OCA Chancery
Syosset, New York
Your Holiness and Beatitude, dear brother and concelebrant in Christ!
Christ is Risen!
It is a true joy to welcome you in this chapel of my residence with the words of the paschal greeting, and with the words “blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
You and those who are traveling with you are welcome as brothers and friends in my home, and in the administrative center of the Orthodox Church in America.
You came here as our honored guest twelve years ago, in 1986. At that time we lived in a completely different world. Your country and your Church were subjected to a communist regime and empire dedicated to the ideology of atheism. The ministry and mission of your Church, and its very existence, were subject to strict limitations. And yet you and the holy church of Georgia remained steadfast confessors of the Holy Orthodox Faith and strong witnesses to the Risen Christ.
The renewal of the independent state of Georgia, following the collapse of the Soviet communist empire, opened Georgian society to the renewal and revival of the vigorous public witness of the Orthodox Church. You have led the process of rebuilding the Church’s dioceses, parishes, theological schools, and monasteries, as well as its charitable and educational work.
We thank God for the courageous service of your Church under your leadership, both during the communist rule, and in the new independent Georgia.
The Orthodox Church in America, as the young sister Church of the ancient and holy Church of Georgia, welcomes you with love and affection.
Christ is Risen!