On 5 November 2025, at the Patriarchal Monastery of Saint Savvas the Sanctified in Alexandria, the ordination of the newly elected Bishop of Majunga and Northern Madagascar, Niphon, was celebrated with great ecclesiastical solemnity.
Patriarch Theodoros II of Alexandria and All Africa presided over the Divine Liturgy, accompanied by Metropolitan Nikodimos of Nigeria, Metropolitan Germanos of Tamiatheus, Bishop Prodromos of Toliara and Southern Madagascar, and Bishop Damaskinos of Mareotis.
Also present at the Holy Altar was Archimandrite Dionysios Charitakis, Abbot of the Holy Monastery of Agarathos, along with numerous clergy from the Patriarchal Court and various metropolises of Greece, all contributing to the dignity and prayerful character of this historic moment for the Church of Africa.
Among those present at the Patriarchal Divine Liturgy were the Consul General of Greece in Alexandria, Ioannis Pyrgakis, the President of the Greek Community of Alexandria, Andreas Vafeiadis, Captain Chrysostomos Rangos of the Hellenic Navy, serving as Naval Liaison in Alexandria, as well as representatives from various institutions and organizations.
The Holy Monastery was filled to capacity with the relatives, friends, and spiritual children of the newly elected Bishop, who had travelled from Crete, from many regions of Greece, and even from the United States and Canada to witness this significant moment.
In his address, the newly elected Bishop Niphon expressed profound gratitude to God and extended heartfelt thanks to Patriarch Theodoros II of Alexandria, recognizing in him a spiritual father, a visionary leader, and a true shepherd of Orthodoxy and the missionary ministry.
With deep affection and gratitude, the new Bishop fondly remembered his late parents, Stavros and Christina, as well as his great-grandfather, the late priest Fr. Ioannis Matonakis.
He also spoke with heartfelt emotion about his spiritual fathers, the late Elder Fr. Eumenios Lambakis, the late Metropolitan Iakovos II of Argolis, and the late Abbot Elder Nektarios Vitalis, whose paternal guidance and holy prayers shaped his spiritual journey in profound ways.
He went on to thank Metropolitan Gennadios of Libya, from whom he received both the first and second degrees of the priesthood, as well as his academic teachers: Metropolitan Andreas of Arkalochori, Kastelli and Viannos, Metropolitan Athenagoras of Ilion, Acharnes and Petroupolis, and Professor Georgios Filias.
The Bishop expressed his sincere appreciation to the Holy and Sacred Synod for his election and the trust placed in him. With a deep sense of responsibility, he accepted his mission in Madagascar, a land of blessing but also of the Cross, where poverty stands side by side with an intense thirst for God. He pledged to work closely with the priests and catechists of the region to carry out works of love, mercy, hope, and spiritual renewal for the people.
He concluded by asking for the prayers of the Patriarch and of the faithful, so that the grace of the Holy Spirit may guide him in his new ministry. He promised to serve the Church with humility, purity of heart, and genuine pastoral spirit, bringing wherever he is sent the light and hope of the Resurrection.
In his response, Patriarch Theodoros II of Alexandria addressed the newly elected Bishop Niphon with paternal warmth, noting that the Church of Alexandria had lived a moment of true spiritual grace, as the Holy Spirit illuminated and raised up a new shepherd for the blessed region of Northern Madagascar.
The Patriarch reminded him that the episcopacy is not a worldly honor but a cross-bearing responsibility, one that demands love, humility, patience, and purity of life. He stressed that the Bishop, as a son of heroic and saint-bearing Crete, carries with him deep spiritual roots shaped by a land that has produced countless faithful and steadfast servants of God. This Cretan strength and dignity, he added, will be a support and anchor in his new mission.
The Patriarch also reflected on the path that has shaped the new Bishop: his service in the Hellenic Police, his work in local government, his theological formation and academic studies, and his priestly ministry. All these experiences, he noted, have broadened his heart and made it fully receptive to the grace of God.
A central part of his address focused on Madagascar—a place of trials, yet also of profound missionary promise. The Patriarch emphasized that there the new Bishop will encounter hunger, poverty, children with eyes full of expectation, and people seeking the comfort and hope that Christ brings. It is precisely within such hardship, he said, that the power of love, sacrifice, and genuine pastoral care becomes most evident.
His Beatitude assured the Bishop that he will not walk this road alone. The Patriarch’s paternal blessing, the prayers of all the members of the Patriarchate, and the grace of the Holy Spirit will accompany and strengthen him. He then invited him to approach the Holy Altar with reverence and the fear of God.
