Under the blessing of Archbishop Makarios of Australia, Bishop Bartholomew of Brisbane performed a Trisagion service at the Church of St. George in Brisbane for the repose of the victims of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974. He also laid a wreath on behalf of the Holy Archdiocese and the Archbishop.
After the ceremony, Bishop Bartholomew, accompanied by Fathers Dimitrios Tsakas, Stavros Karvelas, Timotheos Evangelinidis, and Athanasios Athanasiadis, attended an event at the hall of the Cypriot Community. The event featured speeches, traditional Cypriot music, and a short video with testimonies from people who lived through the tragic events of 1974.
In his speech, Bishop Bartholomew spoke of 50 years of mourning, 50 years of sorrow, and 50 years of reflection. Bishop Bartholomew of Brisbane went on to say that we must continue to fight for justice in Cyprus and, most importantly, increase our prayers for God to intervene.
In addition, he stressed that the Holy Archdiocese of Australia, Archbishop Makarios, and he himself at the local and state levels will continue to advocate for justice in Cyprus.
Bartholomew congratulated the organizers on the successful event and especially praised the youth for the video that was shown. He emphasized that we have a responsibility to keep the light of Cyprus in our hearts, and acknowledged that the youth are fulfilling this duty admirably.
The event was attended by Panagiotis Palates, Commissioner of the Citizen of the Republic of Cyprus, Antonios Sammoutis, High Commissioner of Cyprus in Australia, Stathis Zambas, President of the Cypriot Community of Queensland, and Freda Valasaki, President of the Parish-Community of Saint George in Brisbane.
