Beloved Fathers, Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

“This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it!” (Ps. 117:24). “The day of Resurrection, let us be radiant, O peoples! Pascha, the Lord’s Pascha; for Christ God has brought us from death to life, and from earth to heaven, as we sing the triumphal song.” (Paschal canon, ode 1). Indeed, the day of Pascha fills our hearts with joy and gladness each year. But this jubilation does not simply stem from the celebration of a myth, nor of a past event, for the day of the resurrection is for us a present event that transports us toward the future, into the beatitude of the eternal Kingdom of God.

The resurrection of Christ is recounted in the four Gospels by eyewitnesses, the apostles, who, moreover, traced the historical life of our Lord Jesus Christ in their writings in light of their lived experience after the Lord’s radiant resurrection. Thus, all the historical events of our Lord’s life are interpreted and presented in the light of the encounter with the risen Christ, an encounter that marks the authenticity of the apostolic kerygma.

Saint Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles and the founder of the Church of Pisidia, was also worthy to encounter the risen Christ on the road to Damascus (Ac. 9:4). As he writes, “if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile” (1 Cor. 15:17). The resurrection of Christ is therefore not simply a historical event of the past, but an event that concerns our future, that concerns the ultimate purpose of God’s creation. Indeed, Saint Paul affirms: “if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised” (1 Cor. 15:13). According to him, the risen Christ appears as the head of the universal resurrection and subdues all evil powers under his feet, abolishing death forever (1 Cor. 15:23-26, 52-57). For this reason, our traditional Byzantine iconography represents the Resurrection of Christ as His descent into Hades and the liberation of Adam and Eve, personifying all of humanity, from the bonds of death.

And each of us, through our baptism, has become a witness and participant in the resurrection of Christ, as Saint Paul writes: “Do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we were buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life.” (Rom. 6:3-4). And this renewal which comes about in us through the holy mystery of baptism, through our personal participation in the Paschal Mystery, must transform our way of life, as the Apostle to the Gentiles exhorts us: “So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above… for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. … Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly: immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed… get rid of all such things: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language from your mouth” (Col. 3:1-9).

Indeed, the Lord’s resurrection introduces the believer into the eternal Kingdom of God, which is the ultimate goal of our lives, and allows us to share with him the banquet of his Kingdom right now through the holy mystery of the Eucharist. It is remarkable that during the forty days following his Resurrection, the risen Christ appeared and ate with his disciples, breaking bread (Lk. 24:13-35; Jn. 21:1-14). Similarly, the Acts of the Apostles emphasizes that early Church broke bread, that is, performed the holy mystery of the Eucharist, “with gladness” (Acts 2:46) precisely because the Resurrection manifested God’s victory over his enemies, thus announcing the coming of the Kingdom of God into human history.

Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, all of us who are baptized must have in our hearts the same feelings as the holy apostles Luke and Cleopas, who walked with the risen Christ on the road to Emmaus: “Were not our hearts burning within us while He was talking to us on the road, while He was opening the scriptures to us?” (Lk. 24:32). May our hearts also burn with joy at the presence of the risen Christ in our lives! “Come let us share in the new fruit of the vine, in divine joy, and in the Kingdom of Christ, on the glorious day of the Resurrection, as we sing his praise as God to all the ages” (Paschal canon, ode 8). Christ is risen!

Antalya, Pascha 2026

+ Job of Pisidia

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January 21, 2026

Metropolitan Job of Pisidia

1054 in the Christian imaginary

The year 1054 remains a tragic year in the Christian imaginary. For many it represents the dramatic moment of the division between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church, often identified as the “Great Schism of 1054”. This is what we can read in most encyclopedias and dictionaries as well as in the catechisms of our Churches. For centuries, unfortunately, we have long sought to nourish this imaginary and to blame the culprit.

In the 19^th century, Father Wladimir, born René-François Guettée, a French Catholic priest converted to Orthodoxy, in one of his numerous works of religious history, under the evocative title: The Schismatic Papacy, published in 1863, soon after his conversion, describes the tragic events of 1054:

“Patriarch Michael refused to communicate with the legates. He undoubtedly knew that the emperor wanted, out of bias, to sacrifice the Greek Church to the papacy, to obtain some help for his throne; the letter he had received from the Pope informed him sufficiently of what was meant in Rome by the word union. The legates went to Hagia Sophia at the time when the clergy was preparing for mass. They complained aloud about the obstinacy of the patriarch and placed on the altar a sentence of excommunication launched against him. They left the church shaking the dust from their feet and pronouncing anathema against those who would not communicate with the Latins. All this was done with the consent of the emperor; which explains why the patriarch did not want to have any relationship with the legates. The people, convinced of the emperor’s connivance with these envoys, had rioted. At the moment of danger, Constantine made some concessions. The legates protested that their sentence of excommunication had not been read as it stood; that the patriarch had had the most cruel and perfidious designs towards them. Whatever the case, and even if Michael had been guilty of these evil designs, their way of acting would have been neither more worthy nor more canonical. Another reproach was made against Patriarch Michael: that of having made unfounded accusations against the Latin Church. Many, in fact, were exaggerated; but one did not want to notice that, in his letter, the patriarch was only the echo of the Churches of the East. Since the papacy wanted to impose its autocracy, a strong reaction had taken place in all these Churches. Under the impulse of this feeling, one sought everything that could be blamed on this Roman Church, which, in the person of its bishops, presented itself as the infallible guardian of sound doctrine. Michael Cerularius was only the interpreter of these reproaches; he would never have had enough influence to impose his true or alleged grievances on the Christian East, and those who wanted to portray him as the consummate of the schism begun under Photius only appreciated the facts in a superficial way.”

Despite the polemical tone, it is remarkable that Guettée recognizes in this passage that on the one hand, many accusations made against the Latin Church by Patriarch Michael Cerularius “in fact, were exaggerated”, and on the other, “those who wanted to portray him as the consummate of the schism begun under Photius only appreciated the facts in a superficial way”.¹

A century later, we have yet another reading of the facts by the illustrious French Catholic Assumptionist and Byzantinist Martin Jugie. In his no less polemical work published in Paris in 1941 and entitled The Byzantine Schism, which he judges to be the “Cerularius’ schism” and of which he attempts to trace distant causes, among which he mentions “the ambition of the patriarchs of Constantinople, which pushed them to want to equal themselves at all costs with the bishops of Rome”, the author finally lists among the direct causes of the schism “the antipathies of race, national pride and political rivalries” between Greeks and Latins and recognizes as indirect causes of this “schism” the diversity and mutual ignorance of the Greek and Latin languages, as well as the autonomous evolution of the two Churches in the theological, canonical and liturgical domain, where the most important point according to him was the addition of the filioque to the Nicene Creed, introduced in Rome at the beginning of the 11^th century, and never recognized by the East. Beyond the polemical tone of the time, Jugie’s merit is to have called into question, by showing its inaccuracy, the point of view perpetuated over the centuries according to which “the schism of Michael Cerularius” of 1054 would have been the definitive schism between the East and the West. Jugie writes:

“In the hindsight of history, the mutual excommunications of July 1054 have been considered as the fatal end of the Schisms which, for many centuries, periodically separated the Byzantine Church from the Western Church, where one saw in Michael Cerularius the author of the definitive schism. In fact, when we examine the documents closely, we realize that these anathemas did not have the general scope that one wanted to attribute to them. The Roman legates did not launch theirs against the Byzantine Church, but against one of its patriarchs and some of its clerics. Their sentence itself appears, from a canonical point of view, devoid of any value and has never been approved by the Holy See. As for the excommunication of the legates by Michael Cerularius and his permanent synod, it affects neither the pope nor the entire Western Church; it is a simple measure of reprisal against insolent foreigners, who dared to raise the most fanciful accusations against Cerularius and his clergy and in whom one only wanted to see emissaries of the Duke of Italy, Argyros. Instead of speaking of a definitive schism, it would undoubtedly be more accurate to say that we are in the presence of the first aborted attempt of reunion.”²

Regardless of his bias, the merit of Jugie’s study is to have underlined that the anathemas of 1054 did not target local Churches, but concrete persons; that the bull of excommunication placed on the altar of Saint Sophia by the French Benedictine cardinal Humbert of Silva Candida had no canonical validity since Pope Leo IX had died three months earlier, and above all, that the events of 1054 should be considered not as the accomplishment of a schism, but rather as an unsuccessful attempt to restore communion between the Churches.

These judicious remarks made it possible in the years that followed in the 20^th century to “demythologize” the so-called “schism” of 1054. This is what the French Dominican Yves Congar did in his work entitled Nine Hundred Years After, Notes on the “Oriental Schism”, where he considers the excommunication placed on the altar of Hagia Sophia on 16 July 1054 as a “monument of an unimaginable incomprehension” and a gesture tainted with invalidity, underlining that it was only an episode of secondary importance in a long evolution, begun well before and continuing well after, which he qualified of progressive “estrangement”³. Thus, “the great schism of 1054” resembles more of a crude construction of historiographers and polemicists in the Christian imaginary than of a historical fact.

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¹  M. l’abbé Guettée, La Papauté schismatique ou Rome dans ses rapports avec l’Église orientale, Paris, Librairie de l’Union chrétienne, 1863, p. 363-364.
² Martin Jugie, Le schisme byzantin, aperçu historique et doctrinal. Paris, P. Lethielleux, 1941, p. 230.
³  Yves Congar, Neuf cents ans après, Notes sur le « Schisme oriental », Éditions de Chevetogne, 1954, p. 77.

Commit these excommunications to oblivion

The sequal of the work of theologians not only contributed to “demythologizing” the “schism of 1054” but went even further: to erase these anathemas from the memory of the Church. Just as the cause of these excommunications had been the incomprehension of concrete persons, the lifting of these anathemas was made possible by the meeting, the sincerity and the commitment of two people who believed deeply in the unity of the Church: Pope Paul VI and Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras.

On the one hand, this was made possible thanks to the opening of the Roman Catholic Church towards other Churches, and particularly to the Christian East, during the Second Vatican Council which declared in its decree on ecumenism Unitatis redintegratio, promulgated in November 1964: “For this reason the Holy Council urges all, but especially those who intend to devote themselves to the restoration of full communion hoped for between the Churches of the East and the Catholic Church, to give due consideration to this special feature of the origin and growth of the Eastern Churches”, recalling that “from the beginning the Churches of the East have had a treasury from which the Western Church has drawn extensively – in liturgical practice, spiritual tradition, and law”, before concluding: “The very rich liturgical and spiritual heritage of the Eastern Churches should be known, venerated, preserved and cherished by all. They must recognize that this is of supreme importance for the faithful preservation of the fullness of Christian tradition, and for bringing about reconciliation between Eastern and Western Christians”⁴.

On the other hand, this was also made possible by the interest of the Orthodox Church in the Christian Churches of the West during the Pan-Orthodox Conferences convened in Rhodes by Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras in the 1960s which gave the green light to the establishment of dialogues with these Churches and to the sending of Orthodox observers to the Second Vatican Council.

A significant historical event took place sixty years ago precisely at the end of the Second Vatican Council: the lifting of the regrettable anathemas of the year 1054. During a ceremony simultaneously celebrated in Rome in St. Peter’s Basilica and in the patriarchal church of St. Georges at the Phanar on 7 December 1965. In their joint declaration, Pope Paul VI and Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras observed that: 

“Among the obstacles along the road of the development of these fraternal relations of confidence and esteem, there is the memory of the decisions, actions and painful incidents which in 1054 resulted in the sentence of excommunication leveled against the Patriarch Michael Cerularius and two other persons by the legate of the Roman See under the leadership of Cardinal Humbertus, legates who then became the object of a similar sentence pronounced by the patriarch and the Synod of Constantinople.”⁵

Furthermore, they rightly recognized the personal and exaggerated character of these anathemas which over the centuries resulted in the “estrangement” of the Churches:

“Today, however, they have been judged more fairly and serenely. Thus it is important to recognize the excesses which accompanied them and later led to consequences which, insofar as we can judge, went much further than their authors had intended and foreseen. They had directed their censures against the persons concerned and not the Churches. These censures were not intended to break ecclesiastical communion between the Sees of Rome and Constantinople.”⁶

Therefore, the two primates not only affirmed to “regret the offensive words, the reproaches without foundation, and the reprehensible gestures which, on both sides, have marked or accompanied the sad events of this period”, but even decided prophetically “remove both from memory and from the midst of the Church the sentences of excommunication which followed these events, the memory of which has influenced actions up to our day and has hindered closer relations in charity”, and even, “commit these excommunications to oblivion”. ⁷

This constitutes a strong and courageous statement. But what does this mean concretely in practical terms? It means that there is no consummated schism between the two Churches, as is still unfortunately widely believed in the Christian imaginary. It means that the regrettable events of 1054 are forgotten and erased from the memory of the two sister Churches.

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⁴ Second Vatican Council, Decree on Ecumenism Unitatis redintegratio, 14-15.
⁵  Joint Catholic-Orthodox Declaration of His Holiness Pope Paul VI and the Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras I, December 7, 1965, 2.
⁶  Ibid., 3.
⁷  Ibid., 4.

The beginning a new chapter of Christian history

After the lifting of the mutual anathemas of 1054, the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church find themselves in the similar state of broken communion that the Churches of Rome and Constantinople experienced at the beginning of the 11^th century. To correct this problem, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras had previously initiated, during their historic and prophetic meeting in Jerusalem in January 1964, a dialogue of love.

This dialogue of love was intended to lead to a dialogue of truth through the creation, in 1979, of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church, on an equal grounds, by mutual agreement between Pope John Paul II and Ecumenical Patriarch Demetrios. The purpose of this commission, from the beginning, was very clear: the restoration of full communion between the two Churches, based on the unity of faith according to the common experience and tradition of the early Church, the common tradition of the first millennium, as one can read in the plan of the commission drawn up in Rhodes in 1980. For over forty-five years, the Joint International Commission has worked tirelessly, undisturbed nor distracted by ignorant, obscurantist or fundamentalist people. And today we are able to reap some fruits from this work.

Having begun by considering what the two Churches have in common – that is, a common understanding of the sacraments of the Church and a common understanding of the sacramental nature of the Church – the Commission was then able to consider the issue of synodality and primacy. The genius of the Ravenna document of 2007 lies precisely in its emphasis that the thorny issue of Roman primacy could not be separated from the question of synodality, because primacy and synodality are interdependent. Indeed, on the one hand, no one can be first alone, without the others, and on the other, there can be no assembly, synod, without a presidency. And the document of Ravenna clarified that this is true at three levels of ecclesial experience: at the local level of the eparchy, at the regional level of the episcopal synod, and at the universal level, in the communion of the patriarchal and autocephalous Churches. The document of Chieti of 2016 then delved into the issue by looking more closely at the shared tradition of the first millennium, which is considered normative for both Churches. And more recently, the Alexandria document of 2023 studied the developments of ecclesial administration both in East and West during the second millennium and concluded that: “The Church is not properly understood as a pyramid, with a primate governing from the top, but neither is it properly understood as a federation of self-sufficient Churches.”⁸

Personally, I am convinced that the work of the Joint International Commission has inspired the renewal of synodality within the Roman Catholic Church in recent years, during the tenure of Pope Francis: a renewal that inspires a certain “decentralization” of the Roman Catholic Church, thus challenging the so-called “universal jurisdiction” of the Pope, and which, in this sense, looks promising to careful Orthodox Christians. At this point, Pope Leo XIV seems to wish to continue the approach of his predecessor.

Having made progress in the dialogue about truth, the commission seems ready at this point in history to confront and discuss, in a climate of scientific objectivity and mutual trust, the issues that have long divided the Churches. The issues such as infallibility or filioque, the later often regarded as the major cause of the rupture of communion between Roma and Constantinople at the beginning of the beginning of the 11^th century, are now being studied by the Commission.

Regarding this second question, it is worth recalling that the 2003 document of the North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation entitled: “The Filioque: A Church Dividing Issue? An Agreed Statement” which recommended “that the Catholic Church, as a consequence of the normative and irrevocable dogmatic value of the Creed of 381, use the original Greek text alone in making translations of that Creed for catechetical and liturgical use” that is, without the Filioque. ⁹

As a matter of fact, the same was repeated in 2024 in the Common Statement of the Joint International Commission on Theological Dialogue between the Lutheran World Federation and the Orthodox Church on the addition of the Filioque clause to the Nicene-Constantinopolitan symbol of faith, which suggested “that the translation of the Greek original (without the Filioque) be used in the hope that this will contribute to the healing of age-old divisions between our communities and enable us to confess together the faith of the Ecumenical Councils of Nicaea (325) and Constantinople (381).”

In this regard, a recent event gives us particular joy: during the ecumenical commemoration of the martyrs of the faith of the 21^st century, presided over by His Holiness, Pope Leo XIV, in the Basilica of Saint Paul outside the Walls, in Rome, on 14 September 2025, the Creed of Nicaea-Constantinople was recited, in Italian, without the Filioque. An important detail that demonstrates that things are moving forward and that the theological dialogue is bearing fruit and this gives us great hope for the future restoration of Christian unity on the basis of the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed which was considered by the Church, at least since the 5^th century, as a universal symbol of faith.

In the same spirit, even more recently, on the eve of his visit to the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the celebration of the 1700^th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, Pope Leo XIV quotes the phrase from the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed without the Filioque in his apostolic letter (encyclical) In Unitate Fidei, promulgated on 23 November 2025, noting in footnote 10 following this quote that: “The statement ‘and proceeds from the Father and the Son (Filioque)’ is not found in the text of Constantinople; it was inserted into the Latin Creed by Pope Benedict VIII in 1014 and is a subject of Orthodox-Catholic dialogue.” This remark, in a papal encyclical, is of paramount importance because the official recognition of this addition by the Pope himself puts an end to a millennium of controversy that has contributed to deepening the abyss of division between the two Churches.

At the common prayer of 28 November 2025, celebrating the anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, on the very site where it took place, presided by Pope Leo and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in the presence of the Patriarch of Alexandria, official delegates of the ancient Patriarchates of Antioch and Jerusalem, and representatives of all the Oriental Orthodox Churches and the Protestant World Christian communions, the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed was recited together without the addition of the Filioque. Of course, this also did not happen for the first time. Already in 1987, during the official visit of the Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios to Rome, the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed was recited in the original Greek without the Filioque by both Pope John Paul II and the Ecumenical Patriarch. The same happened with Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis at several similar official liturgical occasions. This proves that the Filioque is not a dogma of the Roman Catholic Church: otherwise these three popes ought to be considered as heretics by their own Church – and this is fortunately not the case!

As indicated on various occasions by Pope Leo XIV and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church, has the official mandate of both Churches to work for the restoration of full ecclesial communion between the two Churches. In affirming in his address to Pope Leo on 30 November that “we can only pray that issues such as the “filioque” and infallibility (…) will be resolved such that their understanding no longer serve as stumbling blocks to the communion of our Churches”, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew did not ask the Pope for more than he can give, but gave hope that the restoration of communion between the two Churches, interrupted a millennium ago, could soon be re-established provided that the divided Christians grant their goodwill to this end.

Shall we see the restoration of full communion between our two Churches before 2054? The theological dialogue undertaken between the two sister Churches has this concrete goal, not by seeking to reach a compromise nor to betray the orthodoxy of faith, but, on the contrary, to restore it on the ground of the common tradition of the first millennium. Several important theological agreements have been made towards this direction in the recent decades. To this end, theologians work hard with all scientific objectivity and truth. But it is still necessary that the fruits of their work be received not only by the episcopate and the clergy, but also by the entire pleroma of the Church, in order to purify the Christian imaginary. Hence the importance of making these declarations and documents better known. For this reason, we shall work on the reception of the agreements. This is the only way for our desire of Christian unity to become a reality in the near future.

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⁸ Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church, “Synodality and Primacy in the Second Millennium and Today”, Alexandria, 2023, paragraph 5.1.
⁹  North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation entitled: “The Filioque: A Church Dividing Issue? An Agreed Statement”, IV.

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Of His Eminence Metropolitan Job of Pisidia,

Hypertimos and Exarch of Side and Antalya

Unto the Reverend Clergy and the Pious Faithful of the Holy Metropolis of Pisidia.

Beloved Fathers, Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

The Lord has made us worthy once again to celebrate a historic event that forever transformed not only the course of human history but also the world: the nativity according to the flesh of our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ, of the Son and Word of God. An event that the holy apostle and evangelist John the Theologian admirably summarizes in one sentence: “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us” (Jn. 1:14).

An event that many struggle to grasp, since it defies understanding. How, indeed, can the Transcendent become immanent; how can the Eternal become mortal; how can the Creator become a creature? And yet, quite rightly, the Church sings on this day: “Today the Virgin gives birth to Him who is above all being, and the earth offers the Cave to Him whom no one can approach; Angels with Shepherds give glory, and Magi journey with a star; for us there has been born a little Child: God before the ages.” (Kondakion of the feast)

Indeed, since time immemorial, humankind, consciously or unconsciously, has been searching through religion or philosophy for the origin of that tiny spark within it: the origin of the divine image and likeness in which it was created (Gen. 1:26). Alas, the limitations of nature prevented it from transcending them and encountering God the Creator. Indeed, being itself created, humanity could not transcend the limits of creation.

And for this reason, it is God himself who comes to meet humanity, who becomes man through the Virgin Mary and the Holy Spirit, and dwells among us. “A strange and wonderful mystery I see, the Cave is heaven, the Virgin the Cherubim throne, the Manger the Place in which Christ, the God whom nothing can contain, is laid. Him we praise and magnify” (Hirmos, Ode 9). This great “mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints” (Col. 1:26) grants humanity not only the possibility of knowing God, but also of participating in divine life, and thus, of acquiring the fullness of life, of inheriting eternal life. As Saint John the Theologian writes, “to all who received Him, who believed in His name, He gave power to become children of God” (Jn. 1:12).

Thus, we are certainly celebrating an event from the past, but one that already introduces us to the future, to the coming Kingdom of God. Indeed, the Kingdom of God awaited in the future comes to us in the person of the Son and Word of God, born today of the Virgin in Bethlehem. Through this cosmic event, Christianity certainly distinguishes itself from all other religions, and in a certain sense, ceases to be a religion, because no religion has ever witnessed the incarnation of God, nor can any claim to provide access to the divinization of the human being.

All of this was made possible by the nativity according to the flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ, and subsequently, through the Passion and Resurrection in the flesh of the Son and Word of God, who inaugurated a new stage in human history and granted humanity the possibility of entering from now the Kingdom of God. This is accomplished through our union with Christ at our baptism and chrismation, and through communion with His Body and Blood in the mystery of the Eucharist, which sustains our life in Christ.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

With these thoughts, I cordially congratulate you with the Nativity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and encourage you not to neglect this great gift we have been given: the ability to participate in divine life. Let us hasten and drink from this fountain of immortality! Let us not neglect the opportunity given to us to participate in the liturgical services and sacraments of the Church and to receive Holy Communion regularly, to deepen our knowledge of God through the study of Holy Scripture, and to bear witness to our new life in Christ through our love, our sharing, and our solidarity with each of our fellow brothers and sisters. May He who for our salvation was born in Bethlehem bless the crown the new year with His goodness (Ps. 64:12)!

Antalya, Christmas 2025

+ Job of Pisidia

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On another holy day we greet you, venerable Primate of the Church, in this most holy house of the Mother of God, in the “new Sozopolis”; here, in the mountains of Mahmutlar, in the historical and blessed Alanya, where, as in former times, another miracle of the Virgin Mary of Pisidia took place.

And the miracle of the Most Holy Mother of God is constantly and continually performed both for the faithful Orthodox Christians, and especially for the place sanctified by Her Grace, thanks to which here “beyond reason and words” is performed by “the Mother of God who is constant in prayer and our firm hope in her intercessions.” Is not the presence of this blessed hearth in Alanya and in the people of God planted there by the Lord a miracle of the Most Holy Mother of God? Truly, as incomprehensible are His works, as incomprehensible are His ways and will.

The Most Holy One performs miracles for the love of the Lord. She accomplishes them for those who come with faith, hope and love. Moreover, with these virtues and with the fear of the Lord we come to Her grace and become partakers of faith, hope and love, without which there can be neither miracles nor good.

With the fear of God, faith, hope and love we greet you now, Your All-Holiness, who have come and illuminated the feast of feasts and the triumph of triumphs of Alanya.

This splendor is still increasing for us who honor and follow the footsteps of history, which You, Your All-Holiness, through my illustrious predecessor Metropolitan Sotirios, have resurrected and made bright and glorious. For You have revived dry bones and transformed them into living and flourishing vines of the eternal Vine, our Mother Church of Constantinople.

And now ten years have passed since this blessed Community of ours arose from nothing. And now, Your All-Holiness, you define history in the persons of all of us, you gladden our hearts and grant peace to our departed fathers and brothers, known and unknown, witnesses at various stages of perfection, awaiting in eternity the fulfillment of the promise, which consists in the redemption from death and corruption of all our forefathers and fathers, glorified in the heavenly chambers prepared for each of them individually.

Surely, it does not escape the sleepless eye of our Lord and His Most Holy Mother that the presence of Your All-Holiness once again during the celebration of this significant anniversary and the feast of Pisidia, the generator of saints and martyrs, is a blessing and recognition of the tireless work of Metropolitan Sotirios and his many anonymous and eponymous co-workers, among whom we should mention Fr. Theologos Chrysantakopoulos the Athonite, Mrs. Emine Koçak, generous friends of the Holy Metropolis of Pisidia, mainly from Greece, but also from wider circles.

Bless, Your All-Holiness, the work of the decade that has been accomplished and continues. Bless the labors and sacrifices of those who brought generous and venerable gifts, other gold, frankincense and myrrh, for the construction of the dwelling of the Virgin Mary of Pisidia. Bless the humble pastor, the active and God-loving rector Father Constantine, immersed in service day and night, and your God-loving flock in this city, and strengthen us with your God-fearing prayers, so that we may stand firmly on this rock of our duty and responsibility.

Many years to you, Your All-Holiness, Father and Master!

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Beloved Fathers, Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

On “this chosen and holy day, the first of Sabbaths, the Queen and Lady, the Feast of Feasts and the Festival of Festivals”, “all things have been filled with light, both heaven and earth and those beneath the earth”. For in Christ, the incarnate Son and Word of God, “was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome”, as states the holy apostle and evangelist John the Theologian (Jn 1:4-5), who explains that those who receive the light of Christ and believe in him can become children of God through the holy baptism by which believers are united with Christ and become children of God by grace.

Indeed, the glorious resurrection of Christ not only illuminates the darkness of our lives, but also transforms our worldview and our perception of life. Certainly, death does not disappear from our horizon, just as illness does not dissipate from our daily lives, just as evil does not fade from our environment. They remain as the consequence of the bad deliberation of human beings, as the Theologian explains further in his Gospel: “the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God” (Jn 3:19-21).

But our risen Lord Jesus Christ, the Son and Word of God incarnate, the dazzling light of God, transforms the lives of those who believe in Him. This divine light drives out the darkness of sin and death. In this regard, it is no coincidence that Satan is called in the Holy Scripture the “prince of darkness” (Eph 6:12). Nor is it by chance that Christ is arrested at nightfall in the account of His salvific Passion (Mk 14; Mt 26; Lk 22; Jn 18), and that while He was suspended on the cross, darkness fell over the whole earth as recorded by the Gospels (Mk 15:33; Mt 27:45; Lk 23:44). It is also no coincidence that the joyful announcement of His resurrection took place at dawn, at daybreak (Mk 16:2; Mt 28:1; Lk 24:1; Jn 20:1). For this reason the Church joyfully sing today: “Why do you seek among the dead, as though he were mortal, the One who exists in everlasting light?”

The good news of the Gospel, the news of Christ’s resurrection, is therefore that of the triumph of life over darkness. The risen Christ is the one who delivers believers from the power of darkness. For this reason, the founder of the Church of Pisidia, the glorious apostle of the nations, the holy apostle Paul, affirms that those who were baptized in Christ are “all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness” (1 Thess 5:5), as he elsewhere affirms: “For once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light!” (Eph 5:8)

Let us therefore, dear brothers and sisters, live as children of light! Let us take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness. Let us abandon lies, quarrels, and gossips. Let us abandon jealousy, pride, and contempt for others. Let us abandon vanity, impurity, and hedonism. Let us abandon materialism and consumerism. Let us behave rather as children of light, but putting on the armor of light. Let us cling to the Truth, “for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true” (Eph 5:9). Let us gear up ourselves with love. Let us arm ourselves with patience. Let us cultivate mercy. Let us practice solidarity. Let us apply forgiveness. And so the world around us will become more resplendent with light.

“The day of Resurrection; let us be radiant for the festival, and let us embrace one another. Let us say, brethren, even to those that hate us. Let us forgive all things on the Resurrection, and so let us cry: Christ has risen from the dead: by death he has trampled on death, and to those in the graves given life.”

Christ is risen!

Antalya, Pascha 2025

+ Job of Pisidia

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Beloved Fathers, Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Again, we are preparing to celebrate the Nativity according to the flesh of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, a historical event which had a cosmic repercussion. “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given” (Is. 9:6). Following the Holy Scripture, ecclesiastical hymnography describes this event admirably:

“What shall we offer you, O Christ, because you have appeared on earth as a man for our sakes? For each of the creatures made by you offers you its thanks: the Angels their hymn; the heavens the Star; the Shepherds their wonder; the Magi their gifts; the earth the Cave; the desert the Manger; but we a Virgin Mother. God before the ages, have mercy on us.”

And the question arises for us on this feast, what shall we offer Him? Because every day of our life, Christ is waiting for only one thing: to find a shelter and settle in our hearts. Because the true Christian is the one who leads a life with Christ and in Christ. The true Christian is the one for whom Christ is the center of his life. The true Christian is the one for whom Christ is his true food in the sacrament of the Eucharist. The true Christian is the one who reflects the love of Christ, true identity of those who are his disciples (Jn. 13:35).

Alas, more than two thousand years later, Rachel still cries her children and cannot be consoled (Jer. 31:15; Mt. 2:18). Blood still flows on earth. The dead resulting from armed conflicts are counted in millions, not to mention the wounded and captives. Alas, humanity remains deaf to the exclamation of angels: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men!” (Lk. 2:14).

The tragic history of humanity which continues to the present day teaches us that peace is difficult to find on earth. Peace is a gift from God. It is why Christ instructs his disciples: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives.”(Jn. 14:27). And that is why the Holy Apostle Paul wishes Christians “grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 1:7). Since it is a gift from God, the Church when gathering for worship continuously prays “for peace from above”. And if we find ourselves in this disposition of peace, we propagate it around us in the world, and we pray for all those who are in perils, adversities, misfortunes and hasten to help them. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God!” (Mt. 5:9).

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

With these thoughts, I cordially congratulate you with the Nativity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, asking Him to grant us all the peace from above and to bless the new year 2025!

Antalya, Christmas 2024

+ Job of Pisidia

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Beloved Fathers, Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

The Lord has made us worthy, once again, to relive His saving Passion and to witness His glorious Resurrection, and we all sing with one choir and one voice: “Having seen the Resurrection of Christ, let us worship the Holy Lord Jesus, the only sinless one. We worship your Cross, O Christ, and we praise and glorify your holy Resurrection.”

From year to year we celebrate the bright feast of Pascha, “this chosen and holy day, the first of Sabbaths, the Queen and Lady, the Feast of Feasts and the Festival of Festivals”. However, our celebration must not be reduced to the commemoration of an event of the past which we try to preserve in our memory at whatever cost. No, the celebration of the Resurrection of Christ is the celebration of an eternal mystery, because “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever” (Heb. 13:8).

Indeed, the Christian who truly lives in Christ since the day of his baptism experiences the mystery of the Resurrection of Christ on a daily basis. And his experience of the Resurrection is inseparable from the mystery of the Cross, because the Cross and the Resurrection are two faces of one and the same mystery: “for see, through the Cross, joy has come in all the world… For having endured the Cross for us, he has destroyed death by death”.

And in these last holy days, God has made us worthy to relive the saving Passion of Christ, and to hear again his final command: the command of love.Indeed, in spirit we were taken with his holy disciples and apostles to Gethsemane, and heard his words: “Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love” (Jn. 15:9-10). And what are his commandments? “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you” (Jn. 15:12). “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (Jn. 13:35).

And in these last holy days, God has made us worthy to be once again witnesses of his heritage:“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid” (Jn. 14:27). And for this reason, “On the evening of the first day of the week, the doors being shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, Peace be with you!” (Jn. 20:19). And “eight days later, Jesus came and stood among them, and said, Peace be with you!” (Jn. 20:26).

Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

The crucified and resurrected Christ gave us the commandment of love and left us his peace as an inheritance. He has instructed us: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another” (Jn. 13:34). And He taught us: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Mt. 5:9). Thus, He inaugurated a culture of non-violence by saying: “To him who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also” (Lk. 6:29).

Unfortunately, many are nowadays the “false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves” (Mt. 7:15), trying to justify with artifice the war which is the most atrocious crime of humanity, even going to support the notion of a “holy war” which is incompatible with the teaching of Christ. Many are those who sow division and hatred not only in the world, but even in the Church, pitting one against another, spreading slander on her members, and even against her clerics and her archpastor. Woe to them, for as wise King Solomon, son of King David, teaches us, “A wise son hears his father’s instruction, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke” (Prov. 13:1).

Indeed, those who sow discord and fuel violence do not serve Christ, but the devil and his cohorts. But let us not be troubled, for on this day we “feast death’s slaughter, the overthrow of Hell, the first fruits of a new eternal life”. Today Christ “destroyed the power of Hades… arose as victor… calling to the Myrrh-bearing women: Rejoice! and giving peace to his Apostles, and granted resurrection to the fallen”. May He grant us to fulfill His commandment of love and keep His peace, and to truly be sons and daughters of His Kingdom.

Christ is risen!

Antalya, Pascha 2024

+ Job of Pisidia

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Of His Eminence Metropolitan Job of Pisidia,

Hypertimos and Exarch of Side and Antalya

Unto the Reverend Priests and Deacons and the Pious Faithful of the Holy Metropolis of Pisidia.

Beloved Fathers, Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

“Today Christ is born of the Virgin in Bethlehem. Today he who is without beginning begins to be, and the Word is made flesh. The Powers of heaven rejoice, and earth with mankind is glad. The Magi offer gifts; the Shepherds proclaim the marvel, while we cry aloud without ceasing: ‘Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth; good will among men’ (Lk. 2:14)” (Lauds of the feast).

From year to year, this angelic song resounds on this blessed day of the Nativity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, reminding all humanity of the good news of salvation. From year to year, this song brings a glimmer of hope to humanity which continues to be tormented. From year to year, this song sets a tone of joy to human torments and tragedies. From year to year, the Church celebrates with joy and solemnity the nativity in the flesh of the Son and Word of God in this world filled with war and violence, He who comes to give us peace, as predicted in a divinely inspired way by the holy prophet Isaiah: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Is. 9:6).

In our divine services, the hymnographer rightly crays to our Merciful Lord: “as you are God of peace and Father of mercies, you have sent us your Angel of great counsel, who grants us peace; so we are guided by the knowledge of God, watching before dawn we glorify you, only lover of mankind” (Canon of the feast, Ode 5). However, one may wonder where is this peace that the Son and Word of God brought more than two thousand years ago?

The mystery that we celebrate on this day is that of reconciliation between God and humanity. Man’s sin had made humanity an enemy of God. However, the incarnation of the Son of God came to restore the abyss that had opened up. The death and resurrection of Christ restores humanity‘s relationship with God and restores peace between creature and Creator, a deep and lasting peace that no one can take away. As the Prince of Peace tells us: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid” (Jn. 14:27).

The Son of God is incarnate to bring us eternal peace by granting us new life through the gift of the Holy Spirit. If we truly accept this great gift from God, then our lives will necessarily be transformed and filled with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Gal. 5:22-23). If we sincerely love God, if we are truly filled with his spiritual joy, and if we are truly at peace with him, then our relationships with others are bound to be transformed.

As St. Seraphim of Sarov once stated, “acquire the Spirit of Peace and a thousand souls around you will be saved.” A genuine Christian cannot approve any use of violence or abuse on any creature. Genuine Christians should unequivocally condemn violence of any kind. Genuine Christians should always protect the vulnerable, prevent violence and promote peace among persons and between peoples. For peace is the restauration of creation its true form, as God fashioned it in his eternal counsel. Peace is the very presence of God among us.

With these thoughts, I cordially congratulate you with the feasts of the manifestation of the Lord on earth, asking him to fill us with his unconditional and boundless love and peace. 

Antalya, Christmas 2023

+ Job of Pisidia

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