NEW YORK, NY –
Archbishop Elpidophoros has issued his encyclical for March 25, calling the faithful to renew their commitment to the gift of freedom as both a divine blessing and a national inheritance. Reflecting on the Heroes of 1821, he notes that the liberty celebrated on Greek Independence Day is rooted in Christ’s sacrifice and must be lived, protected, and passed on with gratitude and resolve.
The full text follows:
“Ιt is for freedom that Christ has set us free”
(Galatians 5:1)
Beloved brothers and sisters in Christ,
On this day, when we remember the sacrifice of the Immortal Heroes of 1821, let us rededicate our lives to the liberty that our Lord grants us by His grace. His sacrifice upon the Precious and Life-giving Cross is mirrored for us by the brave souls whose struggles against tyranny in every generation inspire us to embrace this inheritance with deep and abiding gratitude. The freedom represented by the date of March 25 should move us to a profound resolution. For just as we possess an interior freedom, which is the gift of God, we should also manifest a steadfast determination to advance all the external freedoms that we can achieve in our world, too. Because in this way, we preserve the liberty passed down to us from our blessed ancestors and simultaneously share it with future generations to come as well.
The victories for which we hope, and to which we aspire, are often hidden from our eyes. How many of the Heroes of 1821 did not live to see Greece free and whole? How many battles have been waged by good and decent individuals who never beheld the outcome of their sacrifice? Nevertheless, we have the unique advantage of being able to look back across the decades and centuries to the triumphs of our physical and spiritual ancestors. But this should never make us complacent. Our freedom in Christ teaches us that such liberty should be lived, extended and passed on to all people. Of course, while it may not be possible to liberate every heart and mind into the freedom that Christ offers, we can nonetheless pursue its righteous expansion for every member of our society.
Therefore, as we celebrate the 25th of March and all that it signifies — both in terms of its immeasurable theological meaning and its special implications for Hellenes everywhere — may we re-commit ourselves to living in the freedom to which our Lord has called us, the gift of God and the gift of those whose sacrifices formed the world that we now inhabit.
Long live 1821! Long live Greece! And long live the United States of America!
With much paternal love in Christ,
† ELPIDOPHOROS
Archbishop of America
