On Sunday, 13 January, at the invitation of the Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa, His Beatitude Theodoros II, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Markos Bolaris attended the ordination of the new Bishop of Toliara and South Madagascar, Mr Prodromos, which took place in Cairo, Egypt, during a Patriarchal-Polyarchieratic Divine Liturgy officiated by His Beatitude. Later, on the same day, during their official meeting which was held at the second seat of the Patriarchate of Alexandria, in Cairo, His Beatitude warmly welcomed the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, by stating, inter alia, the following:"I would like to officially express my great joy that today, in our office in Cairo, I welcome His Excellency, Minister Markos Bolaris. He is not only a representative of our country. He is also a friend. He is one of the few people who knows the difficulties of the Patriarchates, and the ecclesiastical issues. At the same time, his rich political experience has endowed him with the gift to immediately intuit the problems of his interlocutor. I want to thank him for his attendance today.Your Excellency, Mr Minister. Thank you. Our Patriarchate has existed for two thousand years here in the hospitable country of Egypt. The President of Egypt, Mr Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, supports us with all his heart, our beloved homeland, Greece, is close to us, and Cyprus, this blessed island of ours, provides me with great comfort and assistance in my diplomatic contacts across Africa. I wish to express my deepest gratitude knowing that while our church had a great past, an even greater future lies ahead of it yet, in the shape of a future Africa, that is, its entire Continent. I would like to wish you all the very best and please remember that all our children who come from our Homeland to preach in Africa feel that you hold them close in your thoughts. Thank you so very much and may the Lord bestow upon you, our Prime Minister and our people all His blessings and strength to overcome the difficult days our homeland is going through at the moment."In response to the Patriarch, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs stated:"It is a great pleasure and a special honour to be here today at the Cairo office of the Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria, Theodoros II, in order to discuss in depth the great challenges that the Second Patriarchate of the Orthodox Church is facing these days. I am referring to the challenges that Evangelists and Missionaries face in the Dark Continent, and I would like to convey the special wishes of the Greek Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Alexis Tsipras, as well as his profound joy and respect at the enormous efforts the Patriarch of Alexandria and his excellent cabinet, the Synod, the Patriarchate and its staff, have deployed over the years on the Dark Continent. I would also like to stress that it is a great pleasure to be in Egypt, this ancient womb which birthed the special friendship between our two peoples, Egyptians and Greeks, as Herodotus once mentioned. A country which has provided refuge for our church, as well as refuge, friendship and love for the Greeks, the Rum."
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