“Hoisting our flag with feelings of joy and pride, because we know it symbolizes the struggles and blood shed by our ancestors, reminds us all that the struggle to defend freedom is continuous.” This remark was made by the Archbishop of America Elpidophoros during the ceremony of raising the Greek flag in Bowling Green, in the presence of the Euzones of the Presidential Guard, members of the Greek-American community and students of the Greek schools, under the coordination of the Greek Associations of Greater New York.

Also present at the ceremony were, among others, our ambassador in Washington, Alexandra Papadopoulou, the ambassador to the permanent delegation of Greece to the United Nations Evangelos Sekeris, the ambassador to the permanent delegation of Cyprus to the United Nations Andreas Hadjichrysanthou, and the consul general of Greece in New York Konstantinos Konstantinou.

The Archbishop of America initially gave credit to the members of the Federation of Greek Associations of Greater New York, because thanks to their efforts the great honor of establishing the event of raising the Greek flag was achieved. He then wholeheartedly thanked the Guardsmen of the Presidential Guard for their presence reminiscent of the immortal heroes of 1821 and for their participation as noble freedom fighters in this stirring event.

“With their dignity, their magnificence and their glory, they honor us especially and remind us of the same pride, the same courage, the same courage and the same heroism of the fighters of 1821”, underlined Archbishop Elpidophoros. “We are always aware of our duty to remember and teach the deeper meaning of the national anniversary of March 25, and it is our duty to promote the principles of freedom and human dignity throughout the world, with our thoughts and our Ukrainian brothers who are fighting for their freedom and territorial integrity,” he added.

Then, as he pointed out, “in blue and white we see the purity and humanity of the Virgin Mary and the beauty and splendor of the Greek land and we always want it to wave with love and devotion and with faith and with a strong sense of duty. We will never forget March 25,” he concluded, “because it is our national anniversary or, more precisely, the anniversary of our national rebirth, a day that exists every day of the year when we choose to remember our heritage and our history and the most precious ideal of our freedom.”