Athens: Granting of use of the Church of Saint Nicholas to the Ecumenical Patriarchate
On Wednesday, 29 March 2023, the bestowal agreement for the use of the Holy Church of ‘Agios Nikolaos of the House of the poor’ was signed between the Benevolent Society of Athens and the Ecumenical Patriarchate, in a special ceremony honourably held at the headquarters of the Holy Archdiocese of Athens, in the presence of His Beatitude Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece and the Mayor of Athens Mr. Konstantinos Bakoyiannis.
On behalf of the charitable association, to which the granted Holy Church of Saint Nicholas belongs, under the name “Merciful Society of Athens – Nursing Home – House for the poor”, the contract was signed by the Chairman of its Board of Directors Mr. Spyridon Hamakiotis.
On the part of the Mother Church and on behalf of His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, His Eminence Metropolitan Theodoritos of Laodicea, Director of the Representative Office of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Athens, and Mr. Paris Asanakis, Archon Dikaiofilax of the Great Church of Christ and Legal Advisor to the Ecumenical Patriarchate, attended the ceremony and signed the contract.
His Beatitude Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and all of Greece and the Mayor of Athens Mr. Bakoyiannis contributed decisively to the granting of the very beautiful Holy Church of Saint Nicholas to the Ecumenical Patriarchate
The ceremony was attended by, among others, Archon Orfanotrofos Mr. Gerasimos Fokas, Vice-President of the Fraternity of Archons of the Great Church of Christ “Panagia Pammakaristos”, Archon Protector of Letters Mr. Nikolaos Ouzounoglou, Emeritus Professor and President of the Ecumenical Federation of Constantinople, as well as Mr. Nikolaos D. Pateras, shipowner, with whose donation, in the recent past, extensive works of renovation and maintenance of the Holy Church and configuration of the surrounding area has been able to take place.
