Dozens of Greek expatriates in Melbourne have turned to the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese’s Greek Welfare Centre for help as the city’s fifth lockdown bites deep into their financial reserves. Members of the wider community are also receiving help.

Archimandrite Evmenios Vassilopoulos, the Archdiocesan Vicar of the Northcote district, said that the church offered struggling expatriates with food and in special cases paid some of their bills.

He added that there were about 380 Greek families in Melbourne that received food from the archdiocese every fortnight.

The Archdiocese was also providing 100 cooked meals to struggling Melburnians who were not members of the community.

Fr Evmenios said that those in need could ask for help.

“We do not ask for information and we keep their anonymity,” he told Neos Kosmos.

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Archbishop Makarios of Australia said in a statement that the Church was there to help: “we have a duty not to leave anyone alone in this crisis.”

“I urge all our expatriates and every person of good will, to mobilise the maximum of their reserves of love and charity, in order to create a strong network of protection for the weak in this extremely critical situation.

“Our expatriates, as well as all our fellow human beings who need help, are invited to contact the Hellenic Welfare Centre as well as the heads of the local parishes.

“Also, I warmly ask all our brothers, if they know cases of their relatives or persons from their wider social environment, who need any kind of support, to immediately inform either the Hellenic Welfare Centre or their parish or the offices of our Holy Archdiocese. We have a duty not to leave anyone alone in this crisis, but to face it and overcome it with solidarity and unity. ”

Archbishop Makarios also called on everyone to go to be vaccinated against COVID-19 as it was the best possible way to control the spread of the virus.

“I urge you, with paternal love and responsibility, to take a vaccine against Covid-19, those who have not already done so, to step up the fight for the best possible control of the pandemic. Unfortunately, Australia has one of the lowest rates of vaccinated population compared to other countries in the world.

“We must not forget that vaccination is an act of self-protection, but above all it is an act of love and solidarity to the family, the community and the wider society to which we belong, “said Archbishop Makarios.