The Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew presided over the official opening (Thyranoixia) of the Holy Church of Saint Charalambos in Kalamaria on the evening of January 29, in the presence of members of the Greek government, Members of Parliament, representatives of local authorities, hierarchs, monks from Mount Athos, and a large number of faithful.
The church is dedicated to Saint Charalambos of Cesme (Kryni) in Asia Minor, whose descendants today form the majority of the residents of Nea Krini in Kalamaria. The area is deeply connected to the memory of the Asia Minor refugees who were forcibly uprooted from their ancestral homeland.
“This house was founded in 2019 and built within a relatively short period of time, upon the rock of faith and the stone of collective effort, ecclesiastical conscience, and historical memory, in order to shelter the parish of God here,” the Ecumenical Patriarch stated, praising the “steadfast effort to highlight the Asia Minor tradition and heritage” maintained by the people of Nea Krini.
He stressed that the location is far from accidental. “This is not a random place; it is a place of memory and testimony. Its residents settled here after their uprooting from the sanctified lands of Kryni in Asia Minor, historic Cesme,” he said.
Referring to Saint Charalambos, who is commemorated together with Saint Argyri, an Asia Minor saint, the Ecumenical Patriarch highlighted the spiritual example of both saints and underlined that “faith is not theory, but lived experience and sacrifice, confessed through active love in every place and time.” He added that the Church journeys through many trials within history without being imprisoned by it.
“The presence of all of us here this evening, during this significant moment of the opening of the church, is not an external event,” he emphasized, “but an expression of deep communion and spiritual closeness, further highlighting the unbroken bond between the local Holy Metropolis, this parish, and the Ecumenical Patriarchate.”
Addressing the Patriarch, the Metropolitan of Nea Krini and Kalamaria Ioustinos recalled that the idea to build a church in Nea Krini in memory of Saint Charalambos of Cesme originated with Patriarch Bartholomew himself. He described it as a “paternal command,” conveyed during a visit to Cesme prior to 2019, where the Patriarch presided at the Divine Liturgy in the historic church that today functions, by order of local authorities, as a cultural venue.
Among those attending the ceremony were Deputy Minister of Interior for Macedonia and Thrace Kostas Gkioulekas, Deputy Minister of Development responsible for Research and Innovation Stavros Kalafatis, Members of Parliament, the President of the Central Union of Municipalities of Greece Lazaros Kyrizoglou, Metropolitan of Thessaloniki Philotheos, as well as numerous hierarchs, clergy, and representatives of public institutions.
The inauguration of the Church of Saint Charalambos stands as a powerful symbol of faith, memory, and continuity for the refugee descendants of Nea Krini, reaffirming their enduring spiritual bond with their Asia Minor heritage and the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
Photo: Nikos Papachristou
