Ecumenical Patriarch presided over Vespers Service for the Indiction in Constantinople

On the eve of the Feast of the Indiction, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, who presided over the Vespers Service on August 31 in the Monastery of the Mother of God at the Spring in Constantinople, bestowed the officium of Megas Rhetor on the Emeritus Professor and author, Christos Giannaras, in the presence of Hierarchs, Archbishops, Consul General of Ukraine in Constantinople Oleksandr Gaman, and faithful.

“The Great Church of Christ today bestows the officium of Megas Rhetor on you in the Sacred Patriarchal and Stavropegial Monastery of the Mother of God at the Spring, Zoodochos Pigi.

Patriarch Bartholomew indicated why the Mother Church of Constantinople bestowed this award on Christos Giannaras. The Ecumenical Patriarch said that “we honour your great contribution to theology, education and culture.”

He also stated, among other things, that “you suggest that theology is always the theology of freedom. Freedom is a relation, the transcendence of the sealed system of ego. This attachment, which is the predominant illness, deprives many people the hope of the Resurrection. ”

The Ecumenical Patriarch said that “as you aptly put it, the more personal a person becomes in relation to the world, the more he or she is initiated to the personal reason of the world. Nature is manifested as the personal energy of God, the wisdom and glory of the people.”

On his part, the new Archon thanked the Ecumenical Patriarch for the great honour reserved for him and his family. “It seems to me that the Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate,” noted Christos Giannaras, “bear the stamp of the uniqueness awarded by the “first-ranking” institution in the Orthodox episcopacy.”

He added that he was grateful for the honour, “especially today that the Ecumenical Patriarchate receives the greatness of the utmost humiliation, derided not only by nonsympathizers and opponents but also by its offsprings.”

Source: Romfea.news