A Divine Liturgy was held this morning in Saint Savva to celebrate the 15th anniversary of Theodore II’s Patriarchy, in the presence of the Hierarchy of the Patriarchate of Alexandria.
“My eyes are full of tears,” the Primate of Alexandria said in his speech. Recalling memories of October 2004, when he took the helm of the Church of the Apostle Mark, he spoke of his feelings and first thoughts when the word “Axios” was heard throughout the church. He described the moment when elder Metropolitan Peter of Axomi said from the beautiful gate “we have a Patriarch, Theodore.”
“I looked at the crucifix and said, ‘Theodore, you are not a Bishop anymore, you are the Father for all these people’,” said the Primate of the second in rank Patriarchate, and revealed his thoughts when he walked to the beautiful gate, “I thought to myself, ‘Theodore, take your stick, put love in your heart and move on’.”
“Today Alexandria is celebrating, today the Orthodox Church of Africa is celebrating, today the Orthodox Mission is celebrating. Today, here in this historic church, the cathedral of the Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa, the Great and Apostolic family of St. Apostle and Evangelist Mark is celebrating. Here in the Holy Land of St. Savvas, 15 years ago today, we celebrated with great joy your meritorious and just election. It was a sunny and blessed Saturday,” Metropolitan Nicodemus of Memphis and Patriarchal Commissioner of Cairo said, among others, reading the celebration of the day.
The Greek Community of Cairo was represented by its President, Christos Kavalis and the Secretary General, Chrysanthi Skoufaridou. The President of the Cairo Cultural Center, Christos Papadopoulos, and the teacher and former Deputy Coordinator of Education for North Africa and the Middle East, T. Anastasiou, were also present.
Source: ekkairo.org