The protopresbyter Father Panagiotis Megalokonomos expresses his protest and disappointment regarding the delay of the services of the Ministry of Culture to allow the reopening of the renovated Byzantine church of Agios Andreas in Livadi. According to reports, the inauguration of the project is expected to take place in the presence of Culture Minister Lina Mendoni. Father Panagiotis Megalokonomos wrote an open letter - statement, through which he stresses: «St. Andrew has always been in common worship and is not the «home» of any person in charge of the Ministry to keep the key and not to give it to the parish and much less to make the Divine Liturgy in memory of the Saint dependent on when the Minister can come to the island to celebrate the inauguration».
Read the letter:
Prot. Fr. Panagiotis Megalokonomou
SAINT ANDREAS IN THE MEADOW : Immediate Need for the parishioners to operate the church.
It took 16 years for the design and repair of St. Andrew's in the Meadow to be completed. Finally, last July the project was completed, as the contractor told us, and since then we have been waiting for the inauguration by the competent authorities of the Ministry of Culture (the secular inauguration, because the ecclesiastical inauguration has been done for about 1000 years). Truly after the repair this little chapel shone after the repair.
The parishioners wait with great patience for the day when the saint of their village will be reopened. Some in this 16-year period have passed from this life. The rest are waiting. At the moment as a parish we have no information if we will be given the key (which is held by the makers of 1of EBA) to liturgy at St. Andrew's (November 30).
As the parish priest of this parish, I would like to remind those responsible that St. Andrew has always been in common worship and is not the «home» of any person in charge of the Ministry to keep the key and not to give it to the parish and even more so to make the Divine Liturgy in memory of the Saint dependent on when the Minister will be able to come to the island to celebrate the inauguration. The church belongs to the people of God who want to see the bishop, the priest, the chaplains with him celebrating the Divine Liturgy.
As for the inauguration, if it takes too long, the managers will do it themselves, together with the nice but disgusting rodents that will enter under the door, where there is a big enough gap.
