With all due solemnity and in accordance with the centuries-old tradition, the Sunday of Orthodoxy was celebrated on Sunday, 9 March 2025, at the Holy See of the First-Throne Church of Constantinople.
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew presided over the Patriarchal and Synodal Divine Liturgy, and was joined in concelebration by Metropolitan Epiphaniy of Kyiv and All Ukraine.
Also participating in the Divine Liturgy were, Archbishop Makarios of Australia, Metropolitan Meliton of Philadelphia, Metropolitan Andreas of Arkalochori Kastelli and Viannos, Metropolitan Paisios of Leros, Kalymnos and Astypalaia, Metropolitan Yevstratiy of Bila Tserkva, Metropolitan Sevastianos of Atlanta, Metropolitan Maximos of Switzerland, Metropolitan Iakovos of Ireland, Metropolitan Iakovos of Mexico and Archbishop Daniel of Pamphilon.
The holy sermon was preached by Archimandrite Isidoros Katsos, Assistant Professor of Theological Epistemology and Philosophy at the School of Theology of the University of Athens.
During the Divine Liturgy, the Ecumenical Patriarch, at the request of Metropolitan Iakovos of Ireland, ordained the subdeacon Mr. Athanasios Karagiannidis to the Holy Diaconate, from Athens, to whom he gave the name Germanos. The new cleric will serve in the Holy Metropolis of Ireland.
A large number of Hierarchs of the Ecumenical Throne, clergy, Athonite Monks, Archons of the Holy Great Church of Christ under the President of their Brotherhood “Panagia Pammakaristos” Archon Exarchos Mr. Athanasios Martinos, Ambassador Mr. Konstantinos Koutras, Consul General of Greece in Constantinople, as a representative of the Greek Government, the Consul General of Ukraine Mr. Roman Nedilskyi, with officials of the Consulate, the relatives of the new clergyman and a multitude of believers from Constantinople and abroad attended the Divine Liturgy.
After the Dismissal, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, with the Primate of the Church of Ukraine and the other concelebrating Hierarchs, conducted the established Trisagion for the repose of the souls of all “those who fought for our Orthodox faith and were perfected in it.”
The procession of the Holy Icons followed, at the end of which the Ecumenical Patriarch and the Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine blessed the faithful from the balcony of the Patriarchal Residence.
At the reception that followed in the Throne Room, His All-Holiness, in his address, welcomed the presence ofMetropolitan Epiphaniy of Kyiv and All Ukraine, and his honourable entourage, and referred to the struggle of the war-torn Ukrainian people, wishing that peace would soon prevail.
“We hope that very soon, as announced, the raging war will end and peace will return and the reconstruction of the semi-destroyed country of Ukraine from the unjust arrows of the evil one, coming from the North, will begin. Your Beatitude, we welcome you with much honour and love,” said, among other things, the Ecumenical Patriarch.
Addressing the new clergyman of the Mother Church, Deacon Germanos, the Patriarch provided him with paternal advice.
“From today begins your journey as a deacon of the Holy Altar Table of Tables. Remain a deacon throughout your life, preserving in your work the wealth of the tradition of piety and charity of the Orthodox Church. Approach every person with love and empathy, directing them towards their eternal destiny in Christ, which is connected to and experienced through their participation in the mystery and sacraments of the Church. “Ministry” is a sacred word. It refers to the first deacon of human kind and the world, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who instructs His disciples with the words “Whoever wants to be first, he must be last of all and servant of all” (Mark 9:35). We Christians believe not in an impersonal God who is uninvolved in the affairs of human kind, but in God, who is closer to us than we ourselves are to ourselves.”
At another point in his address, His All-Holiness addressed why he chose to give him the name “Germanos”.
“You will henceforth bear the name “Germanos”, in honour of Saint Germanos, the first bishop of the Isle of Man, co-apostle of Saint Patrick, the illuminator of Ireland. You will celebrate your name day on 3 July, the day of the repose in Christ of Saint Germanos. The name “Germanos” will also recall the first Metropolitan of Thyateira and exarch of Europe, Western and Central, Germanos Strinopoulos, a brother from Halki, professor and Scholar of the Theological School, one of the pioneers of the Ecumenical Movement, distinguished for his ecclesiastical, theological and diplomatic work. Imitate the godly missionary zeal of the two “Germanos’”!”
The Primate of the Church of Ukraine then delivered a brief greeting, referring to today’s feast, but also to the close bond of the daughter Church of Ukraine with its Mother Church of Constantinople. He said, among other things, the following:
“The Apostle Andrew the First-Called brought the first preaching of the Gospel to our land and blessed it. The Holy Patriarch Photios blessed the first baptism of our ancestors, that of Prince Askold of Kyiv. Then later, the ambassadors of our Prince Volodymyr, having seen the beauty of the service to God in the Cathedral of Hagia Sophia of Constantinople, testified: “We truly do not know whether we were on earth or in heaven,” and with their testimony they contributed to the final decision on the baptism of our country, which took place in Kyiv more than a thousand years ago.
And today, in the time of great suffering for our people, in the time of the war that Russia is waging unjustly, godlessly and with diabolical malice against our people, continuing to kill and destroy daily, we have come here to offer prayers, to renew the testimony of our unity in Christ through the sacrament of the Eucharist. We have come to thank Your All-Holiness again and again for Your offering, for Your witness of the truth, for Your prayer for the suffering people of Ukraine.
Today we celebrate the renewal of the veneration of the holy icons. We glorify not only by holding these holy icons in our hands. By jointly celebrating the holy services, we ourselves are an image of unity, a visible image of the mystical, true, real unity of the Church of Christ.
Your All-Holiness!, Recently, on the occasion of the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the eleventh anniversary of Russian aggression, you addressed the Ukrainian community here, and through it to everyone, with a word of truth. We are grateful to you for this witness of truth, for this manifestation of a Father’s love for Ukraine. The world needs to hear the voice of truth about the satanic nature of Russian aggression, the truth about the evil and harmful ideology of the “Russian world” which justifies evil. We thank you for this unwavering testimony, for your support in your statements and your many good deeds. And we believe that your prayers and your testimony also contribute to the peace that Ukrainians and all people of good will so much desire and seek.” (Translation of an excerpt in the Ukrainian language)
Subsequently, the new Deacon Germanos, delivered his ordination speech, expressing his infinite filial gratitude to His All-Holiness for his inclusion in the clergy of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
On the eve of the Sunday of Orthodoxy, in the presence of His All-Holiness, Metropolitan Iakovos of Ireland, conducted, in the Patriarchal Chapel of St. Andrew, the tonsure of Mr. Athanasios Karagiannidis as a monk.
Photographs: Nikos Papachristou
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