“Only the Ecumenical Patriarch expresses the ecumenicality of Orthodoxy,” said the President of the Hellenic Republic, Prokopis Pavlopoulos, from Kalamata, where he attended the celebration of the patron saint of the city, Panagia Ypapanti.
In addition, according to arxon.gr, he addressed Metropolitan Meliton of Philadelphia saying, “What I did and what I will do in the future, as all Orthodox Greeks, is a debt owed to the Ecumenical Patriarchate especially during these difficult times. Our will, that of the Greek Orthodox and the Church of Greece, to defend the role of the Ecumenical Patriarch, against all Orthodox Christians, must constantly move from words to deeds,” he said.
In his speech at the Metropolitan Church of the Presentation of Christ, Metropolitan Meliton thanked and expressed gratitude, on behalf of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, to the President of the Hellenic Republic, Prokopis Pavlopoulos, for his great contribution to the unity between the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Church of Greece throughout his term of office and for his support for the Ecumenical Throne of Constantinople at critical times.
Source: ANA-MPA