On Friday afternoon, November 22, 2024, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece visited the Church of Wisdom of God at the AEK-OPAP Arena.
The Ecumenical Patriarch began an official visit to Athens yesterday, at the invitation of Metropolitan Gabriel of Nea Ionia, Philadelphia, Heraklion, and Chalkidona, to attend the celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the local Church.
The Ecumenical Patriarch and the Archbishop were then guided through the Museum of Refugee Hellenism, the AEK Museum, and the stadium facilities.
Metropolitan Gabriel of Nea Ionia, hierarchs from the Church of Greece and the Ecumenical Patriarchate, politicians, AEK Athens F.C. owner Marios Iliopoulos, former owner Dimitris Melissanidis, as well as clergy and laity, were present.
The Protosyncellus of the Archdiocese, Archimandrite Varnavas Theocharis, and Protopresbyter Emmanuel Papamikroulis, Secretary of the Synodal Committee on Inter-Orthodox and Inter-Christian Relations, accompanied the Archbishop.
Earlier, the Ecumenical Patriarch attended the naming ceremony of Patriarch’s Square and the unveiling of a commemorative plaque in Nea Philadelphia. Immediately afterward, he visited the Holy Trinity Church of Nea Philadelphia and performed the Inauguration Service of the new church dedicated to the Archangel Michael, in memory of the late Michael Katsouris, located in the church’s courtyard.
Photos: Christos Bonis
