Athens News Agency: News in English, 08-01-31

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] Greece's Archbishop Christodoulos laid to rest

[01] Greece's Archbishop Christodoulos laid to rest

The Ecumenical Patriarch also delivered the eulogy for the late Christodoulos, who passed away at dawn on Monday at his home in Psychico, following a seven-month battle with cancer.

The funeral ceremony commenced at 10:00 a.m., following the arrival of President Papoulias, who was preceded by the prime minister and almost the entire Greek government, representatives of the political parties and parliament, delegates of the foreign embassies, Church of Greece hierarchs, and representatives of other religions, while thousands of faithful also swamped the environs of the Cathedral, where they followed the service from loudspeakers.

Eulogies were also delivered by Metropolitan Anthimos of Thessaloniki, representing the Church of Greece, education and religious affairs minister Evripides Stylianidis, who represented the government, parliament president Dimitris Sioufas, and Athens Mayor Nikitas Kaklamanis.

Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos paid tribute to the late Archbishop's spiritual qualities, his word and his work aiming bringing the Church closer to the people, and stressed the Ecumenical Patriarchate's respect for Christodoulos, putting behind the tension that arise in relations between the two men in the spring of 2004.

Metropolitan Anthimos called that time "a minor interval of bitterness that will pass forever into oblivion", and conveyed to the Ecumenical Patriarch the "heartfelt love and respect" that Christodoulos held for him.

Stylianidis spoke of the multi-faceted Shepherd with the effusive and straightforward word and firmness of action, who brought the Church close to the people, and particularly the youth. "He was open and accepting to the challenges of the times. He believed in the young generation, with whom he always sought to be in contact, with their own language. His concern was to bring the youth closer to the Church, and he succeeded," the minister said.

Sioufas paid tribute to "the spiritual leader who placed his rare gifts and strength of soul into the religious word, the Church, the obligation to society", expressing grief over the early demise of the Archbishop on behalf of the representatives of the political parties, as expressed during a special session of parliament held in Christodoulos' memory.

"He inspired and guided a spiritual work that went beyond the frontiers of Greece. He left us early, but left behind him a flourishing work that is in full development," Sioufas added.

Kaklamanis expressed hope that the late Archbishop's work and vision will find worthy successors. "As the informidable captain of the ship called the Church, he led it away from its traditional introversion and the margins," Kaklamanis said.

"You were impulsive, dynamic, fiery," the Mayor concluded.

After the funeral service, the late Archbishop's casket was carried by gun-carriage, accompanied by officers of the Armed Forces and to a 21-gun salute fired by canon from atop Lycabettus Hill, to Athens' First Cemetery, were he was laid to rest.

Mourners also flocked to the cemetery to lay a flower at the Archbishop's grave in a final farewell to their spiritual leader.

Caption: Thousands of mourners line the streets through which the funeral procession for Greece's Archbishop Christodoulos passed after his funeral to his final resting place at Athens' First Cemetery. (ANA-MPA/M. Marogianni)

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