Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, who participated in the online Youth Gathering organized by Chryssopigi Monastery in Chania, Crete, on Saturday, January 16, referred to the changes that the pandemic has brought to everyone’s life, stressing that the vaccine development is the first step to overcome this crisis, which, however, depended on everyone’s behavior.
“I welcome you to today’s meeting from the Phanar, which will be very different from past meetings this year. Technology has made communication much easier in several ways. It does not favor closeness and joy of face-to-face communication. We use technological means but we hope that they will not dominate our lives.
The coronavirus pandemic changed our daily life, education, work, church life. Vaccine development was the first step towards overcoming the health crisis. However, a great deal depends on the behavior of each of us for the success of the effort to deal with the problem.”
Then, addressing the young men and women who participated in the online meeting, the Ecumenical Patriarch pointed out:
“The joy of your Patriarch is great for having the opportunity to address young people from all over the world, who participate in this gathering under the auspices of the Holy Monastery of Chrysopigi. It is certain that, if we approach the new generation with love and understanding, its response is full of enthusiasm and genuine interest and it participates creatively in many worthwhile initiatives and actions.
The Ecumenical Patriarch added that “genuine Christian asceticism differs from any form of dualistic attitude, which rejects culture and the world in the name of the interiority of supposedly authentic spirituality. Christian spirituality is not non-secular but eucharistic and doxological. It does not reject the world but espouses the transcendence of the secular mind. The life of the orthodox believer ‘moves between ascesis and eucharist.’ Everything is a gift of God’s grace. God’s Grace, however, saves the “volunteers,” who are called to fight the good fight, “for the rights of Christ.”