The new Archbishop of Australia, His Eminence Makarios, visited the St John’s Greek Orthodox College in Melbourne this week, part of his continuing tour of Orthodox communities, Churches and institutions in the vast island continent.
After a very warm welcome by the pupils and teachers at the school, which offers classes from preschool to the 12th grade, Makarios reiterated the Archdiocese’s priority to open every possible channel of communication with the community, especially young people. As such, he told a local Greek radio station that a youth summit will be planned for 2021, on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the start of the Greek War of Independence.
Along these same lines, new Archbishop of America, His Eminence Elpidophoros, has also emphasized the need for a youth outreach program by the Church in the United States, while he himself is a particularly active Church leader on social media.
In a statement, he noted that … “Our young people face a constantly increasing barrage of information and an unprecedented access to knowledge. The Church, which means all of us, must be ready to meet with young people at the place where they live and learn, in their communities, in the colleges, and along the entire spectrum of social media that we have at our disposal.”