Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew conferred the title of Archimandrite of the Ecumenical Throne on Eleftherios Aloukos, clergyman of the Metropolis of Chalcedon.
Addressing the new Archimandrite, the Ecumenical Patriarch praised him for the zeal, diligence, devotion and faithfulness he first showed “to the Abbot of Halki and then to the Metropolitan of Chalcedon and through them to the Church, to which we all must obey for the proper function.”
“We thank God that after the injustice of Halki He led many new clergy and candidate clergy to Constantinople and our Sacred Center to fill the gaps, to staff the places in this Great Monastery and in our Communities outside, and to improve the religious and pastoral work of the Mother Church. We also thank our brothers the hierarchs in Greece, who eagerly contribute to this effort of the Great Church of Christ, the Mother of the Nation.”
In his reply, the new Archimandrite Eleftherios expressed his gratitude to the Ecumenical Patriarch for the special honor and blessing of his current ordination, all his paternal love and affection, as well as his constant interest and the opportunities he gave him to acquire more skills and a wider theological education, which enable him to serve the Mother Church more effectively.
“There is no clergyman of the Mother Church that does not have the skills that will help him to contribute with all his strength to the rights of the Church and even more so to the rights of the Church of Constantinople. These rights have been questioned by certain people and only God knows why… Unfortunately, some of them show ungratefulness and ingratitude who “lifted heels of spurning against their benefactor…”. However, the Church of Constantinople, like the Father of the Parable of the Prodigal Son, awaits their return to righteousness, order and obedience. Anticipation does not mean giving up its rights and privileges, which were established and defined by the Ecumenical Councils and the Holy Fathers. We pray to God to enlighten them and make them realize their mistake! We stand with our spiritual father and our Ecumenical Patriarch, and we lovingly await them, not reprimanding and criticizing them, as, unfortunately, they do.”
