Archbishop of Australia: Today we united Athens with Melbourne, Australia with Greece

An event entitled “Christmas Carols 2021” was held with great success on Thursday, December 23, at the Holy Monastery “Axion Esti”, in Northcote, Victoria.

Archbishop Makarios of Australia expressed his satisfaction for the beautiful spectacle offered by the participants of the event, who managed to mentally unite Melbourne with Athens, Australia with Greece through music.

It was the children’s choir of Spyros Lambros, from Athens, who in collaboration with the famous composer Tassos Ioannidis, accompanied by Melbourne-born Sofia Tseros, and Thanos Lambrou and Alkmini Basakaros, presented a special program with Christmas songs and melodies, through the Municipal Theater Olympia – Maria Callas of the Municipality of Athens.

The concert was shown on a giant screen in the courtyard of the Holy Monastery “Axion Esti”, where other Christmas events took place.

During the event, beautiful and nostalgic images of the decorated Greek capital were displayed, as well as the greeting of the Mayor of Athens, Kostas Bakogiannis, who collaborated with undivided willingness to implement the initiative of the Holy Archdiocese of Australia.

During his greeting, Archbishop Makarios, receiving a stimulus from the title of a song, from those presented during the event, asked the attendees to set a goal, in view of this year’s Christmas, to offer love to all.

“Love has no limits. Love is for everyone. For friends and relatives, but also for enemies. And for those who are not orthodox Christians. And for those who are not Greeks. And for those who do not love our traditions and our customs. Love is addressed to everyone without exception”, he emphasized characteristically.

Furthermore, Archbishop Makarios expressed his unlimited love for the Greek Orthodox flock of Victoria, practical proof of which, as he characteristically noted, is the placement of two venerable and blessed Bishops in the Archdiocese of Melbourne and North Cote.

The Archbishop of Australia did not fail to talk about the Bishops of Kyriakos Sozopolis and Eumenios of Kerasous, who were both present at the event, and for whom the Archbishop said he was lucky to have as associates. “I feel that I have acquired two good and blessed people,” he said, recalling that Simon of Cyrene was the one who helped Christ carry the Cross of Martyrdom to Golgotha.

“I thank them,” he added, “and I thank all of you who have already welcomed them with much love and warmth.”

Finally, the Archbishop expressed his appreciation to Metropolitan Ezekiel of Dervis, announcing the organization of a large event in his honour, as a sign of recognition of his more than thirty years of service to the Holy Archdiocese.

“To express our gratitude and love for everything he did, but also for everything he continues to do,” he stressed, noting that Metropolitan Ezekiel is a valuable member of the local Church and continues to monitor its work and intervene with his spiritual counsel.

It is noted that the event of the Holy Archdiocese of Australia was honoured by the presence of the Consul General of Greece in Melbourne, Emmanuel Kakavelakis, the Federal Member of Parliament, Maria Vamvakinos, the President of the Inter-Community Committee of Victoria Antonis Tsourdalakis, many clergymen, many representatives of the organizations of the Greek Diaspora.