The Minister of Culture and Sports, Lina Mendoni, which is visiting the Australia, on Easter Monday, he attended the traditional Anzac Day ceremony, Australia’s national holiday, which is dedicated to the memory of the victims of all wars. During the event, he spoke with New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet about the role that Lemnos played during World War I.
According to a related announcement, the minister’s presence at the Anzac Day commemorative events is of particular significance, as the implementation of the Open Air Museum project is getting underway on Lemnos, with the aim of highlighting the island’s important role as a base for the campaign, the encampment, supply, medical care, and rest for Australian and New Zealand troops. The program includes the construction of a monument honoring the ANZACs and their contribution to World War I, the creation of trails, special signage, and information points at the historic site on Lemnos, where the Allied cemeteries are located. The program will be implemented with funding from the Australian government’s Department of Veterans’ Affairs, under a Memorandum of Understanding signed with the Greek Ministry of National Defense. Since the area has been designated a historic site, the Ministry of Culture and Sports is collaborating on the project, as it has direct jurisdiction over the matter.
Lina Mendoni then met with Ben Franklin, the New South Wales Minister for Culture. The purpose of the meeting, which took place in a particularly warm atmosphere, was the development of cultural cooperation between the two countries, both in the field of cultural heritage and in contemporary culture. Special mention was made during the meeting of the preparation of a bilateral agreement between Greece and Australia regarding the fight against the illicit trafficking of cultural property, an area of particular interest to Australia as well.
Minister of Culture and Sports Lina Mendoni attended the Resurrection Liturgy, presided over by Archbishop Makarios of Australia, at the Greek Orthodox Church of the Resurrection in the Kogarah neighborhood of Sydney. Also in attendance at the service was Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, with whom Lina Mendoni had a brief conversation. The minister, together with Archbishop Makarios, lit a candle for the people of Ukraine—who are suffering as a result of this senseless, unjust, and unprovoked war— to whom Lina Mendoni made special reference in her greeting to the thousands of members of the Greek diaspora who attended the Resurrection service.
On Easter Sunday, during a special ceremony held in the hall of the School of Theology, Archbishop Makarios awarded the Minister of Culture and Sports the Medal of the Order of the Philochrists with Star of the Holy Archdiocese of Aus, for her overall contribution to the protection and promotion of Greece’s cultural heritage, particularly its religious heritage.
