If some of you assume that there are occupied territories, they should know that they are small occupied territories, but there are also the large ones. Constantinople is the only city of Hellenism which is called Polis. That has of great significance because it is a form of anonymity. Its an anonymity, but because it is unique, we just know that its actually a name. This Polis, managed to constitute the center of an empire that is the longest in duration worldwide. Constantinople is a intertemporal reference point.
You know something? If you want to set a meeting point with someone in a hundred years, some of you may say, at my house, in my neighborhood. You will find that the easiest and most sufficient meeting points are the churches. Of all those churches there is one that is most suitable for such reunions. In Constantinople you all have an appointment with the future and the past is Hagia Sophia. Hagia Sophia is not the Hagia Sophia, its the wisdom of Christ.
The impressive for us is that the Church says to you that it has not forgotten anything. The structure of the Church, the Church’s position, the position of Constantinople within Hellenism and Christianity is not just a detail. And if you think about it, the Ecumenical Patriarchate remains there, while it could have easily moved. What’s of importance is that it remains.
There is the conquest of Constantinople from 1453, May 29th, Tuesday morning. And we Greeks are still talking about this in 2014, this is a enormous issue. This means that we are capable of remembering. There are people who were not born Greeks, have not lived as Greeks, have not died Greeks, yet again remained Greeks.
There are some who endured all these and nevertheless have stayed there, continuing the tradition, continuing Christianity, continuing Hellenism and have not forgotten anything. The question is, if we are forgetting. The more that go to Constantinople, the more alive it would remain.
Because there are our own people over there. You may be calling them just, those from Constantinople, while in actual fact they are enclaved.
I would like for you to think that one way to fuel that continuity of Time, this superstring in Constantinople, is to go over there, but as on mission. Its that mission which inspires others. Sometimes we do things without knowing the reason, others do less because they know the reasons, others do things because the reason is scarce .
In Constantinople Christianity is the baseline. Constantinople is a genuine lesson for Hellenism and Christianity because it is actually a sacred place, as are the Holy Lands, it is a good preparation for the next to come. The combination of Hellenism and Christianity is fount in this Polis. It is very good to go to church on Sunday’s, but that is easy. It’s even better if we help churches to function. Consequently the phenomenon of Constantinople is the longest regarding Christianity, Hellenism in conjunction with it, and despite all the problems its here.