On Saturday, the 29th of May/11th of June, a group of Georgian pilgrims visited the Patriarchate.

Among them was iconographer Teymouraz Jamarije and the donator, Teymouraz Kambolava, who offered the Patriarchate an icon of St Nina, St Nikolas and St George the Trophy-Bearer.

His Beatitude thanked them for the donation and reciprocated with an icon of Theotokos Jerusalemite, extending wishes for the grace of the Resurrected and Ascended Lord during their pilgrimage.

From the Secretariat-General

httpv://youtu.be/f9QxMlM86Eo

On Friday, the 28th of May/10th of June 2016, the Alternate Minister of Rural Development visited the Patriarchate. Mr Bolaris was accompanied by associates of his, the Ambassador of Greece to Tel Aviv, Mr Spyridon Lamprides, the Consul-General to Jerusalem, Mr G. Zacharoudiakis, and Consul V. Koinis.

The Alternate Minister was warmly welcomed by H.B. Theophilos, Patriarch of Jerusalem, in the presence of Hagiotaphite Fathers.

An interesting discussion took place in the context of the visit, on the relations between the Patriarchate and Greece, heir of the Byzantine empire and supporter of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem.

Mr Bolaris was also informed on the Patriarchate’s pastoral work and the guardianship of the Holy Shrines; also on its peace-making activities and the restoration project, now underway, of the Aedicula of the Holy Sepulchre on the basis of a study conducted by the National Technical University of Athens.

After the discussion and exchange of gifts, Mr Bolaris continued his visit to the Holy Sepulchre, where he witnessed the restoration works on the Aedicula.

From the Secretariat-General

httpv://youtu.be/F2xC4zlVxgs

On Friday, the 21^st of May/3^rd of June 2016, the Patriarchate observed the memory of the glorious and pious kings, Constantine and Helen, recognised by the Church as equals to the apostles. Constantine the Great had proclaimed, with the Edict of Milan in 312 AD, the freedom for Christians to spread their faith and worship and build Christian churches, the first of which was the Church of the Resurrection, erected on Golgotha and the Holy Sepulchre.

To commemorate these two saints and protectors of the Hagiotaphite Brotherhood, Vespers was held at the church dedicated to their names, led by Patriarch Theophilos. Archimandrite Eusebius sang on the right and Archimandrite Alexios on the left, with Hagiotaphite Fathers as concelebrants. Members of the Arabic-speaking flock in Jerusalem and members of the Greek Parish attended the service.

On the conclusion of Vespers, Fathers sat in the forecourt were they received kollyva [boiled wheat] and rusk with wine.

On feast-day, Matins and the Divine Liturgy were led by Patriarch Theophilos, having Hagiotaphite Hieromonks as concelebrants in the presence of the Greek Consul-General to Jerusalem, Mr G. Zacharoudiakis, monks, locals and pilgrims from Greece, Russia and Ukraine.

After the Divine Liturgy, His Beatitude and officiating Priests and Primates walked in procession to the Patriarchates. Passing through the gate, they received the blessing of bread made by Hieromonk Paisios and Elder Nun Seraphima.  At the Patriarchate, a supplication was made before the Patriarch addressed guests in Greek.

“The first among idolater Roman Emperors to be proclaimed king of the Christians, Constantine the Great, has sealed the world in general and the Holy Land in particular with the salvaging instrument of the Holy and Life-giving Cross of our God and Saviour, Christ”, said Patriarch Theophilos. “The Cross, for which St Paul says “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians, 1, 18). “The salvaging power of the Cross”, added His Beatitude, “is proclaimed and confessed by the most holy shrines of the mystery of the divine economy, namely the Nativity, Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, upon which fine Churches and Monasteries, known as Constantineans, have been erected and in which the honourable members of the Hagiotaphite Brotherhood have taken up residence as guardians, deacons and officiants”. “The Church of the Resurrection”, the Patriarch concluded, “is where the testament of the Evangelic and apostolic truth is maintained alive and unscathed, alongside the hope of the Resurrection and new life in Christ”.

This great feast of the founders, patrons and protectors of the Most Holy Shrines and of the Hagiotaphite Brotherhood was sealed by tangible and spiritual communion and participation in festive monastic lunch.

From the Secretariat-General

httpv://youtu.be/WcMlJXjuhWo

httpv://youtu.be/FdDRpF5Hyhk

httpv://youtu.be/rJxZB-l6qW4

At noon of Tuesday the 18th/ 31^st of May 2016, His Beatitude Theophilos, Patriarch of Jerusalem, welcomed Metropolitans Pavlos of Servia and Kozani; Chrysostomos of Trikki and Stagi, and Chariton of Elassona, of the Church of Greece. The Metropolitans were accompanied by a group of fifteen clerics.

To the Hierarchs and their entourage, His Beatitude spoke of the works in progress for the protection, conservation and restoration of the Aedicula of the Holy Sepulchre. He then went on to inspect the aforementioned works, in the presence of Mr Theodosios Mitropoulos, Architect of the Technical Office of the Holy Sepulchre, Hagiotaphite Fathers, the representative of the Greek Consulate-General, Mr Vasileios Koinis, and the representative of the Old City Police, Mr Johnny Kassabri. From there, the Patriarch proceeded to the Office of the Church of the Resurrection, where He was reverently welcomed by the Elder Sacristan, Archbishop Isidoros of Hierapolis.

From the Secretariat-General

httpv://youtu.be/gRuXwKfNMDE

30 March 2016

“For those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith which is in Christ Jesus”, (1 Tim 3,13).

Your Paternity the Custos of the Holy Land Fr. Pierrebattista Pizzaballa,

It is in the frame of the words of Saint Paul that the Fraternity of the Holy Tomb of our Lord Jesus Christ has decided to honour You with the Cross of the Holy Sepulchre.

Your diaconia as Custos of the Holy Land and head of the Franciscan Fraternity  has been exemplary. For during your  tenure  here in the Holy City of Jerusalem, you have been instrumental in building trust and mutual respect between the various religious and Christian Communities in general and our Greek Orthodox Community in particular.

The harmonious cooperation between our respective Fraternities both in the Holy Sepulcher and the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem and elsewhere has fostered our common martyria of our Crucified and Risen Lord Jesus Christ. Furthermore, has produced the historic consensus between our three communities, namely Armenian, Franciscan and Greek over the restoration of the Aedicule of the Holy Tomb, something that for many was considered totally unatainable, today nevertheless is a reality.

Your Paternity, with these words we would like to express our deep appreciation both to your Brotherhood and to you personally.

No matter what is going to be your new monastic and pastoral assignment, for us here in Jerusalem. I mean for us that we have known you as a spiritual leader and pastor and of course a priest working in the vineyard of our common Lord Jesus Christ, you will be considered part and parcel of our Christian Mission in the Holy Land and more specific in the Holy City of Jerusalem. A mission that has been bestowed upon us from the divine Providence, in order to keep, serve and guard the Holy Places as places of Worship and places of spiritual refreshment for the many thousands of pilgrims who are coming for the source of the crucified and resurrected Love of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Christ is risen!

His Beatitude

THEOPHILOS III

Patriarch of Jerusalem

On the morning of Monday, the 17^th/30^th of May 2016, His Beatitude Theophilos, Patriarch of Jerusalem, welcomed the Custos of the Holy Land, Rev. Fr. Pierrebattista Pizzaballa, on the occasion of the twelfth anniversary of his diaconate and his 25-year stay in the Holy Land.

At the meeting, the Custos thanked His Beatitude on the collaboration between the Hagiotaphite Brotherhood and the Patriarchate with the Franciscan Fraternity. Patriarch Theophilos addressed f. Pierrbattista in English, see link: https://en.jerusalem-patriarchate.info/2016/05/31/24028

As a token of appreciation, His Beatitude offered the Franciscan Custos the honorary distinction of Supreme Taxiarch of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre.

Touched, the Custos thanked Patriarch Theophilos and pledged to maintain his interest in the Holy Shrines and carry on the harmonious collaboration between the Rum Orthodox Hagiotaphite Brotherhood and the Franciscan Fraternity of the Roman Catholic Church, in alignment with the Lord’s commandment to “love one another” and for the sake of joint testament in the Holy Land and the support of its Christian residents.

From the Secretariat-General

httpv://youtu.be/MGzWVMSN8n8

On Sunday, the 16^th/29^th of May 2016, the Patriarchate observed the feast of the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s Well in Nablus, Samaria.

The feast commemorates the meeting of our Lord Jesus Christ with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s Well, which had been hewn by Jacob the patriarch between the mountains of Yeval and Yoresin.

After that meeting, the Samaritan woman believed in the Lord, both she and her house, as the Lord revealed to her that “He, who spoke with her, was the Messiah, Christ”. The event is related by the Evangelist John in the fourth chapter of his gospel.

In the church built over the Well by Archimandrite Ioustinos, dedicated to St Photini the Samaritan, the Hagiotaphite St Philoumenos had suffered a martyr’s death. There, His Beatitude Theophilos served the divine Liturgy on the day of the feast, having as concelebrants: Archbishops Aristarchos of Constantina, Demetrios of Lydda, and Philoumenos of Pella; Archimandrite Nektarios as leading priest, the hegumen of Raffidia, Archimandrite Leontios, the hegumen in the Village of the Shepherds, priests visiting from Greece, and Arabic-speaking priests from the nearby towns of Nablus. Elder nun Mariam sang in Greek, with hieropsalts in Arabic, in the presence of Consul-General, Mr Vasileios Koinis, and other members of the Greek Consulate. Residents of adjacent towns attended the service, as well as pilgrims from Greece, Russia, Ukraine and Romania.

To the pious congregation the Patriarch delivered a sermon in Greek, saying: “Today we celebrate the New Testament in the honest blood of Christ our Saviour, namely Pascha, the resurrection of Christ from the dead, so that “If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has gone, the new is here!” (Corinthians 2, 5, 17) according to the Apostle Paul. This is why, when talking to the Samaritan woman, the Lord replied: “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4, 13). This spring of eternal life Christ has offered us through His crucifixion and resurrection. And this spring of eternal life did the Samaritan Woman recognize in the face of the Messiah”, His Beatitude said.

The Patriarch’s speech was also read in Arabic, see link: https://en.jerusalem-patriarchate.info/ar/2016/05/29/21902#more-21902

The divine Liturgy was followed by procession thrice around the Church, and the blessing of the Patriarch.

After the Apolysis, guests were hosted to a reception at the hegumeneion and, later, to festive lunch, courtesy of the monastery’s renovator, Archimandrite Ioustinos. During lunch, Halil Yanam of Zababdeh addressed His Beatitude in Arabic.

From the Secretariat-General

httpv://youtu.be/PPCw8c77HpQ

httpv://youtu.be/yAsVbalBONg

At noon of Friday the 14^th/27^th of May 2016, Mr Christos Hadjiathanasiou, Inspector of Primary Education of the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Cyprus, visited the Patriarchate with Mr Fandi Abdelnour, member of the Patriarchate’s School Board in Israel.

Mr Hadjiathanasiou was welcomed by Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem. The two of them discussed educational issues pertaining to the Patriarchate’s schools, employing teachers appointed by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Cyprus. Also discussed were the harmonious relations between the Patriarchate and the Cyprus state, with special reference on the recently restored Exarchate of the Holy Sepulchre in Nicosia, by the support of His Beatitude Chrysostomos, Archbishop of Cyprus.

Mr Hadjiathanasiou offered the Patriarch a book authored by himself, and received the book on the History of Jerusalem by the ever-memorable Archbishop of Athens, Chrysostomos Papadopoulos, as well as an icon of Theotokos Jerusalemite.

From the Secretariat-General

httpv://youtu.be/k4xvVmXOr_Q

On Thursday, the 13^th/26^th of May 2016, His Beatitude Theophilos, Patriarch of Jerusalem, visited the Greek Embassy in Budapest. During the visit, the Patriarch blessed the building and the Embassy personnel, making a supplication for health, peace, stability and prosperity.

At noon, Ambassador Giannakakis hosted the Patriarch and His Entourage, as well as Metropolitan Arsenios of Austria-Hungary, to lunch at a city restaurant.

In the evening, the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs hosted dinner in honour of His Beatitude at a floating restaurant on the Danube.

At midnight of Thursday, Patriarch Theophilos, accompanied by Metropolitan Arsenios and a representative of the Hungarian Foreign Ministry, boarded a plane of EL-AL Israel Airlines and landed safely at Ben-Gurion Airport, in the early hours of Friday the 14^th/27^th of May.

From the Secretariat-General

At noon of Tuesday, the 11^th/24^th of May 2016, Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem visited Hungary’s Parliament.

The House of the National Assembly is housed at a 19^th c. building of fine architecture, on both the interior and the exterior, a traditional cultural jewel of Budapest. The various sections of the building feature different periods from the history of Hungary, as well as aspects of its political, cultural, social, rural and war life.

The building includes the semi-circular assembly hall, equipped with contemporary online tools for the sessions.

Upon entering the Parliament, His Beatitude talked to Hungary’s state TV channel, saying among other things: “We have been invited by the Hungarian Government, for the second time since 2012, to bring to the Hungarian people the hopeful resurrectional message of Jerusalem. We met, yesterday, with the distinguished representative of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, Metropolitan Arsenios of Austria-Hungary, and members of the Greek Community in Budapest. Today we have the honour of meeting with Mr Zsolt Semjen, representing Prime Minister Vicktor Orban, who is unfortunately ill, and to whom we extend wishes for recuperation by the grace of the Most Holy and Life-giving Sepulchre”.

“The Church of Jerusalem”, said Patriarch Theophilos, “has remained through the centuries a witness of the Lord’s Crucifixion and Resurrection. Today, the holy city of Jerusalem has become the apple of discord, but it can be the key to the resolution of the political problem, given that its holiness and sacred history for the three religions is respected”.

“The Patriarchate of Jerusalem is recognized as the indigenous local Church by the governments of Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Autonomy”.

“We recommend the exchange of pilgrimages for the spiritual strengthening of pilgrims and for the sake of peace in the Holy Land, as well as for the prosperity of its inhabitants”.

The interview was followed by a guided tour of the Patriarchal Entourage along the various departments of the Parliament. Of special note, beyond the aforementioned Assembly Hall, is the restaurant featuring a large handmade carpet that depicts scenes of fishing and hunting. The Holy Crown is kept in a special showcase at the centre of the building. According to the Hungarian tradition, the crown, said to belong to Constantine the Great, was delivered by Pope Silvester to the first Christian king of Hungary, St Stephen, a saint of the common undivided Church of the first ten centuries.

After the tour, Patriarch Theophilos met with Mr Zsolt Semjen. At the meeting, the country’s deputy Prime Minister expressed joy over the Patriarch’s second visit to Hungary, immediately after the signing of a special agreement between Hungary and the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the first Orthodox Church, playing a coordinating role amongst the other Churches in Hungary, Russia, Romania, Serbia and Bulgaria. Metropolitan Arsenios of Austria-Hungary serves as the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s official representative.

In His reply, His Beatitude underlined the peace-making role that Jerusalem can take on for the resolution of the Palestinian Problem, if viewed by political leaders in the light of its holy history.

On the occasion of this visit, His Beatitude offered Mr Semjen an icon of Panaghia Jerusalemite, and an icon for Prime Minister Urban.

Mr Semjen offered the Patriarch a replica of a 12^th c. Hungarian coin.

Subsequently, the Patriarch, His Entourage and Metropolitan Arsenios sat at lunch hosted by Mr Semjen in the presence of the Hungarian ambassador to Ramallah, Mr G. Mihailyi, and the Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs.

During lunch, an interesting discussion took place on the Churches of the Holy Land and the Middle East, and on the need to have its Christian flocks enhanced by European states. Mr Semjen talked of his country’s attitude vis a vis the refugee crisis, as well as of the adversities imposed by the Hungarian people by its different conquerors through time.

In the afternoon, Doxology was led by Patriarch Theophilos at the Chapel of the Patriarchate of Serbia in Budapest, in the presence of Metropolitan Silouan, representing the Patriarchate of Serbia, Metropolitan Lucian, representing the Patriarchate of Moscow, and a priest representing the Patriarchate of Russia. During Doxology, His Beatitude addressed guests in English, see link: https://en.jerusalem-patriarchate.info/2016/05/24/23929

Doxology was followed by a guided tour at the Museum of Church Art.  After a relevant question, the Patriarch also spoke of the Great Synod of Orthodoxy, scheduled to convene in Crete, as a testament to the unity of the Orthodox Churches.

This completed the second day of the official visit of the Patriarch of Jerusalem to Hungary.

From the Secretariat-General