The University of Western Attica (PADA) and in particular the Department of Conservation of Antiquities and Works of Art of the School of Applied Arts and Culture, declared an Honorary Doctorate to the Archbishop of Constantinople, New Rome, Ecumenical Patriarch etc. Bartholomew. The naming ceremony took place, in the presence of the Minister of Education, Religion and Sports, Kyriakos Pierrakakis and the Deputy Minister of Education, Religion and Sports Zettas M. Makris, on Wednesday, October 11, at the historical site of the Athenian Association, in Plaka.

As stated in a PADA announcement, the Rector of the University, professor Panagiotis E. Kaldis welcomed the Ecumenical Patriarch Mr. Bartholomeus to the academic community of PADA, with great joy, special honor and deep emotion, noting that this highest academic office is offered to a living legend of spirituality, of Christian orthodoxy, who works tirelessly for the defense of human rights as well as the management of climate change. The beginning of the announcement was the invitation of the Ecumenical Patriarch to PADA for the purpose of preserving the emblematic and particularly rare mosaic image of the Virgin of Pammakaristos, said Mr. Kaldis, clarifying that based on the strengths and capabilities of the University, the cooperation will continue and in other fields. The Rector of PADA thanked the President of the Association of Athenians, who has now joined the academic community of the Foundation as an Honorary Doctorate, Mr. Eleftherios Skiadas, for the important work he carries out through the historical Association whose activity began 130 years ago , in the promotion of the city of the Athenians, the city of philosophy, art, democracy, emphasizing that a future that is not based on the past cannot exist.

The President of the Municipal Council of the Municipality of Athens and President of the Association of Athenians, E. Skiadas in his speech noted that this is a brilliant and special day for the Association of Athenians, underlining that: “Your spiritual presence feeds the long tradition that it desires throughout time our Most Holy Ecumenical Patriarch to be a condition for the survival of our Nation.”

The Dean of the PADA School of Applied Arts and Culture, Professor George Fakorellis, in his address stated that the awarded title is recognition of the outstanding contribution to culture, art and the preservation and perpetuation of the world’s cultural heritage, the spiritual heritage of Byzantium and expansion of universal Hellenism.

The President of the Department of Conservation of Antiquities and Works of Art, Professor Stamatios X. Boyatzis, noted that the fundamental goal of the Department is the protection of the material cultural heritage, clarifying that “even though we preserve the material … matter must have already met and interacted with the spirit. In our Department, interdisciplinarity, without being an end in itself, is a necessity and consequently a lever of our methodological tools. Through it, matter and its various approaches meet with the humanitarian spirit!” Mr. Boyatzis praised the Ecumenical Patriarch’s contribution to the preservation of both the spiritual and material heritage, as well as his actions against the disastrous results and effects of climate change.

The work of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew was presented at length by the professor of the Department of Conservation of Antiquities and Works of Art, Stefania Hlouverakis, who noted that the said announcement takes place during the celebration of the European Days for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage, stating that the Ecumenical Patriarch works tirelessly in low tones for the preservation and protection of the immovable and movable monuments of the Byzantine and Post-Byzantine period.

Mrs. Chlouveraki underlined that the declaration of an Honorary Doctor of the Department of the Ecumenical Patriarch lies in his contribution to the preservation, protection, promotion and perpetuation of the cultural heritage of Byzantium and the Post-Byzantine period and by extension the world cultural heritage, the ‘living’ spiritual heritage of Hellenism and especially in the preservation of the historical memory of the present and future generations, within and outside the borders of the Greek territory.

In his objection, the Ecumenical Patriarch Mr. Bartholomew, noted that he accepts with gratitude and joy the awarding of said title, being aware that everything is a gift from above, grace and gift. He characterized as admirable the preservation of the historical image by the team of PADA professors headed by Mrs. Chlouverakis, which was carried out thanks to the financial assistance of sponsors, headed by Mr. Panagiotis Laskaridis. Referring to the veneration of icons and their central position in the consciousness of the Orthodox and in the liturgical life of the church, he underlined that it is not just a pious tradition of the Christian East, analyzing the theological foundation of the veneration of icons.

The Ecumenical Patriarch Mr. Bartholomew, mentioned, among other things, that: “The Orthodox tradition is an ark of vital truths for man and the world. This tradition, which we in Fanarios keep as the apple of our eye in all its manifestations, teaches us that it is impossible to talk about progress, when the human face is withered and its home, the natural environment, is destroyed. That the culture of solidarity is not established through the rise of the living standard and through internet communication. That the concern for the protection of the human person and ecophilic behavior derive from the center of the Christian Gospel and church life. That the ministerial ethos is a dimension of the worshipful, ascetic and eucharistic Christian experience. In this sense, it is a grave mistake to identify the Christian ethos with closedness and indifference to the world and culture. The experience of the centuries testifies to the truth that the underestimation of spiritual values ​​and indifference to the dimension of the transcendent has negative consequences for the development of culture more broadly and that the life of the Church functioned as an inexhaustible source of artistic creation.”