Tenedos July 27, 2025. Participation of the IAO Secretary General to the Inauguration of the renovated Church of the Dormition of Theotokos

The Secretary General of the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy (IAO), Dr. Maximos Charakopoulos traveled to Tenedos to participate in the first Divine Liturgy on the feast day of Saint Panteleimon following the inauguration of the renovated Church of the Dormition of the Theotokos, by the Great Benefactor, Archon of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, Mr. Athanasios Martinos.

The head of the IAO, accompanied by the IAO Advisor, Dr. Kostas Mygdalis, participated in the splendid ceremonies for the inauguration of the renovated Church, which began on Friday, July 25 with Vespers, on the feast of Saint Paraskevi, patroness of the island, in its chapel. The following day a solemn Divine Liturgy was celebrated with the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew officiating.

The IAO Secretary General in his address, after thanking the Metropolitan of Imbros and Tenedos, Mr. Kirill, for the honorary invitation, addressed the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, and emphasized that “unfortunately, a ‘disintegration program’ seems to be underway in recent years in the wider Middle East region with the aim of annihilating Christians from the cradle of Christianity.

Our thoughts are with all Christians, regardless of denomination, who live in fear and under threat to their lives. At every opportunity, as the IAO, we raise our voice of protest to the international community, under whose guilty indifference or silence crimes against humanity are committed daily. As well as, our thoughts are with the long-suffering patriarchates of Antioch and Jerusalem, which are facing challenges at this time.

We hope, moreover, that the adventure with the Holy Monastery of Saint Catherine on Mount Sinai will also come to a happy end -a project, like Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, of the great Byzantine emperor Justinian- so that the Sinaitic brotherhood, as an oasis in the desert, can continue to glorify the Creator of all things, reminding us throughout the ages of our glorious Byzantium”.

The celebrations were attended, among others, by Metropolitan Ioannis of Zambia and Mozambique, representing the Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa, Fr. Miriani Shirtlatze, Protodeacon of the Patriarchate of Georgia, and Archimandrite Gutisavari Gobezhishvili.

Moreover, representatives of the Abkhaz government-in-exile, namely the Minister of Migration, Mr. David Patsatsia, the Deputy Head of Government, Mr. Anzor Margiani, and the Councilor, Mr. Nika Butbaia were present.

During the days of the festivities, the Mayor of the island of Tenedos, Mr. Yahya Göztepe, was also present.

You can watch the speech of Mr. Charakopoulos to the Ecumenical Patriarch Mr. Bartholomew: