Mr. Panicos Leonidou, head of the Cypriot delegation to the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of Orthodoxy (IPA), participated in a three-day pilgrimage visit of a delegation of the Assembly to Mount Athos, between 25 and 27 November 2022, following an invitation by the Secretary General of the IPA, Greek MP Dr. Maximos Charakopoulos. The IOA delegation consisted of MPs from Greece, Cyprus, Romania, Poland and the Republic of North Macedonia.
During the visit, the IOA delegation had meetings with the ecclesiastical administration of the "Autonomous Monastic State of Mount Athos" in Karyes and with the Rectors or representatives of Holy Monasteries and Cloisters on the Athos peninsula of Halkidiki. In addition to the etiquette and symbolism of the visit to a holy place, where the tradition of monasticism and the universality of Orthodoxy beyond the millennium is documented, the visit aimed to further promote the IOA's global campaign to condemn the conversion of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul into a mosque. In this context, the IYO's tribute volume entitled "Hagia Sophia: The Temples of the Wisdom of God around the World", which includes 37 iconic temples dedicated to the Wisdom of God from China to Cyprus and Scotland.
During the meetings, Mr Leonidou stressed that Cyprus has been subjected to flagrant violations of international law and human rights and freedoms for 48 years. Turkey, Leonidou said, continues its policy of de-Christianizing the cultural and religious heritage in the occupied territories of the Republic of Cyprus, noting that most of the monasteries have been confiscated and are in a state of decline, under the responsibility of the occupation regime.
On Friday, November 25, the members of the delegation had meetings in Karyes with the Archbishop of the Holy Diocese, Elder Christoforos Iviron, in the presence of the Deputy Political Administrator of Mount Athos, Mr. Aristos Kasmiroglou, as well as with the representative of the Holy Monastery of Esfigmenos, Fr. They visited the Holy Skete of Saint Andrew (Serai), where Russian-speaking monks are monks and stayed overnight at the Holy Monastery of Simonos Petra, where they had a meeting with the Abbot Archimandrite Elisha.
On Saturday, November 26, the delegation visited the Holy Monastery of Megisti Lavra and the tomb of Saint Athanasius of Athos, the founder of the monastery and the founder of monasticism on Mount Athos, and had a meeting with the Abbot Archimandrite Prodromos. He also went to the Holy Skete of St. John the Baptist, where Romanian monks are monks and had a meeting with the Dikaios Fr. The delegation also visited the Holy Monastery of Filotheos, where it had a meeting with the Abbot Archimandrite Nicodemus and stayed overnight at the Holy Monastery of Iviron, where it had a meeting with the Previous Elder Fr.
On Sunday, November 27, the IOA members visited the Holy Skete of Prophet Elijah and had a meeting with the Dikaios Fr.
(Text as sent by the House of Representatives)
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