Archbishop Makarios of Australia talked with some emotion of his spiritual father, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, during a luncheon hosted in Sydney on his name day celebrations last week.
“The Holy Archdiocese of Australia is progressing and moving forward,” the Archbishop underlined, “and this is mainly thanks to the Mother Church of Constantinople, which has made sure that we are under its canonical protection. In four years, we will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the establishment of our Holy Archdiocese, with great commemorative celebrations.”
He further pointed out that the Ecumenical Patriarchate played an important role in the life of the local Church over the past 100 years, as evidenced by the records. “That is why our thoughts and prayer are with the ‘ruling and suffering Church of Constantinople,’ to our Ecumenical Patriarchate and our Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, and we are grateful to show our deepest respect and dedication.”
Archbishop Makarios also thanked the representative of the Ecumenical Patriarch at this event, Metropolitan Amvrosios of Korea, who asked him to convey the love and respect of the clergy and the laypeople of the Archdiocese of Australia to the Ecumenical Patriarch. Archbishop Makarios also asked him to tell the Ecumenical Patriarch that “the greater the distance that separates us, the stronger the love that unites us.”