On Sunday, 7 June, the faithful of the Exarchate of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Lithuania, together with official guests, prayed with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew during the Divine Liturgy celebrated at the Church of the Holy Trinity in Vilnius.
In his address at the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew presented to the faithful his new Exarch in Lithuania, His Grace Bishop Panaretos of Tamissos.
Recalling the words of the Apostle Paul, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free” (Gal. 3:28), the Ecumenical Patriarch pointed out that his newly appointed Patriarchal Exarch in Lithuania “is called precisely to embody this demanding ecclesiology of sacrifice and liturgical unity.” “His Grace Bishop Panaretos of Tamissos,” he continued, “undertakes a difficult and substantial ministry. The mission of this elected Hierarch of the Ecumenical Throne fully corresponds to the historic duty of the Mother Church: to care unceasingly for Orthodox Christians who are in need, providing them with spiritual nourishment wherever they may be.”
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew also made special reference to the Bishop’s many years of fruitful ministry at the Sacred Centre of Orthodoxy, emphasising his many qualifications and gifts. “His profound and complete knowledge of the Russian language, as well as his ability to celebrate the sacred services in the Old Church Slavonic language and according to the Slavonic Typikon, constitute a bridge of consolation and a channel of communion for a multilingual and deeply wounded flock in the Baltic countries,” he noted among other things.
The Patriarch further observed that we are living through exceptionally dark days, in which even human reason itself often appears to be exhausted. “Suffering people, entire multitudes of our refugee brethren,” he said, “seek refuge anxiously in this hospitable land, coming from blood-soaked Ukraine and from other afflicted Slavic-speaking countries, attempting to escape the vortex of irrationality. In their bodies, in their gaze, and in their silence, they bear indelible marks of violent displacement, extreme uncertainty, and direct confrontation with death. They anxiously seek a piece of bread, the bread of peace, and a place where they may stand in safety.
“They hope to see the face of a true spiritual father and not that of a distant administrative official; a servant of the Most High who will bend over their pain, listen to their silent anguish, and speak words of comfort and healing in the language of their ancestors, the language best understood by the soul. The Ecumenical Patriarchate extends to them an embrace of love as wide as its eternal tradition commands. It entrusts its Exarch to these suffering people so that he may shepherd the flock entrusted to him with great wisdom and patience. In the sorrowful faces of the refugees, it continually recognises the suffering, crucified Body of our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. It truly journeys together with those who experience the pain of persecution, always guided by the words of the Lord: ‘If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you’ (John 15:20).
“A genuine and particularly sensitive child of the Great Church, nurtured piously from the pure springs of the spirituality of the Phanar, Bishop Panaretos possesses this ecumenical consciousness. It is an open ecclesial consciousness which, from the first steps of his priestly ministry, has remained far from nationalist divisions and barren ethnocentric limitations, preserving unwavering filial devotion to the Apostolic and Ecumenical Throne.”
Following the Patriarch’s address, Bishop Panaretos responded appropriately, stressing among other things that “the Ecumenical Patriarchate does not come to divide, but to unite. It does not come to erase individuals and peoples, but to lead them into the communion of the Holy Spirit. It comes to heal through ministry and pastoral care.” Addressing Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, he added: “In your person, the Orthodox faithful of Lithuania today see the loving presence of the Mother Church, the Church that forgets none of her children, no matter how far away they may be.”
Among those present on this historic occasion were Roman Catholic Archbishop Gintaras Grušas of Vilnius, Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Georg Gänswein, the Ambassador of Greece to Lithuania Mr Grigorios Karachalios, the Ambassador of Romania Ms Adriana Ciamba, the Ambassador of Moldova Mr Emilis Drucas, the representative of the Embassy of Ukraine Mr Viktoras Hamockis, representatives of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, and other representatives of the diplomatic corps, public authorities, social organisations, and religious communities.
It is recalled that accompanying Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew during his visit to Lithuania are Elder Metropolitan Emmanuel of Chalcedon, the Very Reverend Grand Ecclesiarch Aetios, Director of the Patriarchal Private Office, and Fr Epiphanios, Third Deacon of the Patriarchal Court.
