On 26th November 2017, His Beatitude Theodoros II, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa, conducted the Patriarchal Divine Liturgy in the imposing Holy Cathedral of the Annunciation of the Theotokos in Yaoundé, the capital of Cameroon, concelebrating with Their Eminences Gregory Metropolitan of Cameroon and Narcissus Metropolitan of Accra, many Priests and Deacons, the participation of a church choir of indigenous Orthodox Christians and the massive participation of Orthodox believers.
Also present, on behalf of the Government were the Honorable Minister of Labour, Their Excellencies the Ambassadors of Egypt and Russia to Cameroon, the Honorary Consul General of Greece in Douala and Archon Referendarios of the Alexandrian Patriarchal Throne. The Honorable Mr. Anestis Arnopoulos, the Honorable Chairman of the Hellenic Community of Yaoundé Mr. Errikos Balanos and other dignitaries.
In his address to the congregation His Beatitude centered on the importance of the two great virtues, of Love and Peace, which stem from God. Love, because “God is love”, and “peace from above” as a gift of the Holy Spirit the perfect gift from God Himself to His chosen creation, mankind, that reconciles us to Him and to our neighbour. Only if mankind comprehends that the result of all this global turmoil, is the absence of Love and Peace, then we will be able to have a world of reconciliation and tolerance. Peace will never be achieved through terrorism and the power of weapons, but with the catalytic presence of Love in our lives.
Immediately after the Divine Liturgy, in the grounds of the Cathedral, a function was held in which the Indigenous Orthodox Christians offered their gifts to the Patriarch, according to the local tradition, His Beatitude then visited the Hellenic Community of Yaoundé, in the building of the Hellenic Club, where in the presence of the Honorable Chairman of the Hellenic Community, he met all the members of the Greek community and attended lunch with them.
