Patriarch Theodoros II of Alexandria and All Africa will attend the remembrance ceremonies for the completion of 1400 years from the Dormition of a great Saint of our Church, St John the Merciful, who is the Patron Saint of the Holy Metropolis of Limassol and served as Patriarch of Alexandria, which will take place in the month of November.
The acceptance of the invitation by Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol announced that the Alexandrian Primate gladly accepted, during the warm welcome which was reserved for Bishop Nicholas of Amathous, who together with the Mayor of the city, Nicholas Nikolaides and a large group of Cypriots visited him in Alexandria.
The Bishop of Amathous gave Patriarch Theodoros a copy of the volume on the life of this great Saint of the Church which will be presented during that time, and which is a “model of a Hierarch”, as Bishop Nicholas said.
Receiving this important publication, the Primate of the Orthodox Church of Africa, noted what an enormous blessing it is for Alexandria to accept this great figure of Christianity, when he was elected to the Throne of St Mark, almost 14 centuries prior to today.
On his behalf, Bishop Nicholas spoke of the significant experiences he received when just a few months previously he accompanied the Patriarch of Alexandria on one of his missionary journeys in Africa, the “Continent of the future”, and seeing with his own eyes, the testimony of faith from the Christians of Africa, while also noting the excellent co-operation and fraternal relations between the Church of Cyprus with the Second Throne Patriarchate of Alexandria.
In conclusion, the Mayor of Limassol, Mr. Nicholas Nikolaides presented one of his own proposals and initiatives, that the Municipality of this city in collaboration with the Technological University of Cyprus, launches a programme of digitization of the enormous archive of the Library of the Patriarchate of Alexandria, a proposal which Patriarch Theodoros received with great satisfaction, noting that in the field of restoration of the historical volumes of the Patriarchate, the Leventis Institute of Cyprus already offers its valuable services and support.
The event was also attended by the Chairlady of the Cyprus Brotherhood in Egypt, Mrs. Mary Formozi.
The entire group returns on 28th October to Cyprus, following the visits which it also paid to the Governor of Alexandria, the Hellenic Naval Club of Cairo and the ‘Ptolemy’, Association of Greek Scientists of Alexandria where they presented the event ‘Alexandria – Limassol, two cities in a continuous dialogue’.
