It is well known among Melbourne’s faithful that Fr Andreas Papadimitropoulos who was until recently the pastor of St Catherine’s in Malvern is seriously ill.
Fr Andreas has been diagnosed with a particularly virulent form of cancer.
Despite the advanced state of his illness, Fr Andreas surprised his congregation at St Catherine’s last Sunday, when he appeared at the service in a wheelchair and spoke to the faithful at the end of the service.
He spoke in a in a weak voice that could barely be heard through the microphone.
But among other things he said: “I do not have a voice and I cannot speak. My life is fading and my days are few. I will soon die. I came here to this sacred place that I have served for decades so that I may see you all and to tell you that ‘I love you and thank you’ – especially my co-workers in the church. The poor, the teachers, the singers, the church committee members, all of them.”
He said he had been given special permission from the hospital to come to the church and to his home and he did not forget to thank the doctors or his family.
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“I want you,” he told the congregation, “to pray that Christ may take me as soon as is possible. I am ready and I have prepared for everything. I forgive and love everyone.”
He said that he had received the Communion and added that he was at peace and was ready for the great journey. “Until we meet again in heaven,” he told the congregation, many of which were weeping.
He begged them not to approach him and the congregation broke out in applause as a farewell.
