In the close ties that connect the Ecumenical Patriarchate with Greece and the love of expatriates for the Church and the motherland, the Archbishop of America mentioned today Promisingwho presided over the Divine Liturgy at the Patriarchal Church of Agios Nikolaos Poorhouse, in Athens.

The director of the Representation Office of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Athens, Metropolitan Theodoritos of Laodicea, and Metropolitan Gavriil of Nea Ionia attended the prayers.

“Greece, the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Community are one and the same“, emphasized Archbishop Elpidophoros, while he thanked the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew for the permission he granted him to officiate today in the Patriarchal Church. In addition, he described “brave and catalytic the offer of Archbishop Hieronymos who contributed the most in cooperation with the Metropolitan of Laodicea in granting to the Ecumenical Patriarchate this surrounding holy church”.

He also referred to the person of Metropolitan Gabriel of Nea Ionia and Philadelphia, with whom, as he pointed out, he has “close personal and fraternal ties”.

Yesterday, Mr Archbishop of America Elpidophoros worshiped the monastic cell of Agios Porphyrios of Kausokalyvitis, in the Holy Monastery of the Transfiguration of the Lord, in Milesi.

The Archbishop pointed out that it is difficult for someone to express in words this great blessing of the pilgrimage, as he is convinced that “Saint Porphyry is the pre-eminent saint of our century, the saint of love and understanding, the saint whom they feel very close to mainly the new generations as their spiritual refuge”.

Earlier, Archbishop Elpidophoros had met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, George Gerapetritis, with whom he talked about issues concerning the Orthodox Church and the Homogenea in the United States of America. Besides, the Archbishop wished the minister every success in his new duties, while underlining that “the mission and the spirit of our Church and our Community in America are completely identified with the heart of Hellenism in the motherland”.