Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece met this morning with the Catholicos Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East, Mar Awa III.
The Archbishop welcomed the Patriarch and his entourage, stressing that “you are coming at a quite creative time”, referring to the work of the Standing Holy Synod and the Hierarchy, as well as “the preparation for the celebration of a great event, the International Scientific Conference on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the journal Theologia”.
He also noted that “the daily problems here, in Europe and throughout the world, require the Churches to open themselves more to the world, our interest should be in all human problems”.
For his part, the Patriarch expressed his pleasure for the meeting with the Archbishop and stressed that he is in Greece on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Assyrian presence in the country, specifically in Athens.
He referred to the migration issue and spoke about the common ground between the two peoples, stressing that “we are closer than it seems both in history and religion. There is more that unites us than what separates us”.
Afterwards, the Archbishop referred to his journey from Lebanon to Syria and expressed his emotion at the pain he saw on the faces of the people.
“As the Church we try as much as possible and from where we can, to support. And we will help in the area of hospitality, studies, and even in the various problems faced by those who come to the country,” the Archbishop stressed.
The Patriarch and the members of the delegation were accompanied by the Secretary of the Synodal Committee for Orthodox and Inter-Christian Relations, Archimandrite Ignatios Sotiriadis, while the meeting was also attended by the Protosyncellus of the Archdiocese, Archimandrite Barnabas Theocharis and the General Archdiocesan Commissioner, Archimandrite Iakovos Andriopoulos.
Photos: Christos Bonis
