At a gala dinner concluding the 2nd Pan-Australian Clergy Synaxis, Archbishop Makarios hailed the College as “the heart of our Church’s future”, announcing new facilities and programs including Greek-language undergraduate study and a Diploma in Byzantine Music.

The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia celebrated the 40th anniversary of the St Andrew’s Theological College in Sydney with an official dinner on Tuesday 30 September at La Montage. The event also marked the close of the 2nd Pan-Australian Clergy Synaxis.

“From the first moment of my arrival in Australia in 2019, the Theological College has been in my heart and mind, holding a prominent place in my vision and pastoral care for our Holy Archdiocese,” Archbishop Makarios said, emphasising that “at St Andrew’s, the future of our Church and Orthodox witness on the fifth continent is being cultivated.”

As Archbishop and Dean, Makarios outlined a forward path for the College: “Relocation to purpose-built, state-of-the-art facilities designed to meet 21st-century educational needs; Expansion of academic offerings, including undergraduate studies delivered in Greek; The recent establishment of a Diploma in Byzantine Music.”

“These initiatives signal a new period in the life of the College,” he noted, “one that will deepen its contribution to both the Church and the wider society.”

Academic partnerships acknowledged

With representatives of the Australian University College of Divinity present, the Archbishop expressed gratitude for the body’s guidance, rigorous academic oversight and fraternal support: “This ongoing cooperation has been and remains essential to the flourishing of our Theological College and to the credibility of Orthodox theological scholarship in Australia’s academic sphere.”

Concluding his address, Archbishop Makarios bestowed the Order of the Lovers of Christ (Τάγμα των Φιλοχρίστων) on nine individuals—founding members or long-standing supporters of the College’s mission:

  • Bishop Themistocles of Nikopolis (Patriarchate of Alexandria)
  • Archdeacon of the Ecumenical Throne Fr John Chryssavgis
  • Archimandrite of the Ecumenical Throne Fr Miltiades Chryssavgis
  • Assoc. Prof. Dr Philip Kariatlis, Associate Dean of the College
  • Rev. Alan Galt
  • Prof. Angelos Karantonis
  • Dr John Lee
  • Dr Guy Freeland
  • Fr Anastasios Kalogerakis

Distinguished attendees

Among the many dignitaries were Metropolitan Apostolos of Miletus (representing His All-Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch), the Abbots and Hierarchs: Metropolitan Ignatios of Demetrias, Metropolitan Gregorios of Cameroon, Metropolitan Ioustinos of Nea Krini and Kalamaria, Metropolitan Nathanael of Chicago, Metropolitan Myron of New Zealand, Metropolitan Damaskinos of Aetolia and Acarnania; members of the Archdiocesan Holy Eparchial Synod—Bishop Elpidios of Perth, Bishop Silouan of Adelaide, Bishop Kyriakos of Melbourne, Bishop Eumenios of Chora, Bishop Bartholomew of Brisbane, Bishop Athinagoras of Canberra; Bishop Iakovos of Militopolis, Bishop Christodoulos of Magnesia, Bishop Christophoros of Kerasounta; Archimandrite Ignatios Mourtzanos (Chancellor of the Metropolis of Larisa and Tyrnavos); Hieromonk Chrysostomos (Elder of the Cell of St John Chrysostom, Koutloumousian Skete, Mount Athos); Hierologist Fr Fotios Poulopoulos (Patriarchal Deacon); and Greece’s Consul-General in Sydney, George Skemperis.