“When it emerged from the long night of atheist persecution, deprived of its visible structures and with its human resources almost exhausted, the Mother Church of Constantinople did not leave it alone.

“Today, after 65 years, we are not simply praising a man. We glorify and give thanks to God, because time has revealed the wisdom of His Providence and confirmed the calling,

“Here you received the first degree of Holy Orders. Not to be served, but to seek human glory, but to shepherd the spiritual flock of Christ’s Church.