Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch John X receives delegation from the Archdiocese of Athens

Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch John X received a delegation from the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Athens and All of Greece at Balamand, Lebanon on Wednesday.

Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East John X received Metropolitan Ignatius Demetriados and Father Emmanuel Papa Mikrouli, delegates from Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece and from the Greek government.

During the meeting at the St. John of Damascus Institute of Theology in Balamand, the Greek delegation conveyed the solidarity of the Greek Church and the Greek government and their support for the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East.

For his part, His Beatitude expressed his appreciation to His Beatitude the Archbishop of Athens and All Greece and the Greek government and people, expressing the depth of the historical relationship that unites the Church of Antioch and Greece.

The meeting comes following the news that the Greek government will finance 600 clergymen in the diaspora, including to the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch.

With this move, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is on the soft power offensive following the Patriarchate of Moscow's expansionism in Africa and the recent overthrow of the Assad regime in Syria, with the Christian communities of the Eastern Mediterranean country becoming especially vulnerable since Turkish-backed jihadists came to power.

By placing hundreds of clergy in the Middle East, Turkey and Africa and by strengthening diplomatic efforts to protect Greek Orthodox Christians in Syria, Greece is taking steps to become a shield for Orthodoxy in these regions.

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