A small, simple function of love to honour and support large families was held in the Armed Forces Officers’ Club (LAED), on the occasion of the Christmas holidays, jointly by the Holy Archdiocese of Athens, the Ministry of National Defence and the Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) “Apostoli” of the Church of Greece.
The function was attended by the Archbishop of Athens and All Greece Mr. Hieronymos, and the Minister of National Defence Mr. Panos Panagiotopoulos.
The function was also attended by the Deputy Minister of National Defence, Mr. Panaghiotis Karambelas, the General Director of the NGO “Apostoli”, Mr. Konstantinos Dimtsas, the Chief of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff, General Mihail Kostarakos, the Chief of the Hellenic Air Force General Staff, Lieutenant General Antonios Tsantirakis, the Chief of the Hellenic Army General Staff, Lieutenant General Konstantinos Gkinis, the President of the Large Family Association of Athens (EPA), Mr. Vassilios Theotokatos, and the Director of EPA, Mr. Haralambos Pavlos.
His Beatitude, the Archbishop of Athens and All Greece Mr. Hieronymos, the Minister of National Defence Mr. Panagiotopoulos, and the General Director of the NGO “Apostoli” Mr. Dimtsas, made the following statements:
P. PANAGIOTOPOULOS: With the guidance and the blessing of His Beatitude, the Archbishop of Athens and All Greece we hosted here, in the Officers’ Club, a small, simple function of love to honour dozens of large families and send a message of support to the Greek family, which currently suffers deeply, and particularly the Greek family with children and many children, who will be the future soldiers of our army.
I would like to thank His Beatitude, the Archbishop, the Non-Governmental Organisation of the Church of Greece “Apostoli” and Mr. Dimtsas for our valuable and fruitful co-operation, thus proving once again that the Armed Forces, an elite part of the Greek People, listen to their sadness and needs and try to respond accordingly.
Happy Holidays to all. Please shed your blessings and your love upon our Armed Forces.
ARCHBISHOP MR. HIERONYMOS: I would like to add to the beautiful and useful remarks made by our Minister of National Defence Mr Panagiotopoulos that this function, this small, simple function, is the fruit of the co-operation between the Church and our Army.
It has been said that Christmas is the children’s holiday. And children will always anticipate these holidays, this very day. So, we jointly decided to spend an evening with the children of large families.
You are well aware that our Country suffers greatly from the demographic issue. Furthermore, this crisis has hit not only the families in our country in general, but mainly the large family with many children.
So this holiday has a meaning: a meaning of solidarity to the large families, solidarity to the children who do not have the means to pursue the same opportunities as the other children.
So, this function, which is co-hosted by the Church and our Army, is a function of solidarity aimed both at giving us pleasure, as well as show the true dimensions of this problem, for which we must all fight.
Our charity efforts, implemented by the NGO “Apostoli”, under the guidance of Mr. Dimtsas, has offered a lot during these days in order to deal with the broader current problems.
So, I would like, together with my greetings and blessings to our children for strength and progress, to wish strength in this area to our Minister and Mr. Dimtsas to co-host more functions in the future.
Happy Holidays and my blessings to all.
K. DIMTSAS: The holidays are dedicated to the children. The Church, “Apostoli” and the Ministry of National Defence stand beside the large family.
With this symbolic gesture we would like to show that we will stand beside the people who suffer more than anyone during these difficult times.
