Bishop Panaretos of Tamisos to His All-Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew I on the occasion of his appointment as Exarch of Lithuania

 

Your All-Holiness,

“The Holy Spirit provides all things… He holds together the whole institution of the Church”

(Sticheron from the Great Vespers of Holy Pentecost)

With these divinely inspired words of the hymnographer, which reveal the mystery of the Church as the work of the Most Holy Spirit, today, with deep emotion, we welcome Your All-Holiness on the soil of Lithuania — as the first among equals, our leader and shepherd, our Ecumenical Patriarch.

Your presence among us is not merely an official visit, nor merely an administrative act. It is a spiritual and ecclesiastical event — an event that links the past with the present and the future, the local Church with the Mother Church, the faithful of this country with the Ecumenical Centre of Orthodoxy. It is an event that bears witness to the vigilant and tireless protection and care of the Mother Church — the Ecumenical Patriarchate — for the undisturbed life of the Church and the preservation of Her institution.

Holy Pentecost did not abolish peoples, did not erase languages, did not level traditions. On the contrary, it illumined and sanctified all things, calling all into the unity of the Body of Christ. This unity has been served through the ages by the Ecumenical Patriarchate, with missionary zeal and a watchful spiritual disposition for the spreading of the truth. As many centuries ago the Patriarchate laboured to bring the Gospel to the peoples of the North, so now it cares for the preservation of this faith — not by coercive means of worldly power, but through the ministry of love. Not by domination, but by bearing the cross of responsibility. Not as a privilege, but as a witness of sacrifice and fatherhood.

Since ancient times, the Mother Church has lovingly accompanied the spiritual journey of the peoples of this region. The memory of the Holy Martyrs of Vilnius, the concern of the Ecumenical Patriarchs for the preservation of the Orthodox faith, and the historic journeys of great Ecumenical Patriarchs to the lands of Northern Europe and Rus’ bear witness to the deep spiritual bonds of our country with the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

In earlier centuries, Ecumenical Patriarchs travelled through these lands, strengthening the faithful and upholding Orthodoxy. Today, after so many generations, the Ecumenical Patriarch is once again here — not in order to receive anything, but in order to bestow the blessing, love, and pastoral care of the Mother Church.

Your All-Holiness,

Your presence is, for the Orthodox people of Lithuania, a powerful witness that the Mother Church does not forget her children. The faithful of this country — Lithuanians, Greeks, Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, and others — feel today that they are not alone. They feel that they have a spiritual home. They have a Mother Church. They have a Father and Patriarch.

And this is so because the Ecumenical Patriarchate comes not to divide, but to unite. It comes not to abolish persons and peoples, but to lead them into the communion of the Holy Spirit. It comes to heal through ministry and pastoral care.

In your person, Your All-Holiness, the Orthodox faithful of Lithuania today see the loving presence of the Mother Church — a Church that forgets none of her children, however far away they may be.

Especially for the newly established Exarchate, Your presence is a source of joy, of the blessing of the Comforter, of hope, and of strengthening. You give courage to the clergy, consolation to the faithful, open a perspective for the young, and grant everyone the certainty that we are walking under the protection of the Mother Church.

Allow me to express the deep gratitude of us all for your paternal care, for your unfailing attention, and for your sacrificial ministry to the Holy Great Church of Christ.

We pray that the Most Holy Spirit, who “sustains the institution of the Church,” may grant Your All-Holiness health, strength, spiritual illumination, and many blessed years — to the glory of God and for the edification of His Body, the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.

Your All-Holiness

May your years be many, healthy, and salvific! Amen.

Sveiki atvykę, Jūsų Šventenybe!