Constantinople bishop: If the Church loses its Greek spirit, what will remain?
Archbishop Makarios of the Constantinople Church criticized the rector of an Australian parish for conducting half of the service in English.
Archbishop Makarios of Australia (Ecumenical Patriarchate) on Great Friday, during a pastoral visit to Melbourne, publicly demanded that the priest of Saint Nektarios parish in Fawkner reduce the use of English in liturgical services due to the threat of losing Greek identity.
“Here, in this large and truly Greek parish of Saint Nektarios, I would like to ask you, Father Constantine: we are Greeks here. Who doesn't understand Greek? I didn't like that the service was divided – half in Greek and half in English,” the hierarch said.
The Archbishop emphasized that the parish is obligated to preserve ethnic identity: “We are Greeks and must preserve and maintain this. For if the Church loses its Greek identity, what will remain for us to preserve?”
Makarios allowed the use of “a little English” but only as a tool to attract children to the church, not as an equal liturgical language. “We will find chanters who will sing in Greek, and we will add a little English – for the sake of our children, to attract them and bring them to church. But not fifty-fifty,” he emphasized.
Concluding his address, the hierarch directly pointed out the priest's obligations: “Father Constantine, you are obligated – I very much ask you – that we preserve our identity. And I rejoice that you accept and honor this.”
It is noteworthy that this concerns a parish in Australia – a country where Greek is neither the official language nor the native language for a significant portion of the faithful, including children of Greek emigrants themselves who were born and raised in an English-speaking environment.
Earlier, the UOJ wrote that, according to Archbishop Makarios, Orthodoxy and Hellenism are like two wings of a single body.
