For the second consecutive year, the ceremony was attended by the Prime Minister of Australia, Mr. Scott Morrison, while the Minister of Culture and Sports of the Hellenic Republic, Ms Lina Mendoni, was also present together with the Greek Diaspora of Sydney for the highest feast of Christianity.
Both, just before the joyful and hopeful announcement was heard: “Christ is risen from the dead…”, they sent warm messages to the Archbishop, the Holy Clergy and the faithful who flooded the area before the Church of the Resurrection of Christ.
The Archbishop, after expressing his warmest thanks to the Australian Prime Minister and the Greek Minister of Culture for their honorary presence, wished everyone a very happy, light bearing and joyful day. “God bless your families. God bless our young people. God bless the Hellenism of the fifth continent, “he said, among other things, addressing the faithful, and exclaimed with them: “Long live Greece! Long live Australia! Long live our Church!”
The Archbishop also conveyed the paternal wishes and patriarchal blessings on behalf of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, recalling that the Ecumenical Patriarch “always prays for Australia and for our Holy Archdiocese”.
It is worth noting that the Archbishop Makarios, together with the Minister of Culture of Greece, Lina Mendoni, when entering the Holy Temple, lit a candle for the suffering people of Ukraine, wishing that the Calvary after the Russian invasion will soon come to an end and the Ukrainians will experience the joy of the Resurrection, with the prevalence of peace in their homeland.
The Resurrection ceremony was also attended by the wife of the Prime Minister of Australia, Jenny Morrison, the Minister, David Coleman, and the Politician, Linda Burney, the Consul General of Greece in Sydney, Christos Karras, the head of the Economic and Commercial Affairs Office of Greece in Australia, Katia Gikiza, as well as the parents of Archbishop Makarios, Emmanuel and Fotini Griniezaki.
