By Metropolitan Nektarios of Corfu, Paxos and Diapontian Islands
Upon our return to Greece, following the transfer to Russia of the venerable relic of the right hand of Saint Spyridon for veneration by the devout Russian people, we consider it necessary, by way of an initial account, to set down some of our thoughts and impressions, while also providing certain necessary clarifications regarding matters which, as we have been informed, were circulated and published in recent days, sometimes in good faith, sometimes out of ignorance, and sometimes out of bad faith and malice, which, as a Bishop of the Orthodox Church, we both forgive and choose to pass over.
1. The invitation we received from the Church of Russia on January 10, 2026, initially concerned the transfer of the holy relic for veneration in the Metropolis of Astana and Kazakhstan from September 14 to 30, 2026. For this reason, on March 24, 2026, we submitted the relevant document to our superior ecclesiastical authority, the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece. The transfer was approved by a document issued by the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece on May 5, 2026.
On June 22, 2026, a new letter was sent by the Church of Russia, in which, following prior oral communication, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia requested and approved the transfer of the holy relic from August 17 to September 17, 2026, for veneration in Moscow and other regions of Russia. Accordingly, on June 26, 2026, we submitted a new request to the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece, seeking the permission and approval of our supreme ecclesiastical authority. This approval was granted by a document dated July 1, 2026.
Therefore, the visit and the pilgrimage of the holy relic are being carried out with the blessing and approval of the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece, as evidenced by the relevant documents bearing the signature of its Chairman, Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece.
2. This journey follows similar visits made in the past to the United States of America (in 2017), Cyprus, Russia, Ukraine, Serbia, Romania, Poland, Belarus, Georgia, and elsewhere, as well as to Holy Metropolises of the Church of Greece. All such transfers took place at the invitation of the respective ecclesiastical authorities and with the consent, blessing, and written permission of the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece.
3. As with the ongoing holy pilgrimage to the Church of Russia, and as has been the case everywhere else, the sole purpose of transferring the right hand of Saint Spyridon is to enable Orthodox Christians throughout the world who do not have the opportunity to travel to Corfu to receive the Saint’s blessing, to be strengthened in their faith, and to persevere in their spiritual struggle in an age marked by secularization, desacralization, the transformation of values, and widespread confusion, all of which we are also experiencing in our homeland.
What we have witnessed wherever we have travelled, including during this journey to Russia, has been and continues to be profoundly moving and a source of great hope. Saint Spyridon is a universal saint of simplicity, humility, and love for God and humankind; a saint who reminds us of the value of the Divine Liturgy and prayer, as well as of unwavering faith, for he defended our holy doctrines at the First Ecumenical Council, whose 1,600th anniversary was commemorated only last year.
We experience the Saint’s blessing and constantly receive a foretaste of the Resurrection, to which his incorrupt relics bear witness, at the seat of our Holy Metropolis in Corfu. Having witnessed at close hand the love, piety, and faith of the people during the pilgrimage journeys undertaken thus far with the transfer of our Saint’s right hand, I reflected once again that this was ultimately the will of God: that people throughout the world might, through the pilgrimage of this small part of the holy relic, receive the grace of God through the intercessions of the Saint. Anyone who has participated in the four annual processions of the Saint’s incorrupt relic in Corfu, which is never removed from the Holy Church except briefly for these processions, will have seen the right hand carried before the holy relic. Likewise, during the service of the Basmata (the return of the Saint to his ornate resting place), the priest carrying the right hand uses it to bless the faithful together with the Bishop, in accordance with the order and tradition of Corfu.
4. What we have experienced during these days in Russia has truly exceeded all expectations. Wherever we went, thousands of people, displaying remarkable patience, stood in line and waited for hours to venerate the holy relic and receive the Saint’s blessing. We exclaimed, and continue to exclaim: “The Lord God lives!” We rejoice! We were deeply moved! We do not believe that these people should be deprived of the Saint’s blessing for reasons that are unrelated to religious faith but are, rather, geopolitical in nature. We hope and pray that these circumstances will, at some point, pass. The Saint’s blessing, however, transcends the circumstances of the present.
5. Regarding our participation in the Divine Liturgy, presided over by His Holiness Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, I wish to remind everyone, both those who are aware of this fact and those who are not, that the Church of Greece, to which I belong, has never severed communion with the Church of Russia, (just as neither our Ecumenical Patriarchate nor the Patriarchate of Alexandria has done so). It was for this reason that the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece granted its permission for the pilgrimage to take place.
We are not competent to resolve disputes, nor do we consider such disputes sufficient reason to prevent the faithful from paying their respects to Saint Spyridon. We pray “for the unity of all” and “for the peace of the world,” and during these days we felt that there is both hope and the possibility, through the love and intercessions of our Saints, of addressing together any disagreements and differing approaches. These are sometimes manifested in actions that no one would wish to see occur, yet such events have arisen throughout the long history of the Church. For us, the presence of the Saint is a sign that, regardless of our differences, we are all Orthodox and rightly proclaim the Word of Truth: our common faith in the Triune God and our life within the one, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church—the Orthodox Church.
6. Finally, I must remind everyone that bishops, priests, and faithful who so wish and who meet the canonical requirements of the Church come to Corfu, celebrate divine services and partake of Holy Communion at the Church of Saint Spyridon, sharing with the Bishop of Corfu, the sacred clergy, and the faithful of the local Church the joy of receiving the blessing of our patron Saint Spyridon. They also carry relics to the local Churches which they shepherd and serve, or of which they are active members. “Freely you have received, freely give!”. The Christ-loving and charitable people of Corfu see and know this, just as they continually witness the works of love, charity, missionary outreach, and support that the Church offers them.
We returned from this first mission giving praise to the All-Good God. Our own faith, too, was strengthened. We thank the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece, our superior ecclesiastical authority, for granting us the canonical permission and blessing to share with a devout people such as the Russian people the great gift that God has allowed us to have in Corfu: our Saint Spyridon. We are bound to the Russian people by centuries-old ties, which began when the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Greek Byzantine society brought the Christian faith to Kyiv in 988 AD.
These bonds between peoples, founded upon a shared Orthodox faith and identity, cannot be erased for geopolitical reasons, which will not endure forever. The Church has been, is, and will remain the foundation of our common path and unity. The manner in which human affairs are conducted is judged and will continue to be judged in accordance with the ideas, strategies, and circumstances of each era. Our faith, however, cannot and must not be called into question.
