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It is impossible for the Orthodox Church, and the Patriarchate
of Alexandria and all Africa, to stand by passively in South Africa. In
such a sensitive region which has been undergoing such enormous and fundamental
changes, it is time for decisions to be made and actions to be taken.
The idea of the establishment of an Orthodox Missionary Centre in South
Africa has been around for years and now is the time to realise that objective.
In these times and in the world of the Orthodox Church, there
is no place for individualism or racialism. Today we speak freely and
we must think in the true spirit of the Gospel, particularly in relation
to concern for our far away brethren.
We enjoy and savour the Light of Truth and Life which is none
other than the Lord. We are children and supporters of Christ, enlisted
to pass on the divine message of hope to every corner of the earth. God’s
aim was and remains always, the salvation of the souls of those of every
race and colour. We struggle daily for a response to this objective from
ever more people of the world. We see developments daily in those few
who have dedicated their lives to the service of others and the realisation
of the commandment of our Lord that His Gospel should rule the world.
It is our common concern to pass on the Gospel Word to the
suffering, the wronged and to those who have not yet heard the Word, who
have not heard of the coming of the Lord to this earth. They have been
waiting for two thousand years to hear “Glory to God in the highest,
and peace and goodwill to all men”. It is this hymn which we wish
to convey to the hearts of men who struggle to know the Lord and to accept
Him as their Redeemer and Saviour.
It is in this spirit that over the past fifty years the Patriarchate
of Alexandria has worked to proclaim the Christian truth and the evangelical
light to the people of the African continent who had been deprived of
the great privilege of knowing our Lord.
His Beatitude Petros VII, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria
and all Africa, knows first-hand the missionary Dioceses of East and West
Africa. He served both as Patriarchal Exarch in the Archdiocese of Irinoupolis
(1991-1994), East Africa, and as Metropolitan of Cameroon and West Africa
(1994-1997). His experiences there brought him to believe strongly in
the need for the creation of an Orthodox Missionary Centre in South Africa.
His Beatitude has been working ever since to encourage a group of African
self-styled Orthodox Christians, numbering some 400,000, and through correspondence
is moving towards formally accepting them into the Patriarchate of Alexandria
and all Africa, an endeavour which, if it be the will of God, will soon
be realised.
On 5th November 1997, while on a pastoral visit,
H.B. Petros VII laid the foundation stone of the first Missionary Centre
in South Africa. The 10,000 m2 plot of land upon which the
Missionary Centre will be built, is situated between Pretoria and Hartbeespoortdam
and was donated by Mr. and Mrs. Ioannis Karaolis, of a devout family from
Pretoria.
The ceremony of the laying of the foundation stone was attended
by H.E. Paul, Archbishop of Johannesburg and Pretoria and many friends
of the mission, significantly including many of those destined to be amongst
the first native South Africans to attend the Mission now under construction.
In his speech, His Beatitude emphasised the importance of
the creation of such a centre for Orthodoxy and called for positive contributions
towards the realisation of this worthy cause.
And so, as we find ourselves on the threshold of the twenty-first
century, the foundations are being laid for a Missionary Centre which
will be a source of salvation for hundreds of thousands of Africans, who
will be welcomed to embrace Orthodoxy of their own free will and without
proselytism.
A new Orthodox family will be born soon
in South Africa. Let us pray that this effort by the Patriarchate of Alexandria
with bear fruit so that our brethren may proclaim “the secret hidden
for long ages and through many generations, but now disclosed to God’s
people, to whom it was His will to make it known”. (Colossians 1.26)
Read
other writings by His Eminence Metropolitan Makarios in Adventures
in the Unseen
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