On 6th August 2015, His Beatitude Theodoros II, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa, went to the coastal city of Port Said, See of the Holy Metropolis of Pilousion, to officiate at the Service celebration of the magnificent and enormous Holy Cathedral of the Transfiguration of the Saviour in the city.
During the Patriarchal Divine Liturgy which was conducted by His Beatitude together with the local Metropolitan Niphon of Pilousion and His Grace Meletios Bishop of Naucratis, present were the Honourable Consular Harbour Master of the City, Mr. Evangelos Boulakakis and many pious faithful Christians from the Greek and Arabic speaking communities of Port Said, Mansura, Damietta, Ismailia and Cairo, together with their Councils.
Prior to the dismissal, His Beatitude the Patriarch spoke on the great Feast of Christ, the divine Transfiguration, emphasizing that the aim of Christian life is the communion of the faithful with the Grace of God, the perpetual struggle for the exoneration of our distortion from sin and the necessity for our transfiguration in Christ through the holy Sacraments of the Church. He then went on to bless the fruits of the vine as appointed by the ecclesiastical order of the day.
It is to be noted that the city of Port Said, as well as the broader canal area of the Suez canal, celebrates on these two days the historic inauguration of the opening of operations of the new canal, and for this reason the Alexandrian Primate addressed congratulatory wishes to His Excellency President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, as well as to the military officers present at the Eucharistic Gathering in the Cathedral.
The Chairlady of the Hellenic Community of Port Said, Mrs. Chrysoula Theocharous, hosted an official lunch in honour of His Beatitude, the Hierarchs and the entire congregation.
