His Eminence Archbishop Makarios of Australia received a warm welcome from the Greek community of Australia when he arrived at Kingsford Smith airport on Tuesday evening. And over the last few days he has been busy preparing for his enthronement and meeting with church stakeholders from around the world.
The enthronement of the new Primate will take place on Saturday 29 June, at the Holy Cathedral of the Annunciation of the Theotokos with pomp and pageantry. A happy day for the church, the Greek Orthodox community at large has been urged to attend.
The announcement of the Australian Archdiocese states: “It is the duty of every Orthodox Christian to be present at this historical and sacred event. No one should be absent. It is important for our children to witness this historic and memorable day for our Church in Australia.”
The real work begins following the enthronement as the 6th archbishop of Australia will have his work cut out for him with estimations pointing to 700,000 Greek Orthodox Australians under his jurisdiction – most of them in Melbourne.
A source from the Archdiocese of Melbourne and Victoria told Neos Kosmos that Archbishop Makarios has expressed the wish to visit Melbourne around August, however the actual date has yet to be confirmed. It will be the first city that he will visit outside Sydney and plans to “meet with as many members of the clergy and parishioners as possible”. The visit will also include meetings with other stakeholders of the Greek and Australian community.
In a recent interview with Neos Kosmos, he said: “Each local church has special characteristics and its own needs, which require different management, just as is the case with individual people.” For this reason, the archbishop plans to personally visit as many of the dozens of Melbourne churches as possible.