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H ΕΠΙΣΚΕΨΙΣ ΤΟΥ ΠΡΩΘΥΠΟΥΡΓΟΥ ΤΗΣ ΓΕΩΡΓΙΑΣ ΕΙΣ ΤΟ ΠΑΤΡΙΑΡΧΕΙΟΝ

Τό ἀπόγευμα τῆς Δευτέρας, 17ης / 30ῆς Μαΐου 2022, ἔλαβε χώραν ἡ ἐπίσκεψις τοῦ Πρωθυπουργοῦ τῆς Γεωργίας κ. Irakli Garibashvili καί τῆς Συνοδείας αὐτοῦ, ἤτοι Ὑπουργοῦ Ἐξωτερικῶν κ. Ilia Darchiashvili, τοῦ Ὑπουργοῦ Ἀσφαλείας κ. Grigol Liluasvili, τοῦ Ἐπικεφαλῆς τῆς Κυβερνητικῆς Διοίκησης κ. Revaz Javelidze καί τοῦ Πρέσβεως τῆς Γεωργίας εἰς τό Ἰσραήλ κ. Lasha Zhvania.

Τόν ἐξοχώτατον κ. Πρωθυπουργόν καί τήν συνοδείαν αὐτοῦ ἐδέχθη ἐνθέρμως ὁ Μακαριώτατος Πατήρ ἡμῶν καί Πατριάρχης Ἱεροσολύμων κ.κ. Θεόφιλος μετά Πατέρων Ἁγιοταφιτῶν, ὡς τοῦ Πατριαρχικοῦ Ἐπιτρόπου Σεβασμιωτάτου Μητροπολίτου Καπιτωλιάδος κ. Ἡσυχίου, τοῦ Γέροντος Ἀρχιγραμματέως Σεβ. Ἀρχιεπισκόπου Κωνσταντίνης κ. Ἀριστάρχου, τοῦ Σεβ.  Ἀρχιεπισκόπου Πέλλης κ. Φιλουμένου, τοῦ Δραγουμάνου Ἀρχιμανδρίτου π. Ματθαίου, τοῦ Ἀρχιδιακόνου π. Μάρκου καί τοῦ Γραμματέως τῆς Ἁγίας καί Ἱερᾶς Συνόδου Ἱεροδιακόνου π. Συμεών.

Εἰς τό πλαίσιον τῆς ἐπισκέψεως ταύτης ὁ Μακαριώτατος προσεφώνησε τόν ἐξοχώτατον Πρωθυπουργόν τῆς Γεωργίας διά τῆς κάτωθι προσφωνήσεως Αὐτοῦ ἀγγλιστί:

“Your Excellency, Mr Prime Minister,

Mr Garibashvili,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We are very glad to welcome you and your distinguished delegation to our Patriarchate in this joyous Paschal season.

The Patriarchate of Jerusalem, that is to say the Church of Jerusalem, is the Mother of all the Churches, for it was founded on the redeeming blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, who suffered, died, and was raised from the dead in this Holy City.

Thanks to the great Roman Christian emperors Constantine and his mother Helen, who took care of the Holy Places in the Holy Land and established the well-known order of the Spoudaei, which became the current monastic community of the Hagiotaphite Brotherhood, the Brotherhood of the Holy Tomb.

It is precisely this monastic community of the Holy Tomb that has been instrumental in guarding, serving, and maintaining the Holy Places, our Churches, and our Monasteries down the ages as places of prayer and worship, and therefore as places that are accessible to pilgrims and visitors without distinction.

Needless to say, the Holy Places have been sustained by the sacrifices of blood and of money.   Many have given their lives to protect them, and many benefactors have given from their financial resources to support them.   For these sacrifices we give thanks to Almighty God.

We welcome you, Your Excellency, as a leader and as a representative of an Orthodox country and a brotherly Orthodox Church.   This means that the Church of Jerusalem and the Church of Georgia and its faithful belong to the same Body of Christ and His Church.   This is why it is imperative, as Saint Paul commands, that we are always eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Eph. 4:3).

The challenges that we are facing here in the Holy City of Jerusalem are well known, for Jerusalem is the spiritual capital of the whole world and especially for the Orthodox Christian nations and peoples.

Our mission here is to promote the values of our Orthodox Christian tradition and heritage, which are no other than the values enshrined in the Holy Scriptures of both the Old and the New Testaments and in the Sacred Tradition of the Church.

Love of Christ and His peace, justice and reconciliation are the pillars of the Church of Jerusalem.

The Rum Orthodox Patriarchate, that is the Church of Jerusalem, as the Mother Church embraces everyone without distinction or discrimination.   This is why our Patriarchate enjoys the great respect of both the Israeli authorities and of course the Palestinian and Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan authorities as well, as you witnessed yesterday evening at our meeting in Amman.

Your Excellency, we take this opportunity to express our appreciation for your firmness and straightforward stand against globalization, which neglects Christian values.

We are therefore pleased to bestow upon you the Cross of the Holy Tomb of Our Lord Jesus Christ, so that you may be protected and inspired always by the salvific message of the Cross of the Righteous One.

Christ is risen!

Thank you”.

Ἠκολούθησεν ἡ ἀνταλλαγή τῶν δώρων, ἤτοι εἰκών τοῦ Γεωργιανοῦ Ἁγίου Ἀσωτίου (Ashot) ἐδόθη παρά τοῦ Πρωθυπουργοῦ εἰς τόν Μακαριώτατον, ὁ δέ Μακαριώτατος ἀπένειμεν αὐτῷ μεγάλην εἰκόνα τοῦ ἀνακαινισθέντος Κουβουκλίου τοῦ Παναγίου Τάφου, εἰκόνας τῆς Θεοτόκου εἰς τά λοιπά μέλη τῆς Ἀντιπροσωπείας καί εἰς τόν Πρέσβυν καί ἔλαβε χώραν οὐχ ἥκιστα ἡ τιμητική διάκρισις διά τοῦ παρασήμου τοῦ Ἀνωτέρου  Ταξιάρχου τοῦ Τάγματος τῶν Ἱπποτῶν τοῦ Παναγίου Τάφου πρός τόν Πρωθυπουργόν κ. Garibashvili.

Εὐχαριστῶν  ἐπί τῇ θερμῇ ὑποδοχῇ τοῦ Μακαριωτάτου, ὁ κ. Πρωθυπουργός καί τά μέλη ἀνεχώρησαν διά προσκύνησιν εἰς τόν Πανάγιον Τάφον, ἔνθα ὑπεδέχθη αὐτούς ὁ Γέρων Σκευοφύλαξ, Σεβασμιώτατος Ἀρχιεπίσκοπος Ἱεραπόλεως κ. Ἰσίδωρος, ἐν ᾧ προηγουμένως εἶχον ἐπισκεφθῆ τήν Ἱεράν Μονήν τοῦ Τιμίου Σταυροῦ, εἰς τήν ὁποίαν ἤκμασαν Γεωργιανοί μοναχοί.

Ἐκ τῆς Ἀρχιγραμματείας