Ecumenical patriarch in the US
Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomaios is currently on a three-day Epiphany visitation to Florida and New Orleans, in order to keep up with the custom of holy water rites and the diving for the holy cross, which besides its religious importance – through the appearance of the Holy Trinity – also acts as a symbol of water cleansing and the beginning of new journeys for seamen in calm waters, as the days get longer. At the St Petersburg airport, his All Holiness was greeted by Archbishop Demetrios of America and the metropolitan bishop of Atlanta, which also has responsibility for the state of Florida. The Orthros and Patriarchal Liturgy for Epiphany at the St Nicholas Cathedral was followed by the diving for the cross in the Gulf of Mexico and a centennial celebration of the St Nicholas Cathedral in Tarpon Springs. Today, accompanied by Archbishop Demetrios of America, the patriarch is scheduled to make a pastoral visit to New Orleans and the Holy Trinity community, the first-ever Greek-Orthodox community established on American soil. The community is currently healing its wounds from the flooding caused by Hurricane Katrina last September. The program also includes a live performance by Mario Frangoulis at the Sun Dome in Tampa. The popular Greek tenor will be accompanied by the Orlando Philharmonic and the New York Archdiocese Choir, with some 10,000 Greek Americans in the audience. Tomorrow, the schedule includes a liturgy at St Nicholas – the patron of seamen and sponge divers – followed by an official luncheon before the patriarch heads back to the Phanar in Istanbul. For more information on Vartholomaios’s Epiphany visit, log on to www.patriarchalcentennialvisit.com.
