Archbishop Makarios of Australia spoke to ERT1 on Thursday, December 30. Archbishop Makarios hoped that in the new year we all get closer to Christ to become stronger and more powerful. “When we are close to Christ,” he stressed, among other things, “if we have a difficulty or frustration, we find the strength to be able to overcome them and meet the challenges,” as reported by vema.com.au.
In his interview, the Archbishop spoke about the coronavirus pandemic, which continues to afflict all of humanity. The Archbishop reiterated the position that the Church had always respected the science of medicine, as well as any other science, clarifying that the Hierarchs and the clergy were not competent to decide on medical issues, let alone on the complex issue of the pandemic.
He reminded that the Archdiocese of Australia has encouraged its faithful from the start to respect the state’s decisions and the advice of experts, and had been publicly vaccinated, setting an example of respect and trust.
Finally, the Archbishop had the opportunity to refer to the support of the Greek language learning of the new generation of expatriates in Australia, through the Greek Orthodox colleges and the night schools of the parishes-communities, as well as in general to the bridging role played by the Greek Church in and in the motherland.
“For the Diaspora, the ‘bridge’ that unites our second homeland, the place where we live and work, with the motherland, the homeland, is the Church,” he underlined. “And we do it consciously,” he said, “because we know how great and valuable is the spiritual and cultural heritage we have within us.”
He also repeated the basic message that he addressed to the expatriates, on the occasion of the celebrations for the 200th anniversary of the beginning of the Greek Revolution: “We must not forget that in our veins flows the blood of Heroes, who they sacrificed for the Homeland, and the blood of Saints flows, who were martyred for our Faith.”