Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew became an honorary citizen of Kilkis (video)

At a special ceremony at the Dimarchia (Town Hall) on Saturday, September 21, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew became an honorary citizen of the Municipality of Kilkis.

Earlier, the Ecumenical Patriarch was received in the Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior of the Metropolis, a doxology was performed in the presence of Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens, representatives of the political, military and church leadership, security forces and a large number of believers. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew said, quotes CNN Greece:

“We pray that the benevolent Lord of mercy will strengthen you in your daily struggle, we urge you not to forget that the support of society and the guarantee of real progress is also the cultivation of spiritual values, which, according to the tradition of our people, are associated with the Orthodox Church and our Christian identity.

We should be proud that we belong to a whole spiritual tradition, that we are bearers of a high civilization of universal scale. Orthodoxy, as has already been said, is inextricably intertwined with the customs of our people, their character, their family life. Its language is warm, its ethics are humane, correspond to the Greek mentality, and its great holidays – Annunciation, Easter, August 15, Christmas – are great days for our pious people.

Great thinkers have emphasized that Orthodoxy preserves the most valuable elements of the ancient Greek spirit. We call on all of you not to forget the Church’s contribution to the survival and formation of the cultural and spiritual identity of the nation. Despite rumors to the contrary, the Church has always recorded the signs of the times and in practice emphasized the relevance, validity, and existential content of Christian truths.”

The Ecumenical Patriarch stressed that the argument that “the Church allegedly confines life, especially that of young people, to sterile and outdated forms” is “completely inappropriate,” noting:

“It is true that life in the Church is a life of true freedom, freedom linked to truth. We repeat to you our conviction that the inseparable unity of love for God and love for one's neighbor is the real revolution… The Christ-like man, as one modern theologian notes, is open to the world, sensitive, a friend and a philologist…”.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew is paying a four-day visit to Kilkis at the joint official invitation of Metropolitan Bartholomew of Polyanis and Kilkis and the Mayor of Kilkis Dimitris Kyriakides, on the occasion of the celebration of the centenary of the elevation of the Diocese of Polyanis to the status of the Holy Metropolis of Polyanis and Kilkis.

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