archbishop Makarios to their village. Atia and Bishop Iakovos of Militoupolis. The Archbishop of Australia visited the parish and the faithful received him The Church was built in 1995 and was dedicated to Saint Stylianos, the Patron Saint of with great love. After the Divine Liturgy, which was officiated by Archbishop Archbishop Stylianos. The reconstruction works of the Church are now finished. TMakarios, a lunch was served for all who were present. Many priests, local authorities, and Members of Parliament attended the inaugura- The President of the Community, Aristides Papandroulakis, stressed that “today we tion. feel a great honour and blessing for having you here. We are living a historical mo- At the end of the Divine Liturgy, the Archbishop pointed out the importance of the in- ment since for the first time an Archbishop visits our humble parish. When we were auguration of the Church and thanked the two Protopriests, who were the benefactors informed that the Archbishop of Australia would visit us we thought it was a bad joke. and donors. Thank you. We will never forget your visit here.” The Archbishop, for his part, promised that he would soon ordain a new clergyman, who will be permanently placed in the parish of St. Nicholas to serve the needs of the faithful. He told them characteristically: “Your parish is not at its sunset. It is at its Hiking in Sydney to financially sunrise. You will soon have your own priest.” support the Welfare Centre of Archbishop Makarios visited St Basil’s the Archdiocese of Australia building site in Western Australia rchbishop Makarios of Australia raised money for the needs of the Welfare Centre of the Holy Archdiocese of Australia, in a peculiar way. s part of his visit to Western Australia, Archbishop Makarios of Australia All the interested parties took part in a hike that started from the Church of visited the site where the new St. Basil’s homes are being built to meet St. Nicholas in Sydney. This tradition is already known in Australia as “walk- the needs of the elderly people in need in that area. Aathon”. At the same time, a feast with traditional food and a lottery had been organized It should be mentioned that the foundation stone was laid by the Arch- in the churchyard. Abishop himself last July. This is a project that will not be community-based. Elder Archbishop Makarios, accompanied by Metropoliran Seraphim of Sebasteia and sever- people who will participate in the program will receive the care they need while al clergymen, led the hike in the area, followed by hundreds of faithful. staying at their home. The new building will be a creative space and host gather- Upon returning from the hike, the Archbishop thanked all those who participated and ings of elder people during the day. It will also cover the administrative needs of invited them to reiterate their effort the following year to strengthen this institution coordination. and to further assist the Archdiocese’s Welfare Centre. Work is progressing very quickly and the opening of buildings