LAST UPDATE: 13:10
Archbishop Ieronymos and the US Ambassador to Athens, Goeffrey Pyatt, have chosen to comment on current developments in Orthodoxy and the Ukrainian issue with the use of allegories on the weather and the seasons.
The American ambassador visited Archbishop Ieronymos, and as he said at his reception, the Archbishop was the first to meet after his return from the United States. “It’s great to be back in Athens, as it is already winter in Washington.”
The American ambassador told the Archbishop that during his talks in the American capital the name of Primate Ieronymos was mentioned many times, as, according to Ambassador Pyatt, in the American capital, the issue of the Church of Ukraine is hotly debated.
Archbishop Ieronymos for his part agreed that the climate in Greece is better. “If we see how things evolve in the world, it is winter. Therefore, we must help, each one from his side, Spring to come.”
At the meeting with the US Ambassador, Archbishop Ieronymos was particularly concerned about the developments in the refugee issue and called for the aid and assistance of not only the US but also the European Union.
According to ecclesiastical sources, the Primate of the Church of Greece told the US Ambassador that “Greece’s borders are not only those in Macedonia and Thrace but also the maritime borders, which are the most difficult to guard.” Archbishop Ieronymos is also said to have told the US Ambassador that Greece is accepting continuous blackmail from Turkey that opens the gates by sending refugees and immigrants to our country.
The Archbishop also stressed the need for European solidarity in the management of refugees and migrants, as disproportionate burdens have fallen on Greece and, of course, the support of Americans and Europeans in safeguarding the maritime borders is necessary.
The Church, the Archbishop stressed, has not received a single euro for refugee management and the money has been raised by NGOs that manage them in a non-transparent manner. He also told Goeffrey Pyatt that refugee and migrant housing structures must be designed in such a way that there is age-based segregation for the protection of children.
