“Welcome to your home. Welcome to the place you belong to. Welcome to the place you deserve. Welcome to the Church of your fathers and your ancestors. “
His Eminence Archbishop of Australia Makarios officially welcomed the members of the Church of Saint Spyridon in the Holy Archdiocese and Ecumenical Patriarchate on Wednesday 11th and Thursday 12th of December.
Crowds gathered at the sacred Church to show their respect for the Archbishop and be a part of a historic development for their community.
The President of the Community, Mr. Athanasios Mandalos, welcomed his Holiness and the Bishop of the Temple, Father George Athanasiadis.
His Eminence Makarios celebrated at the feast day of Saint Spyridon, and on Thursday morning he performed the Divine Liturgy. Following the Divine Liturgy, he made the unveiling of a memorial plaque placed at the entrance of the Church.
Addressing the faithful, Archbishop Makarios emphasised the importance of the “great spiritual revolution” that their Community made and the value of the “spiritual victory” it achieved.
“You have succeeded, despite the difficulties, the hatreds and the selfishness,” he highlighted, “to leave the schism and the division and come to the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.”
His Eminence shared congratulations given by the Ecumenical Patriarch.
“Bartholomew and the Holy and Holy Synod of our Ecumenical Patriarchate, who unanimously ruled for your restoration. All of us enjoy the clergy and the Orthodox people of Australia. From one end of the country to the other, everyone is celebrating. Because the darkness is gone. We no longer live in the nightmare of division. “
The restoration of the Church of St. Spyridon to the regular Church, marks the beginning of a new page for both the Community itself and the Australian Archdiocese.
“I admit, in all my sincerity, that our Holy Archdiocese is becoming more spiritually beautiful today” he noted, adding: “The Archdiocese today welcomes us beautiful souls, who make us all richer.”
