The new Archbishop of Crete Eugenios was solemnly enthroned today in the metropolitan church of Saint Minas.
The enthronement ceremony was made in the presence of the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who extended his wishes to the new Archbishop. In detail, he pointed out that he is confident that the Archbishop will be a worthy successor of the long history of Crete and that he will carry the spirit of renewal that the Church always needs, in order to meet the challenges of the changing times.
The new Archbishop of Crete Eugenios II was welcomed with an address by the mayor of Heraklion Vassilis Lambrinos, who described the enthronement as a historic day for the island and the city of Heraklion, while expressing his joy and excitement.
Upon his arrival at the metropolitan church of Saint Minas, all gathered shouted “worthy” (Axios) with the members of the new Archbishop’s entourage holding in their hands an image of Saint Minas, a relic, as the Archbishop Eugenios himself revealed during his rebuttal. An image that his grandfather brought with him, when he arrived as a refugee in Crete, from Asia Minor.
In his rebuttal, the new Archbishop said he was touched and stated, among other things, that “I come as the father of this great family with my arms open to all. We love, we forgive, we move forward “.
Inside the church, where the enthronement ceremony took place, were present: the members of the Holy Synod of the Church of Crete, representatives of the Ecumenical Patriarch, representatives of the Patriarchate of Alexandria, the Church of Greece and the Church of Cyprus, as well as representatives of Mount Sinai, as well as local authorities and bodies, the clergy and representatives of monastic fraternities.
The new Archbishop of Crete in his enthronement speech expressed his emotion, reviewed his progress to this day and spoke with words of love for the faithful.
Among the things the new Archbishop mentioned, was his desire to serve with love, unity and brotherhood, the Church of Crete.
“So let us come together to minister this Patriarchal blessing and under this perspective, with a fervor of faith, with the love of God with discretion and humility, taking and teaching lessons of spiritual freedom, in order to verify what our National poet, Kostis Palamas once wrote: “I am from Crete. “From the island, which does not grow old, does not bend, and enslaved, let it be free, to give lessons of freedom” “said the new Archbishop Eugenios during his speech.
He added that “our Church is called to inspire people all that, which will get them out of the current impasse. Remind them that they are images of God, children of the same Father and brothers among themselves, with a single destination and purpose, salvation. To tell them that there is no sin that exceeds the size of God’s love, inside of Whose arms, we all have a place. To teach them that the last and tragic human error is only unrepentance. That the only misery that cannot be corrected, is to find yourself one day without being able to repent in front of the person who forgives “.
The new Archbishop of Crete also referred to the pandemic, saying “unfortunately (the pandemic) made it possible to see, how deeply rooted the arrogance and introversion, the confusion and fanaticism in the social space are.
The biggest problem of the virus wrongly showcased, that there are and unfortunately exist spiritual and social individuals, that threaten our health, even threaten our Christian identity, since it is impossible for a Christian to be a fundamentalist and a fanatic. Some of our fellow believers become trustworthy, leaving the Gospel, and looking for false evangelists.
