His Beatitude Patriarch Theodoros II of Alexandria presides over the Divine Liturgy at the Annunciation Church in Kissamos, Crete. PHOTO: © John Mindala

His Beatitude Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa, Theodoros, celebrated the Divine Liturgy on 18 June at the Holy Cathedral of the Annunciation in Kissamos. His All-Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and other Primates of the Orthodox Church attended the service in prayer. Today, Saturday of the Souls, the Orthodox Church commemorates the souls of the departed, offering special prayers for all those, now departed, who worked for the realization of the Holy and Great Council.

The Greek government was represented by Panagiotis Kouroumblis, minister of Interior and Administrative Reconstruction, and Ioannis Amanatidis, deputy minister of Foreign Affairs. In their statements after the Divine Liturgy, they both emphasized the importance of this historic event and the need for unity in the Orthodox Church.

Kouroumblis said that the representatives of the Greek government are in Crete “participating in this historic event of the Holy Orthodox Council, which is organized on an island (Crete), which constitutes an historic custodian of Orthodoxy."

Amanatidis, said that it is "an honor and privilege to host such a big event for the whole of Orthodoxy. It is an historical event, the importance of which will probably be understood more fully in the future rather at the present moment.“

His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew enters the Annunciation Church in Kissamos, Crete for the Divine Liturgy presided over by His Beatitude Patriarch Theodoros II of Alexandria. PHOTO: © John Mindala