Archbishop Makarios of Australia attended and addressed the opening ceremony of the 12th International Summer University, titled “Greek Language, Culture and Media – The Greek Language in Australia: From Memory to the Future,” on Tuesday, September 8.
The academic and cultural program is being hosted at the University of New South Wales in Sydney from September 6 to 11, 2026.
At the beginning of his address, Archbishop Makarios thanked the Organizing Committee for the invitation and congratulated those responsible for the initiative, particularly Professor Tsitsanoudis-Mallidis, Dean of the School of Education at the University of Ioannina and founder and academic director of the program, as well as Professor Vassilios Adrahtas, head of the Greek Studies Program at the University of New South Wales.
He also expressed his gratitude to President of the Hellenic Republic Konstantinos Tasoulas, under whose auspices the event is being held.
Greek language and Orthodox faith
Archbishop Makarios focused on the close relationship between the Greek language and the Orthodox faith over approximately two millennia.
“They have journeyed together not as ‘parallel lives,’” he said, “but as realities and values intertwined ‘without confusion, without change, without division and without separation,’ creating the unique edifice of ‘Romiosyni,’ which has offered universal civilization so many achievements and values that remain timeless and unsurpassed.”
Turning to the conference theme, “From Memory to the Future,” the Archbishop recalled how the first Greek migrants to Australia brought their language with them as a precious part of their spiritual heritage.
For those migrants, he explained, Greek was not merely a means of communication at a time when English remained unfamiliar, but also an “umbilical cord” that, together with the Orthodox faith, connected them with their homeland.
While acknowledging that Greek may have lost its leading role in education and everyday communication among younger generations, Archbishop Makarios stressed that it continues to play a central role in family, cultural and religious life.
It remains, he said, “the language in which a grandmother will tell fairy tales and stories from the homeland, the language in which we will joke with one another, the language in which we will argue, the language in which we will communicate at home and, above all, the language in which we will pray.”
‘The Greek language is a living reality’
Archbishop Makarios emphasized the role of the Greek Orthodox Church in Australia in maintaining the language, noting that Greek continues to be used in worship to an almost universal extent.
He also pointed to the teaching of ancient and modern Greek at the Church’s theological college and the recent establishment of a postgraduate program in Greek philosophy.
“If the Church relinquishes this treasure of language, the future of Hellenism here in Australia will be bleak,” he warned.
Concluding, the Archbishop challenged the idea that Greek in Australia should be viewed simply as a language requiring preservation or rescue.
“Our language is neither a half-dead patient nor, even more so, an embalmed museum exhibit,” he said. “For the Greek diaspora in Australia, Greek is a living reality that does not need ‘conservators.’”
He stressed that Greek continues to express the dreams and aspirations of the diaspora in Australia and called for efforts to strengthen that reality with a focus “on the future and not only on the past.”
