Ordination

On 12 December, College Librarian, Dr Chris Baghos, was ordained to the holy diaconate by His Eminence Archbishop Makarios at the Greek Orthodox Church of St Spyridon (Kingsford, NSW). His Grace Bishop Iakovos of Miletoupolis and His Grace Bishop Kyriakos of Sozopolis concelebrated with His Eminence in the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy. Dn Chris gave a bilingual address expressing his gratitude for the great honour of ordination and His Eminence responded with comforting paternal words and advice focusing on the life of St Spyridon the Wonder-Worker. Dn Chris has been assigned as a full-time clergyman of St Spyridon Church, and will be ordained to the holy priesthood at some date in the near future. Present at the ordination was Dn Chris’ newly-wedded wife Mrs Elleni Baghos (nee Mavrolefterou) who is a former student of St Spyridon College. In attendance also were parents, siblings and relatives from both sides of the family. The Parish gifted Dn Chris a set of priestly vestments in anticipation of his ordination to the priesthood.

The Parish’s Patronal Feast Day also witnessed the joy of the elevation of the Very Revd Fr Steven Scoutas to the rank of ‘Protopresbyter of the Ecumenical Throne’, following a canonical submission by Archbishop Makarios to His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew during the May session of the Holy Synod’s work in Constantinople this year. This is the highest ecclesiastical honour that may be bestowed upon a married clergymen. Fr Steven has served the Parish for more than five decades. He was also a sessional lecturer at St Andrew’s in Church History and Pastoral Theology from 1995-2009.