{"id":4306,"date":"2015-12-31T19:08:16","date_gmt":"2015-12-31T17:08:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.patriarchikoidryma.gr\/new-zealand-news-2015\/"},"modified":"2026-07-16T14:36:28","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T11:36:28","slug":"new-zealand-news-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.patriarchikoidryma.gr\/en\/new-zealand-news-2015\/","title":{"rendered":"Holy Metropolis of New Zealand: News of 2015"},"content":{"rendered":"
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During the past twelve months, many and varied works have been accomplished in the Holy Metropolis of New Zealand for the glory of God\u2014works not only of material construction, but above all of spiritual building. In all the Orthodox communities of the Metropolis of New Zealand, the Word of God is regularly proclaimed through the Divine Liturgies, while catechism and pastoral visits are carried out by clergy, monastics, and laypeople who, by the grace of God, have been called to stand beside the Metropolis and offer their assistance with great love.<\/p>\n

Above all and most importantly, Orthodoxy is spreading throughout Oceania. In the Fiji Islands, our Church now numbers more than 100 newly illumined faithful\u2014specifically 126 recently baptized Christians\u2014as well as many catechumens, a sign that the number of believers will continue to grow.<\/p>\n

At the same time, the organization of the Church is also expanding. There are now three churches: two on the island of Viti Levu and one on the island of Vanua Levu. On Viti Levu, specifically in the village of Sabeto near Nadi, the Holy Church of Saint Paraskevi has been built and is now functioning. It is also the center of the missionary activity. On the same island, in the village of Saweni, the Holy Church of the Dormition of the Theotokos is also operating. On the same property there are additional buildings and areas that will include the Holy Monastery of the Fiji Islands. The Holy Church of Saints Athanasius and Nicholas is located in the city of Labasa on the island of Vanua Levu. Each church has a priest\u2019s residence and a garden for the priest.<\/p>\n

In the village of Saweni, Lautoka, a property was recently purchased where, with God\u2019s help, the central Church of the Holy Trinity will be built. The foundation stone was laid in February 2012. On the property of this church, specifically on both sides of it, a school for Orthodox children and an orphanage will also be constructed. Soon, on the same island, within the following six months, the Church dedicated to Saint George will also be built.<\/p>\n

The Holy Mysteries are celebrated by the three indigenous priests: Fr. Bartholomew, Fr. Barnabas, and Fr. George, whose ordinations to the Diaconate took place in Rhodes and whose ordinations to the Priesthood took place in Thessaloniki.<\/p>\n

The sacred responsibility of catechesis is carried out by His Eminence the Metropolitan, by the priests, and by members of the Mission. Greek and English\u2014the official language of the islands\u2014are used in worship.<\/p>\n

This year, the Greek Orthodox Church was officially recognized by the Government of the Fiji Islands. Financial support for this sacred work comes from the Community of Foreign Missions of Thessaloniki and from friends in Greece and America. Recently, support has also come from people in Australia and, to some extent, from people in New Zealand.<\/p>\n

For the celebration of the sacrament of Holy Baptism, a baptismal font in the shape of a cross has been built in the courtyard of the Church of Saint Paraskevi, as has also been done at Levin in the Holy Monastery of the Holy Archangels and in the courtyard of the Church of Saints Athanasius and Nicholas.<\/p>\n

In New Zealand as well, at a location not far from the city of Levin\u2014approximately one and a half hours from the capital, Wellington\u2014the first men\u2019s monastery has been built and operates in honor of the Great Archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael. Two monks from Greece and two from the wider Greek diaspora reside there, including a New Zealand-born monk whose tonsure took place on Great Monday, receiving the name Michael.<\/p>\n

Gradually, the Holy Monastery is becoming a missionary center, where Orthodox faithful of various nationalities come to venerate (Serbs, Russians, and others), and now New Zealanders themselves have begun to draw near.<\/p>\n

On 31 March 2012, a New Zealand woman approached Orthodoxy, was baptized, and received the name Philothei. Another New Zealander, Matthew, a professor at the University of Christchurch, is currently considering joining the Brotherhood of the Holy Monastery.<\/p>\n

The Fathers of the Holy Monastery at Levin are engaged in the maintenance of the monastery and in their monastic obediences. Their first obedience is the making of candles, which supply the needs of the parishes and churches of the Holy Metropolis. Another of their activities is beekeeping, through which they produce honey of the highest quality.<\/p>\n

Recently, the brotherhood has also become involved in producing high-quality baked goods of various kinds (especially rusks), made from New Zealand wheat that is milled traditionally using a windmill-driven stone mill.<\/p>\n

Recently, the Holy Metropolis was strengthened by the arrival of two new clergy members: Fr. Dimitrios Kotrotsos and Hieromonk Konstantinos Triantafyllou.<\/p>\n

Fr. Dimitrios arrived through a transfer from the Holy Metropolis of Demetrias and Almyros and was appointed to the Cathedral of the Annunciation of the Theotokos in Wellington. Hieromonk Konstantinos came to the Metropolis as a layman and received both ordinations there.<\/p>\n

With God\u2019s help, the design of the Katholikon of the Holy Monastery has been completed. It is joined to the church on the southern side by the Holy Chapel dedicated to Saint Basil the Great, and on the northern side by the Holy Chapel dedicated to Saint Amphilochios, Bishop of Iconium.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4367,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[74],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-new-zealand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.patriarchikoidryma.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.patriarchikoidryma.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.patriarchikoidryma.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.patriarchikoidryma.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.patriarchikoidryma.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4306"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/staging.patriarchikoidryma.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4306\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4386,"href":"https:\/\/staging.patriarchikoidryma.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4306\/revisions\/4386"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.patriarchikoidryma.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.patriarchikoidryma.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.patriarchikoidryma.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.patriarchikoidryma.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}