Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos met in New York on Monday, 22 September, with Archbishop Demetrios of America. During the meeting, Mr. Venizelos briefed Archbishop Demetrios on his meetings within the framework of the Ministerial Week of the 69th UN General Assembly, as well as on the latest developments in all issues of national and regional interest. Archbishop Demetrios briefed Mr. Venizelos on the Archdiocese of America’s activities and its very important work for Orthodoxy and Hellenism in America. Following their meeting, Mr. Venizelos and Archbishop Demetrios made the following statements:
ARCHBISHOP DEMETRIOS: It is with great pleasure and great honor that we today welcomed Mr. Venizelos, His Excellency the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Greece, a person not only exceptionally experienced in political issues, and in international relations in particular, but, at the same time, he has an exceptional qualification: he is a great academic and professor. Moreover, he is an authority on cultural issues, a qualification that is of huge importance today in handling issues on an international level.
We had the opportunity, as always, to exchange certain views and ideas, and a significant portion of our discussion focused on the Middle East. The Middle East is a focal point today, experiencing terrible problems and raising dilemmas of substance and existence, for the future, for large and broad cultural strata. Moreover, we had the opportunity to look at some aspects of the Greek community here, which is vital, robust, dynamic and progressive, as always.
We also talked about Greece, which we see emerging from the difficulty that it found itself in internationally, because Greece was not the only case. As we always say and will continue to say, a people who have a history of at least six or seven thousand years will not yield before any form of difficulty or any form and complex of problems. That there are people like His Excellency who are handling Greek and international problems is something for which we are grateful, personally to him and to this government, which is working under difficult conditions. But we are also grateful to God, because He provides the leaders who guide peoples when there are emergency needs. Warm thanks for his visit and that of the members of his delegation, as always, the gracious and exceptional people of the Foreign Ministry.
E. VENIZELOS: His Eminence is one of the greatest figures of Orthodox Theology and of the Orthodox Church, and it is a blessing for the United States and the Greek Orthodox here that he is on the Throne of the Archdiocese. And every conversation with him is a true pleasure. His Eminence briefed us on the major activities of the Archdiocese, the Parishes, the Metropolises, and I had the opportunity to brief him on my meetings here during the Ministerial Week of the UN General Assembly. I briefed him on my meeting with the UN Secretary General, on my upcoming visit with President Anastasiades, on the latest developments in all our national issues, and of course on the problems that are pending and that are impacting the Christian communities of the Middle East and North Africa.
The world is going through a time of major crises. We have an unprecedented confluence of crises, and it is of very great importance for the Word of Orthodoxy to be linked with our initiatives, which are always initiatives for reconciliation, peace and prosperity for all peoples. Starting, of course, with the Greek people, who have made great sacrifices in recent years.
We have very close collaboration with His Eminence, and I hope that we meet again soon, perhaps in Istanbul, for the Feast of the Throne. Thank you very much.
ARCHBISHOP DEMETRIOS: In Istanbul, where our Patriarchate is, where our center is, from which emanate many and great things that contribute to our lives and to the life of Orthodoxy in general.
September 22, 2014