2009-05-03
With the blessing and patronage of His Eminence Metropolitan John Yazigi, Archbishop of the Diocese of Western and Central Europe of the Antiochian Orthodox Church, the first conference for parishes belonging to the Antiochian Orthodox Diocese in Germany was held from 1st to 3rd May 2009 in the parish of St Demetrios in Cologne. Representatives of fourteen parishes, in addition to the priests, participated in this conference.
The conference opened with celebratory prayers, and after Father Elias Esber, the priest of the host parish, had welcomed the participants, His Eminence gave a Paschal greeting to those present in which he expressed his joy at this blessed meeting and wished them every success. Mr Can Konsul, the Chairman of the Supreme Council in Germany, then spoke about the history of that Council and its development. This was followed by a lecture given by Archimandrite Youhanna Haykal (Berlin) entitled “The priest and the parish in their path towards God”. After the discussion, Archimandrite Athanasios Fahd (Paris) gave a talk dealing with the subject of “The Church and society”. The first day of the conference closed with evening prayers and a communal dinner.
The second day of the conference opened with morning prayers, followed by reports presented by parish representatives regarding the circumstances of their parishes. After the lunch break, the reports were discussed by those attending, and then His Eminence thanked the host parish, the organizers of the conference and all the participants, and announced the following decisions:
- The declaration of the German part of the Antiochian Orthodox Diocese of Western and Central Europe as being a Deanery, having its headquarters in the city of Cologne.
- The registration of the diocese in Germany with the official authorities in accordance with German law.
- The appointment of Archimandrite Youhanna Haykal as the Archbishop’s vicar in Germany.
- That every parish is to submit an annual report on its activities and circumstances, to be presented at the end of every year.
- The declaration that Saint Athanasios the Great is to be the patron saint of the Deanery in Germany, and that 2nd May shall be deemed a feast day for the Deanery (i.e. the date of the transfer of Saint Athanasios’ relics).
After the announcement of these decisions the
participants celebrated evening prayers. The second day of the
conference activities ended with a communal dinner.
The activities of the conference ended on Sunday 3rd May with a celebratory Divine Liturgy.
Sunday of the Myrrh-Bearing Women, 3 May 2009.
