Πρωτοπρεσβύτερος του Οικουμενικού Θρόνου Παναγιώτης Καποδίστριας
Σε κλίμα βαθιάς συγκίνησης και αμοιβαίας εκτίμησης, ο Οικουμενικός Πατριάρχης κ.κ. Βαρθολομαίος απηύθυνε ομιλία προς την ιστορική και δραστήρια ενορία της Κοιμήσεως της Θεοτόκου στο Southampton, κατά το τιμητικό δείπνο που παρέθεσε η κοινότητα, στις 20 Σεπτεμβρίου 2025. Ο Πατριάρχης, με λόγο πατρικό και εμπνευσμένο, τίμησε όχι μόνο τους ιερείς και τους ενορίτες, αλλά και το πρόσωπο της ίδιας της Εκκλησίας, όπως αυτή εκφράζεται μες από τη ζωή, την παράδοση και την διακονία των πιστών.
Εμφανώς συγκινημένος, ο Πατριάρχης αναφέρθηκε προσωπικά στην οικογένεια των ιερέων που υπηρετούν την κοινότητα –τον π. Αλέξανδρο και την Πρεσβυτέρα Ξάνθη, καθώς και τον π. Κωνσταντίνο και την Πρεσβυτέρα Αναστασία– τονίζοντας τις πνευματικές τους ρίζες, το ήθος και τη διακονία τους. Με ιδιαίτερη αναφορά στους αείμνηστους γονείς τους, αλλά και στον μακαριστό π. Μιχαήλ Καρλούτσο και τη σύζυγό του Όλγα, ο Πατριάρχης μίλησε για μια «λευιτική οικογένεια» που υπηρέτησε με συνέπεια και αγάπη το έργο της Εκκλησίας στις Ηνωμένες Πολιτείες.
Εξήρε ιδιαίτερα και το ρόλο των Πρεσβυτερών, τις οποίες χαρακτήρισε «σιωπηλές ηρωίδες» των ενοριών, σημειώνοντας πως η παρουσία τους φέρνει ομορφιά και πνευματική αρμονία στον Οίκο του Θεού.
Αναφερόμενος στο έργο της ενορίας, επαίνεσε το τριπλό επίτευγμά της: έναν περικαλλή ναό αντάξιο του τίτλου «Οίκος του Θεού», το εντυπωσιακό πολιτιστικό κέντρο «The Muses» – με μωσαϊκό εμπνευσμένο από τη Σχολή των Αθηνών του Ραφαήλ – και τη ζωντανή της παρουσία στην τοπική κοινωνία, με έργα φιλανθρωπίας και έμπρακτης Ορθόδοξης μαρτυρίας.
Τόνισε ότι η Ομογένεια στην Αμερική αποτελεί «πηγή ζωής» για την τοπική κοινωνία και πηγή πατρικής υπερηφάνειας για το Οικουμενικό Πατριαρχείο. Όπως είπε, οι Ελληνορθόδοξοι των ΗΠΑ είναι «ένα ρεύμα ζωντανής παράδοσης που ποτίζει τον σύγχρονο κόσμο με την πνευματική σοφία της Εκκλησίας».
Ο Πατριάρχης του Γένους κάλεσε τους πιστούς να μην βλέπουν τις τελετουργίες της Εκκλησίας ως απλή παράδοση, αλλά ως πραγματική «θεουργία» – έργο του Θεού στον κόσμο. Όταν οι πιστοί προσκυνούν, κοινωνούν, κάνουν τον σταυρό τους ή λαμβάνουν αγιασμό, συμμετέχουν ενεργά στη θεία παρουσία, με τρόπο που οδηγεί στην αιωνιότητα. «Η πίστη μας δεν είναι θέαμα, είναι συνάντηση με τον Ζωντανό Θεό», τόνισε με έμφαση.
Κλείνοντας, ο Πατριάρχης ευλόγησε τα έργα και τις διακονίες της ενορίας και προσευχήθηκε η πνευματική ζωή των πιστών να χαρακτηρίζεται από αγάπη, συγχώρεση, έλεος και συμπόνια. Κάλεσε τους πιστούς να μείνουν σταθεροί στις παραδόσεις, όπως προτρέπει και ο Απόστολος Παύλος: «Στήκετε, καὶ κρατεῖτε τὰς παραδόσεις ἃς ἐδιδάχθητε».
Ολοκληρώνοντας, ευχήθηκε η ενορία της Κοιμήσεως της Θεοτόκου να στέκει «ως φρούριο πίστεως και φάρος πνευματικού φωτός» για τις επόμενες γενιές.
«Τοῦτον τὸν Οἶκον στερέωσον, Κύριε!», κατέληξε με τη φωνή της ευχής, συνοδευόμενος από παρατεταμένα χειροκροτήματα.
Patriarchal exhortation of Hai All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew at the Banquet in Honor of His All-Holiness by the Dormition of the Virgin Mary Parish
[Southampton, New York – September 20, 2025]
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Your Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America,
Father Alex and Presvytera Xanthi,
Brother Hierarchs,
Dear Members of this Beloved Parish of Κοίμησις Θεοτόκου,
Beloved Children in the Lord,
This is a very special evening for us, because our humble person has a most significant relationship with the clergy families that serve this extraordinary parish. Father Alex and Presvytera Xanthi and their family – Father Constantine and Presvytera Anastasia. They are extraordinary leaders – both the Presbyters and Presvyteres, and they manifest legacies that reach back to their blesséd and ever-memorable parents.
We feel the continuing presence of Yiayia Anastasia and Klearchos Karavellas, Presvytera Xanthi’s mother and father, whom we knew well. And of course, there is Father Michael Karloutsos, who initiated this Levitical Family with his Presvytera who left this world too soon, Olga. There is a certain fellowship that we have shared with them through the decades, one that even reached our spiritual father, the late and blesséd Geronda Metropolitan Meliton of Chalcedon, one of the great Hierarchs of the Ecumenical Throne of the Twentieth Century.
In noting these precious relationships, we also wish to commend and give thanks for all the beloved Presvyteres of our Churches. They are often the unsung heroines of so many successes within our Parishes, and we all should never forget to mention them in our prayers and to give thanks for their inspired service in the Church of God. They bring a particular beauty to the Church, which reminds us of a verse in the Psalms that says:
Κύριε, ἠγάπησα εὐπρέπειαν οἴκου σου καὶ τόπον σκηνὠματος δὀξης σου.
Lord, I have love the beauty of Thy House and the place where Thy glory dwellest. [1]
Coming to this marvelous community and beholding the beauty and glory with which you have endowed the House of the Lord, we are moved with joy and with gratitude.
With joy, because we see in your accomplishments, under the wise direction of your leadership, that you have achieved a triple attainment.
First, you have built a temple of worship that is truly worthy of the appellation, “House of God.” The adornments within and without testify to your devotion to the traditions of the Church and to one another.
Second, you have housed the community affairs in this magnificent ancillary facility known as “The Muses,” which reflects your dedication to the Hellenic ideals that carried the Faith of Jesus Christ throughout the world. The magnificent mosaic Icon of the Dormition above the main Portal of the Temple is matched by an equally splendid mosaic on the exterior wall of the Muses, reproducing the Renaissance Master Raphael’s “School of Athens.” This tribute to the Greek Genius is particularly apropos on this cultural community center, for it reminds one and all of the heritage that we preserve in our Churches – a legacy that reflects the baptism of culture by which our Faith continues to be magnified – even to this very day.
And thirdly, within the community of Southampton, you have provided an exemplary Orthodox Witness. You have been a leading example of philanthropy, charity, and above all community, such that you are an informed and involved Ecclesia, the Assembly of the Believers. In Heaven, our God is attended by myriads upon myriads of the Angelic Hosts. On earth, God is attended by you, the faithful servants who imitate the life of every Angel and even more so, because you follow the God-man Jesus Christ.
We see among you this evening many dear friends – both those of many decades and also those of more recent years. We especially give thanks and our appreciation to those who have traveled from great distances to be here with us during these very special days.
And so it is that we must also express our profound gratitude to God Almighty, for He has granted to us such a long and fruitful Patriarchy. In the course of these thirty four years, we have had the blessing of being with so many of you, and abounding in the joy of your company and companionship, as we strive with all our might to serve the needs and cares of all the Churches of God.
You, the devoted children of the Ecumenical Patriarchate who reside in America, are a continual and abiding source of paternal and Patriarchal pride to us.
We see you through your actions of love and compassion, and we hear you through your declarations of faithfulness and hope.
Here in America, you have become a veritable life-giving spring that waters this society with the very best of our Holy Orthodox Christian Tradition.
Therefore, echoing the wisdom of the Holy Apostle Paul:
Stand fast and hold to the traditions which you have been taught…. [2]
Your Mother Church wants what is best for you, not only in deciding who will administer you ecclesiastically, but for your spiritual life in every aspect.
This is why we sent His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros to you six years ago. And this is why we work with the Holy Eparchial Synod of the Sacred Archdiocese of America to select the best candidates for Metropolitans and Bishops, elected by the Holy and Sacred Synod at the Phanar.
However, the most important, and we would say, the most impactful influence of your Mother Church, is in preserving the liturgical and canonical life of the Church.
Dear Spiritual Children – never forget that at every Divine Service, you are entering not only an liturgical experience, but a theurgical one as well. What exactly do we mean by this?
You all know the magnificent pageantry of our Holy Church, especially during the Great Week that leads to Pascha. But our Faith is not some mere performance. Our Faith is a living encounter with the Living God, Who created heaven and Earth.
And in the Mysteries of our Faith – especially when you receive Holy Communion – and whenever you reverence an icon, make the sign of the Cross, or receive a blessing of Holy Water or Antidoron – you enter into the spiritual space that opens up to eternity. You engage in the work of theurgy – which is the Divine Activity of God in the world – ἔργον Θεοῦ.
Therefore, Beloved Children in the Lord:
In this wondrous Community dedicated to the Dormition of the Theotokos, we encourage you to pursue your spiritual lives and to bring forth the beauty of your souls through the sacred means which the Church provides.
May your intentions always reflect the glories that surround you in the Temple of God’s glory, and may your communion with God and with one another always be marked by love, forgiveness, mercy, and compassion.
We bless all your God-ordained ministries and activities, for they are portals to your ever-deepening experience of the Divine Light of Christ.
May that same Light always illumine your hearts and minds, and grant unto you the knowledge of the truth and the hope of the Resurrection, grounded in love for God, and love for one another.
May this Holy House stand firm forever!
Τοῦτον τὸν Οἶκον στερέωσον, Κύριε!
Ἀμήν.
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[1] Psalm 26:8 (LXX 25:8).
[2] II Thessalonians 2:15.