“every bishop, like every layman, is a witness to Christ crucified and risen, and that this witness has to be everywhere and always—among one’s own flock and among the people outside the bounds of the Church.

“because every holy bishop is a witness to Christ crucified and risen.

“Shared have been the struggles to defend Orthodox doctrine, shared the cup of affliction in difficult times, and shared the witness to the Resurrection to the ends of the earth.

“We have been witnesses to your efforts for the unity of the Church, to your labors and struggles. And what we have seen with our own eyes and heard with our own ears, we testify to today with gratitude,

“in the Church everyone – from the highest hierarchical ministry to the layperson – is united by the love of Christ, and that each person is a bearer of the grace of the Holy Spirit, which does not dwell in a person automatically but is given in response to a pious life.

“During these twelve years, the Lord has entrusted Your Beatitude with the care of His flock during extraordinarily difficult trials. Amid all these trials, Your unwavering ministry has been a witness to the undying hope that we find in Christ, who remains the Good Shepherd of His people

“an icon and foretaste of the universal resurrection.

“beloved brother and co-celebrant before the Throne of God