The fact the delegates of the Catholic Church were not invited to the enthronement of the new archbishop of Athens and primate of the Orthodox Church of Greece, Ieronimos II, which took place on Saturday 16th February, is not a sign of an "impediment to dialogue" or even less of "disrespect for the Catholic Bishops". With these words, from Brussels the archimandrite Ignazio Sotiriadis, member of the delegation of the Orthodox Church of Greece within the European institutions, explains to SIR why last Saturday the Catholic Church was not invited to Ieronimos’ enthronement. Sotiriadis is keen on explaining that "there is no official interpretation" for the event and that, according to "his own interpretation", the new archbishop of Athens simply wanted to keep a low profile and therefore he chose to invite, as per protocol, only the local communities, not the leaders of the other churches. Actually, last Saturday, he wanted to be enthroned as the archbishop of Athens, not as the primate of the Holy Synod, so much so that in this opening address he did not spoke of Europe nor of inter-Christian relations. This also means he will submit the things he will do as the primate of the Orthodox Church of Greece, and therefore relations outside the archdiocese of Athens, to a discussion he will have with the whole hierarchy, that he will convene on February 28th. He will put forward some proposals which will have to be approved by the Synod". (continued)” “” “
