With the blessing of Archbishop Makarios of Australia and under the guidance of Bishop Kyriakos of Sozopolis, GO Fellowship Melbourne hosted the second talk in the series ‘Come and See’ at Sts Raphael, Nicholas, and Irene in Bentleigh.
The second talk, was presented by Parish Priest Fr Chris Dimolianis titled “Christian Empire to Schism – What Have We Become?”
Following the first talk which focused on the early Christian Church, Fr Chris showed the key historical milestones of Christianity from the foundation of Constantinople under Saint Constantine the Great until the Great Schism which split the Christian Church into East and West.
Fr Chris explained that the Eastern Orthodox Church recognizes all the saints who lived under the then-Roman Patriarchate until the Great Schism. An example of this is Saint Patrick who was the Bishop of Ireland in the fifth century. Similarly, the Orthodox Church also recognizes Saint Cuthbert the wonder worker who lived in England in the seventh century. Indeed, the talk also showed how Christianity spread through the Slavic populations in Europe with the Cyrillic alphabet by Sts Cyril and Methodius in the eighth and night centuries.
The audience was given an insight as to why the Christian split. Fr Chris emphasized that while a major milestone was in 1054, the beginning of the schism was earlier as political and cultural, and theological factors contributed also. The audience was shown a map of the Christian and shown where the Eastern and Western Churches started and ended. Another major milestone was the sacking of Constantinople in 1204 by the western crusaders who looted the city and destroyed parts of it.
Following the conclusion of the presentation, the audience asked questions, which were answered by Fr Chris. The audience then was treated to a spread of savory and sweet items.
The next talk will be held on Thursday, 8 December 2022 at 7 pm.