The Church of Greece celebrated its Patron, Saint Photios the Great

With all ecclesiastical splendour, the memory of Saint Photios the Great, Patriarch of Constantinople, was celebrated this year, who is honoured par excellence by the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece and the Theological Schools of Athens and Thessaloniki.

On Thursday morning, 6 February 2025, the Matins and Divine Liturgy were initially celebrated in the Katholikon of the Holy Monastery of the Dormition of the Theotokos of Penteli, officiated by Their Eminences, Metropolitan Ierotheos of Lemnos and Agios Efstratios, and Metropolitan Filotheos of Thessaloniki, appointed by the Permanent Holy Synod of the Church of Greece.

After the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy, at the Inter-Orthodox Centre of the Church of Greece, which is housed in the premises of the Holy Monastery of the Dormition of the Theotokos in Penteli, the established meeting of the members of the Holy Synod with the Professors and other teachers at the Theological Schools of the Universities of Athens and Thessaloniki took place.

The celebration was attended by the head of the Office of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Athens, His Eminence Metropolitan Theodoritos of Laodicea, the Representative of the Patriarchate of Alexandria in Athens, His Eminence Metropolitan Georgios of Guinea, the Exarch of the Holy Sepulchre in Athens, His Archimandrite Ieronymos, the Synodal Metropolitans, Their Eminences, Metropolitan Ierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agios Vlasios, Metropolitan Ignatios of Demetrias and Almyros, Metropolitan Ephraim of Hydra, Spetses and Aegina, Metropolitan Seraphim of Piraeus, Metropolitan Dorotheos of Syros, Tinos, Andros, Kea, Milos, Delos and Mykonos, Metropolitan David of Grevena, Metropolitan Ioustinos of Nea Krini and Kalamria, Metropolitan Stephanos of Philippi, Neapolis and Thassos, Metropolitan Athanasios of Sisanion and Siatistis, Metropolitan Ierotheos of Lemnos and Agios Efstratios and Metropolitan Filotheos of Thessaloniki.

Also present were Their Eminences, Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Dodoni, Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Chalkida, Metropolitan Nicholas of Mesogaia and Lavreotiki, Metropolitan Gabriel of Nea Ionia, Philadelphia, Heraklion and Chalcedon, Metropolitan Maximos of Ioannina and Metropolitan Gregorios of Peristeri, His Eminence Metropolitan Panteleimon of Koroneia, His Grace Bishop Pavlos of Thespia, the Chief Secretary of the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece, Archimandrite Ioannis Karamouzis, and the Protosyncellus of the Holy Archdiocese of Athens, Archimandrite Varnavas Theocharis.

Also present were the Vice-Rector of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Mr. Christos Karagiannis, the Deans of the Theological Schools of Athens and Thessaloniki, Mr. Emmanuel Karageorgoudis and Protopresbyter Fr. Athanasios Gikas, respectively, the Presidents of the four Departments of the Theological Schools, as well as the President of the Academic Council of the Higher Ecclesiastical Academy of Athens, Mr. Athanasios Kapsalis.

The meeting was presided over by His Beatitude Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece, who, in his opening sermon, stated, among other things: “The Most Holy Photios literally dominated the spiritual renaissance of Byzantium during the 9th century, especially after the suffering that had been accumulated by the iconoclastic disputes. It is striking that in his radiant personality, deep Orthodox piety and faith coexist in complete harmony with his astonishing training and knowledge, his preoccupation with letters and politics in harmony with his miraculous achievement in theological writing and hymnography, his love for monastic life and prayer with tireless activity in almost all areas of ecclesiastical and social ministry, his breadth of spirit with respect for ecclesiastical tradition and patristic teaching.

The above characteristics made Saint Photios a complete personality, a charismatic man, a genuine shepherd and ecclesiastical teacher, a successor of the Apostles and the Holy Hierarchs before him, not only in terms of the episcopal office, but mainly as a sharer of their “way”, that is, their evangelical ethos, their precise faith, sacrificial love and their martyric life.

The piety he inherited from his parents, the faith in the mystery of the incarnation of the Word of God and the unshakable conviction that, since the Son of God also became the Son of man, he can be represented in history, described “in iconography”, openly express his commitment to Orthodoxy and the iconophile spirit of the Church. After all, his father, Saint Sergios, suffered martyrdom, was exiled during the second period of iconoclasm as an iconophile and died in exile as a confessor saint.

Immediately afterwards, the Vice-President of the Permanent Holy Synod of the Church of Greece, His Eminence Metropolitan Ierotheos of Nafpaktos and Saint Vlasios, the Deans of the Theological Schools of Athens and Thessaloniki, and the President of the Academic Council of the Higher Ecclesiastical Academy of Athens, took the floor, and wished well His Beatitude Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece, on the occasion of the 17th anniversary of his ascension to the Archbishopric of Athens.

The theme of this year’s meeting was: “Demonstrating, but also saying: Thoughts on the necessity of a reflective testimony of the Theandricity in relation to the iconophilia of Saint Photios” and the speaker was Mr. Haralambos Ventis, Associate Professor of the Department of Social Theology and Religious Studies of the School of Theology of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.

In his in-depth address, Mr. Ventis stated that the crisis that metaphysics is going through in our naturalistic worldview, combined with the over-exaltation of experience at the expense of theological reflection and the promotion of the social preaching of the Gospel as the most popular alternative to the truth about the person and being of the God-man (and by extension about the Father and the Holy Spirit), should not obscure the foundation stone of Orthodoxy: that the dogmatic architecture of the person of Christ constitutes a saving truth inseparable from moral action, primarily because an imaginary Christ is not an Image of the Father and is by nature unable to save, that is, to make man whole (according to “for that which is not taken up (or assumed) is not healed“).

Given this – the Speaker emphasised – theology, as a contemplative deepening in the structural premises of Christology and Trinitarianism, is not a luxury, but a vital existential necessity for us, insofar as it questions the established perception of the fallen world, opening our eyes beyond the obvious, the given and the trivial. In view of the advance of naturalistic materialism as a rational and philanthropic adversary of faith, the interpretive utilisation of the Church’s dogmatic apparatus is once again deemed essential for the re-evangelisation of the world, in spite of the fear of the responsibilities and risks of theology, which is palpable even in purely religious environments.

After the presentation, Mr. Charalambos Ventis answered questions and comments. His Beatitude then hosted a luncheon in honour of the Professors of the Theological Schools.