Interview granted to Mr Ghiannis Aperghis
The Church of Greece dynamically and untiringly honours the bicentenary of the National Palingenesia by paying the tribute due to the Holy National Martyrs and our Fighter Forefathers, as Archimandrite Bartholomaios Antoniou-Triantaphyllidis pointed out, in his capacity of Secretary of the Special Synodic Committee of the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece on Cultural Identity.
He emphasised the undivided support of the celebrations by HB Archbishop Ieronymos II of Athens and all Greece and the Venerable Hierarchy of the Church of Greece. “The Orthodox Church always produces and preserves culture”, he maintained. He spoke of his own Greek and Christian origins and his activities in his youth. He referred to the extremely difficult conditions under which some of the events had to be organised because of the Covid-19 pandemic and the healthcare restrictions. Despite these conditions, over 200 events of worship, scientific and cultural nature have been held throughout the jurisdiction of the Church of Greece, and dozens are still due.
He highlighted the fact that the Church of Greece did not wait for the dawn of this anniversary year to organise its programme of celebrations, as other bodies did. As early as 2012 it held International Scholarly Conferences every year about the period of the Turkish Rule and the Revolution of 1821. A collection of ten volumes containing the Proceedings of the said conferences has been published and is now available to the history-loving public, with hundreds of papers by eminent intellectuals covering a wide range of topics, from the finance of the Struggle and the diplomatic recognition of the modern Greek state to the Holy Neomartyrs, the historic sources, the impact of the Revolution on the arts etc.
Without underestimating the assistance of the Internet www.ekklisia182I.gr where one may find the detailed schedule of the actions planned by each of the Holy Metropolitanates of the Church of Greece) and online tools such as the accounts that the Church of Greece has created on all the modern social media (see e.g. facebook, instagram, twitter and youtube), thanks to which it became possible to hold relevant events such as the 1st and 2nd National Youth Assemblies or a multitude of public lectures and conferences about the Revolution of 1821, Father Bartholomaios also reminded of the fact that, particularly during the summer months of 2021, most events were held live, with all healthcare measures strictly observed. This was also the case with the concert in the “Kallimarmaron” Panathenaic Stadion, which was carried out successfully with the participation of 5,000 people, choirs and orchestras of 800 youth from the Holy Metropolitanates of the Church of Greece under the supervision of the Synodic Committee on the Christian Education of Youth, the Special Synodic Committee on Cultural Identity and the Synodic Sub-Committee on Artistic Events. That concert was also recorded by ERT and will be broadcast soon so that those who were unable to attend may also enjoy it.
Finally, he announced that on October 19, 2021, in the Cultural Centre of the Holy Archdiocese of Athens (15, Basil the Great Street, Rouf area), HB Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and all Greece will inaugurate an Exhibition under the title “The Art of Icons 2021: Holy Neomartyrs and Greek Revolution”, in which dozens of more and less known artists take part. Moreover, in December of 2021 another Exhibition of Mementos of the Struggle kept in Holy Metropolitanates will be launched in the Byzantine Museum of Athens (in cooperation with it). It will be the first time that these national heirlooms will all be presented in one place, as a token of honour to the National Uprising of 1821. Finally, on May 29, 2022, a symbolic date referring to the Fall of Constantinople a Memorial of the Church of Greece for the 200 years since 1821 will be unveiled. These actions are part of the anniversary planning elaborated by the Special Synodic Committee on Cultural Identity, presided by Most Rev. Metropolitan Ignatios of Demetrias and Almyros, while they are held also thanks to the care of the Special Synodic Committee of the Academy of Ecclesiastic Arts, presided by Very Rev. Protopresbyter Father Thomas Synodinos.
