Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece met this morning with the Minister of European and International Affairs and Media of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Nathanael Liminski.
The Minister thanked the Archbishop for the reception and stressed that he very much wanted to meet with him as part of his visit to Athens. Moreover, as he stressed, he believes that religion contributes to peace and issues of concern to society.
The Archbishop welcomed the Minister and his entourage and expressed his joy for this visit. He noted that steps are needed to have common goals and avoid conflicts.
“Our time needs to be able to speak to our people, to speak the truth, and to prepare society for things that unfortunately our children and young people have put on the sidelines,” the Archbishop pointed out and wished to cultivate communication.
For his part, the Minister agreed with what the Archbishop said and referred to the influence of the media on young people and how much they affect their hearts and thoughts. He wondered what they could do to avoid getting lost in this wealth of information.
“There is a diversity in religions and cultures, and we see that religion is often seen as a source of conflict. “Religion should be the source, which will enable people to find the meaning of life,” the Minister stressed, adding that “it is important to have a dialogue and to give the message that religion exists for man and is there to support people,” while referring to similar issues that exist in Greece.
The Archbishop replied that the problems created by the mixing of peoples are enormous and added that “freedom is a sacred thing and we must respect it, but the abuse of freedom is dangerous. We give love to Muslims, love to the people who come to our “home” and offer them a job, but it is not love to let them destroy our “home” and damage it. The foreigners who come must not become the ones who will rule our ‘home’. ”
