The Holy Metropolis of Belgium and the Exarchate of the Netherlands and Luxembourg issued an announcement regarding the passing of Archbishop Stylianos of Australia, in which, among other things, Metropolitan Athenagoras of Belgium spoke about the personal acquaintance he had with the late Archbishop.
In the announcement, the Holy Metropolis of Belgium expresses its condolences to the Holy Archdiocese of Australia, the clergy and its people, and the Ecumenical Patriarchate in general.
“The late Archbishop Stylianos was an enlightened hierarch of the Mother Church, a genuine exponent of the spirit and tradition of the Phanar, a pure theologian and a distinguished poet, who spent his life in the ministry of the Greek expats in distant Australia for four and a half decades, with zeal and vision.
Metropolitan Athenagoras of Belgium received the hospitality of Abraham by the Archbishop, when in 2012, as Bishop of Sinope, he visited Australia for official reasons; that gave him the opportunity to associate with him and to get to know closely the breadth of his spirit and his heart, as well as his theological skill.”
