Metropolitan Athenagoras of Belgium presided over the Divine Liturgy at the celebrating Parish of the Annunciation in Utrecht (Netherlands) on Sunday, March 20, 2022.
In his sermon, the Metropolitan referred to the Gospel passage of the Second Sunday of Great Lent.
After the end of the Divine Liturgy, the Doxology was performed for the national anniversary of March 25, which was honored with the presence of the Ambassador of Greece to the Netherlands, Aikaterina Gini, the Ambassador of Cyprus to Benelux, Frances-Galatia Lanitou Williams, the Consul of Greece in The Hague, Konstantinos Kalavokidis, the Maritime Attaché of Greece to Rotterdam, Captain Dimitrios Tsiklos, and the Head of the Port Office of Cyprus, Michael Kanias.
The Ambassador of Greece, in her address during the Doxology, wished on the national holiday, saying among other things: “I will wish you with a rather common wish, which unfortunately in recent years is no longer so self-evident. So I will wish health and peace all over the world since as we have seen in the last two years with the coronavirus pandemic, health is not a given for everyone, and at the same time the timeliness of the war reminds us that unfortunately, peace is not a given for all our fellow human beings either.”
Finally, the Metropolitan thanked the ambassadors for their presence at the Divine Liturgy and the Doxology, as well as the priest in charge of the Parish, Presbyter Alexandros Pitsikakis, for the pastoral work he performs and the large congregation for his presence at the parish festival, inviting them after the difficult period with the strict measures against the coronavirus to return to the church and to always support the work of their parish.