A Divine Liturgy was conducted with particular brilliance on October 9, 2020, presided over by His Beatitude Theodoros II Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa.
‘The message of peace in the Mediterranean, which is supported by Greece, Egypt and Cyprus with all their power’, was given today from Alexandria by Patriarch Theodoros, on the 16th anniversary of his election as Primate of the Second Throne Patriarchate of Orthodoxy .
It was October 9, 2004, when Metropolitan Theodoros of Zimbabwe was elected unanimously by the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Alexandria as the 126th Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa.
And it was exactly 16 years later that the Primate of Alexandria, at about the same noon time, ascended again the flower-decorated throne of the historic Holy Patriarchal Monastery of St. Sava the Sanctified Alexandria, carrying the message of peace throughout the region.
‘In the great institution of peace in the Mediterranean Sea, I want to send a message to all those around the blessed country of Egypt: Egypt, our Greece and our Cyprus are strong. They are peace-loving. But, they are also ready at any moment to say that we love our borders and we love peace and we fight for it ‘, said Theodoros II, the Patriarch of Alexandria, definitively.
The Primate of Alexandria also referred to the great thorn of the global pandemic, emphasizing in particular:
‘Our brothers who fell ill from the pandemic are a major thorn in the side. There are three pandemics: it is the great pandemic of AIDS, and you can imagine how many millions have died, even on our African continent. The second is Ebola which is a huge pandemic. And thirdly, the coronavirus was added. And I ask that our Merciful God will have mercy and look down from heaven, so that the pandemic may be overcome and the wine of love may flow into our hearts through the Holy Chalice.’
Finally, His Beatitude spoke with consoling words about ‘poverty, as winter is approaching, there will be rain and snow and people are anxious and feel insecure and together we will face the problem’, said the Alexandrian Primate.
It should be noted that the Patriarch of Alexandria described as a ‘small miracle’ the fact that in 2004 the diplomatic passport of the then Metropolitan of Zimbabwe expired on October 8, without anyone knowing that on October 9 he would be elected, as Patriarch of Alexandria!
On behalf of the Holy Synod, the Patriarch of Alexandria was addressed by the Metropolitan of Ermopolis and Patriarchal Vicar for the Arab-speaking Community His EMinence Nikolaos, at the Divine Liturgy attended by the Patriarchal Vicar of Cairo, Metropolitan Nicodemus of Memphis, Metropolitan Narcissus of Alexandria, and the Bishop of Tamiatheos, His GraceGermanos, in the Divine Liturgy performed by the Chief Secretary of the Holy and Sacred Synod, Fr. Nikodimos Totkas, while the Byzantine choir consisting of African seminarians was conducted by the Elder Sacristan Fr. Pavlos Iosifides. Also present were the Abbot of the Patriarchal Holy Monastery of St. George of Old Cairo, Fr. Damaskinos Alazrai, as well as clergy from Alexandria and Cairo.
The diplomatic authorities were represented by the Consul General Mr. Athanasios Kotsionis, in whose person Patriarch Theodoros thanked Greece.
