THE PATRIARCH OF ALEXANDRIA WITH THE YOUTH OF AFRICA

During his Pastoral visit to Tanzania, particularly to the Holy Metropolis of Mwanza, His Beatitude Theodoros II, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa, received a very pleasant surprise.

On the night of 11th October he received a telephone call from the President of the Hellenic Republic, Mr. Prokopis Pavlopoulos who, having been informed of the Patriarchal journey, hastened to support the Alexandrian Primate and to express his moral support for his arduous missionary efforts.

On 12th October, the fifth day of the Pastoral visit of the Alexandrian Primate to the Holy Metropolis of Mwanza, His Beatitude together with the local Metropolitan Ieronymos went to the city of Kayanga in the KARAGWE province. He visited firstly the Provincial Governor Mr. GODFREY MHELUKA, to whom he expressed his support regarding the great drought in the area and assured him that the Orthodox Church through Metropolitan Ieronymos will see to the drilling of a borehole for the relief of the people in the region. The Provincial Governor expressed to His Beatitude the need for the reconstruction of a hospital in his province, to which the Patriarch responded positively.

Afterwards, together with the Provincial Governor and the regional authorities, His Beatitude went to the Orthodox Church High School in KAYANGA, which is called “ARISTOTELIS”, which was built by donation of the “Pan-Hellenic Federation of Police Officers”, where there are 200 pupils, regardless of race and religion, a fact deeply appreciated by the communities in the region and where the level of education is very high, since all the pupils have full success in their internal and external examinations. Here, the pupils reserved a very warm and emotional welcome for their noble visitor, with traditional dances and songs and the hosting of a typical African outdoors lunch.

Then, His Beatitude prayed for much-needed rain and promised that the Orthodox Church would take care of secondary education, so that the pupil’s education could be complete, and a hostel so that the pupils who travel for many kilometers could stay.