6th Anniversary Enthronement Tribute to His Eminence Archbishop Makarios of Australia
From the Office of the Chancellor
Feast of the Holy, Glorious and Pre-eminent Apostles, Peter and Paul
On this radiant and grace-filled day, when the universal Church celebrates the glorious memory of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul—those divinely illumined and pre-eminent pillars of the faith who enlightened the world with the Word of God—the Holy Archdiocese of Australia bows in profound gratitude to God, commemorating with filial joy the sixth enthronement anniversary of our Spiritual Father and Chief Shepherd, His Eminence Archbishop Makarios of Australia.
In the person of our Archbishop, we behold a Shepherd after the heart of Christ—one who lays down his life for the sheep (cf. Jn 10:11)—and who continues to embody, with vigilance and love, the sacred charge entrusted to him by the Holy and Sacred Synod of our revered Mother Church, the Ecumenical Patriarchate. His Eminence was not merely called to a position of ecclesiastical dignity, but to a life of kenotic self-sacrifice, poured out daily for the salvation of the flock entrusted to him.
Indeed, vigilance—νῆψις—that watchful sobriety extolled by the ascetical tradition of our Church, has come to characterise the Archepiscopal ethos of our Chief Shepherd. As the neptic Fathers remind us, nepsis is a state of spiritual attentiveness, a condition of wakefulness that guards the heart from all distraction, ensuring that every action flows from pure love for God and His people. In this spirit, His Eminence has remained ever-alert and wholly attuned to the needs of his faithful—not only in matters spiritual and sacramental, but also in their daily struggles, pains, and aspirations.
And yet, this same neptic vigilance is exercised not within the solitude of monastic enclosure, but within the challenging and often conflicting demands of contemporary ecclesial leadership—amidst dignitaries and politicians, meetings and travel, media and governance. Still, despite the exterior expectations of his position, His Eminence has remained inwardly grounded in the watchful stillness of Christ, discerning what is most needful: to be present to every soul, to listen to every cry, to offer to every person the liberating fragrance of hope.
Throughout these six years, the Archbishop’s journey has not been marked by self-preservation or desire for control, but by the radical relinquishing of authority for the good of the Church. His unwavering support for the new Constitution of the Holy Archdiocese, which—though it formally limits his own authority by empowering the Bishops of the newly established Dioceses—is a testament to his deep ecclesiological conviction: that the very nature and unity of the Church is not upheld by the consolidation of power, but by love, humility, synergy and pre-eminently, by a synodal system of governance as we can see already in the Acts of the Apostles (cf. Acts 15).
In this same spirit, we note with reverent admiration that in all his pastoral letters and encyclicals, even as Archbishop, he refers to his fellow bishops not merely as auxiliaries or subordinates, but as ‘brothers’—a designation that bespeaks his sincere desire to serve with his fellow hierarchs in fraternal harmony and with Christ-centred collegiality. This deeply humble ecclesial vision reflects not only a theological principle but a lived commitment: to lower himself so that others might be raised, to disappear into the ministry so that Christ might appear more clearly.
In every hardship endured, in every challenge embraced, and in every joy shared with his flock, His Eminence has exemplified the call of the Apostle Paul to “rejoice in the Lord always” (Phil 4:4). Indeed, his joy is not that of earthly comfort or temporal success, but the deeper joy of knowing Christ and serving Him without reservation, in the hope of the Kingdom to come. This hope, which he so clearly carries in his heart, he extends to each of us—inviting all to partake of its light and strength.
And so, on this sacred day, with one mind and one heart, the clergy and faithful of this Holy Archdiocese raise their voice in doxology and thanksgiving to our most compassionate God for the gift of such a Shepherd. We remain ever grateful to His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, and to the venerable Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, for their inspired and providential unanimous election of Archbishop Makarios, a man formed in the ascetical disciplines of our tradition, and moulded into a true pastor for our time.
May Christ our true Shepherd, the Chief Cornerstone of the Church, grant to His Eminence our Archbishop many more years of strength and grace—blessing his sacred ministry so that he may continue to rightly divide the word of truth, to shepherd the people of God with love and wisdom, and to guide us all toward the joy and peace of that unending day, where “God will be all in all” (1 Cor 15:28).
