Patriarch John X at the Bishop‑Elect’s Family…

 

In a paternal gesture, during his visit to the village of Sarılar in Antioch, His Beatitude John X, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, visited the home of Archimandrite Paul Orduloǧlu, the bishop‑elect. The stop was an acknowledgment of the Christian family’s role in offering its children to the ministry of the Church.

His Beatitude uttered moving words about the greatness of the Christian family as the first spiritual nucleus in building the Church, both in people and stone. He emphasized that raising children in a sound upbringing is not merely ab education, but a theological planting that bears fruit in full dedication to the Church. He stressed that homes nurtured with piety are springs that supply the Church—“the holy house of God”—with pastors.

He considered his visit to this household a form of spiritual honor for a family that has offered its son to become a minister of the Word and a pastor of souls.

He added that the family is the living icon reflecting the image of the Church in the world: from its womb saints emerge, and from the blessing of its upbringing children walk the path of the Gospel.