Greek
Orthodox
Archdiocese
ST SPYRIDON COLLEGE 2nd Biennial APPRECIATING CULTURE LECTURE 19th August 2005 Priorities in True Culture Archbishop Stylianos (Harkianakis)
2nd Biennial Appreciating Culture Lecture
“Priorities in True Culture� His Eminence Archbishop Stylianos
19th August 2005
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APPRECIATING CULTURE
CONTENTS PROGRAMME INTRODUCTION TO INAUGURAL SPEAKER
His Eminence, Archbishop Stylianos, Primate of the Greek Orthodox Church of Australia Mrs E. Stefanou-Haag, Head of College LECTURE
“Priorities in True Culture” His Eminence, Archbishop Stylianos VOTE OF THANKS
Professor Gavin Brown Vice Chancellor, University of Sydney
APPENDIX 1
Invitation APPENDIX 2
Acknowledgements APPENDIX 3
Guest List APPENDIX 4
Photo Gallery
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ST SPYRIDON COLLEGE
PROGRAMME
7.00
pm
7.30 pm
Registration Welcome ~ Mrs A. Katsogiannis Director Senior School
7.35 pm
Introduction to Speaker ~ Mrs E. Stefanou-Haag Head of College
7.40 pm
Lecture:
Priorities in True Culture ~
Archbishop Stylianos (Harkianakis) 8.15 pm
Vote of Thanks ~ Professor Gravin Brown Vice Chancellor, University of Sydney
8.25 pm
Presentation of Gift to His Eminence Archbishop Stylianos by Mr James Phillips, Chairman Board of Governors
Supper served by Parents and Friends and Prefects
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APPRECIATING CULTURE
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE SPEAKER
In 2003, St. Spyridon College celebrated its 21st birthday. Many commemorative events were held, which were of a purely thanksgiving nature. Two were specifically established to contribute to the future progress of our College and community-the Art Exhibition and the Appreciating Culture lecture. Both these events are held every two years. I think you will all agree that this year’s art exhibition has been an unqualified success. We thank our visiting artists, all participating students and staff. We especially commend our two curators-Ms. Marieclaire Pringle and Mrs. Jennifer Michalski. The aim of the Appreciating Culture Lectures is to connect our College with Australia’s most prominent intellectuals, so that our educational thinking may be informed by concepts and ideas that are immediately relevant and yet timeless. According to Jacques Delors, the cultivation of young people’s hearts, minds and souls, is the central responsibility of schools. He says:
It is education’s noble task to encourage each and every one, acting in accordance with their traditions and convictions and paying full respect to pluralism, to lift their minds and spirits to the plane of the universal and in some measure to transcend themselves. It is no exaggeration … to say that the survival of humanity depends thereon. Delors (1999)
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If education is about the survival of humanity and of human dignity, educators need to be assisted in this difficult task by cutting edge thinkers who enrich and inspire us. In addition, these Lectures are to contribute to the life-long learning of the wider Sydney Community of which we are a part. Both these aims, serve to build up our school tradition and move us to the next level of sophistication and maturity. We were most fortunate that the inaugural Appreciating Culture Lecture of 2003, was given by Professor Gavin Brown, Vice Chancellor & Principal of the University of Sydney, who presented to us “The Case for Universities in a Civilised Society”. In putting the case for university education, he proposed that universities should remain places of light, liberty and learning, preserving culture, propagating culture and helping to create culture. Intellectual endeavour he said, should be motivated NOT by economic imperatives but “by curiosity, by a thirsting desire to bring light and the thrill of new understanding”. As a pure mathematician, he astonished us by quoting poetry and biblical verse-including King Solomons’ Song of Songs. We are delighted that he is with us this evening with Mrs. Brown so that we can sincerely thank him for giving such an auspicious start to this wonderful venture. This evening’s Lecture will be given by His Eminence Archbishop Stylianos, who as President of our Colleges was the one who gave the Lectures their name. Health problems prevented him from being present at Gavin’s Lecture at which he was meant to give the Vote of Thanks. We are delighted that he is now in great shape and that he honours us as tonight’s speaker.
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE SPEAKER Continued
(Archbishop) Stylianos, Ecclesiastic, Theologian, Writer & Poet; was Born in Rethymnon Crete, 1935 as Stylianos Stylianou Harkianakis. In 1975, at the age of 39, he was elected Archbishop and Primate of the Greek Orthodox Church of Australia. Between 1975 and 1985, he was a lecturer at the University of Sydney. He is Dean and lecturer of St. Andrew’s Greek Orthodox Theological College which he himself established with some of his co-workers. He chairs a number of Boards and Committees for bilateral dialogues of Orthodoxy and other Christian denominations as well as the World Council of Churches. In 1980, he was unanimously elected as Chairman of all Orthodox representatives in the Official Theological Dialogue between Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches, a responsibility he held for 20 years, and from which he voluntarily resigned. In 1973, he was awarded the prestigious Gottfried von Herder Prize, Vienna, Austria, for his contribution to European Culture In 1980 he received the Academy of Athens Prize for
We are truly blessed that His See and residence are in Sydney, Australia. Tonight he will speak to us on the theme of “Priorities in True Culture.” Mrs E. Stefanou-Haag Head of College
Mrs. Amelia Katogiannis Director Senior School and MC for the evening
Poetry. He was awarded a Doctor Honoris Causa from the Catholic University of Lublin, Poland and the Sydney College of Divinity. In the interest of brevity, I will not here list his many publications in theology, poetry and literature. In 2000 the Archbishop was invited to become the Patron of the annual poetry award, established by the Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture, to which he gave the name Romanos Melodist, in recognition of the greatest Christian poet of the first millennium. 6
Mrs Efrosini. Stefanou-Haag Head of College
APPRECIATING CULTURE
PRIORITIES IN TRUE CULTURE His Eminence Archbishop Stylianos, Primate of the Greek Orthodox Church of Australia Priorities
My dear friends, First of all, I would like to express my sincere thanks to the authorities of our St Spyridon College for inviting me to deliver this year a short speech in the framework of the newly established bi-annual lecture series called ‘Appreciating Culture’.
As everybody would agree, we speak of ‘priorities’ constantly in all fields of life, in our attempt to establish some “order” in the manifold needs, duties or challenges with which we are faced daily, no matter whether we are leaders, servants or the average citizen.
Though I personally belong to the group who had the ambition of establishing these lectures on behalf of our Greek-Australian community, I was unfortunately unable to attend the inaugural lecture two years ago, but was delighted to hear it was kindly undertaken by Professor Gavin Brown, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sydney.
And yet, let us ask seriously in what sense we speak of priorities when we try to appreciate and classify situations, values, or even persons. The term ‘prior’ means of course, either time or timing. I hope no one would simplify things in believing that time and timing mean the same, simply because they have the same etymological root.
By way of introduction, allow me to confess that, in my desire to formulate my theme in a way that would express my personal interest and pain concerning cultural life in our times, I could not find a more appropriate formulation than ‘Priorities in True Culture’.
‘Time’ as such is a neutral measure of mere chronological succession, data or phenomena. ‘Timing’, by contrast, is the opportune moment which is qualified by different parameters to be a ‘chance’ or an ‘opportunity’. In other words, a unique coincidence of favorable conditions.
If I had not combined the two terms priorities and culture with the adjective ‘true’, one would hardly imagine the anguish that a sensitive and responsible person of today experiences vis-à-vis the cultural chaos created in modern or even postmodern times.
In theology, as is known, we make this very important distinction by using the terms chronos (χρόνος) for ‘time’ and kairos (καιρός) for ‘timing’. Chronos, related etymologically to the name Kronos, the cruel father of Greek mythology who devoured his own children, is a clear indication not only of ageing, but also of death. Even things which happened in the right kairos, by using the opportune ‘timing’, cannot avoid the various effects of time.
Perhaps no one had foreseen the mentioned decadence more sharply than certain German Philosophers who early enough characterized the crisis as “Umwertung aller Werte”, namely ‘the inversion of all values’.
This is precisely what we call ‘experience’, which is so valued in human life.
Having said the above, I must now follow the ancestral Greek Principal: «Ἀρχή σοφίας ἡ τῶν
Experience however, cannot be regarded as a ‘common denominator’ for all people. Realities, occurrences and events –though apparently identical for all people- cannot be perceived in the same way by all who experience them.
ὀνομάτων ἐπίσκεψις», i.e. ‘The first step of wisdom is the analysis of the terms’. Let me then do so before focusing on the main points in which I would like to express my thoughts and feelings concerning contemporary culture. 7
PRIORITIES IN TRUE CULTURE Continued Perception depends on one’s sensitivity, intelligence and other personal gifts which, combined, determine the manner in which the commonly experienced values are assimilated by the individual. We shall understand the different way that each person perceives reality by a very striking example: Heraclitus had stated the simple observation that “all things are in a state of flux” («τά πάντα ρεῖ»). Jesus Christ, God Incarnate, through His own Transfiguration on Mt Tabor, taught us an entirely different lesson: In God’s divine Economy, there is a ceaseless process of permanent transfigurations under His loving Providence, especially for human beings created in His ‘image’ with the final goal to reach His ‘likeness’. If we now compare the two visions, the one posed by Heraclitus and the other of the Lord, we realise that whilst Heraclitus declares an unbearable pessimism, Jesus Christ promises nothing less than ‘deification’.
This is precisely the reason why St Paul, the greatest theologian of all time, draws the conclusion that the human being has the unique privilege of being truly ‘edified’ to the degree that the outward appearance ‘perishes’. “Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day” (2 Cor. 4:16). Having explained the implications of the term ‘prior’, defining priorities in the sense merely of time, we have reached the point where the Greek language contributes an entirely different factor by which we can evaluate ‘priorities’. The original Greek word for ‘priorities’ is ‘hierarchy’, i.e. a classification or an escalation, not necessarily on the basis of seniority, but rather according to the order dictated by the ‘Divine’. For, ‘hierarchy’ comes from hieron (ἱερόν, divine, sacred). By such a different evaluation, introduced by the Greek term ‘hierarchy’, priorities in life can no longer remain isolated and fragmented in secular immanence. In the mystical glance of Greek antiquity, there is no place for nihilism or a meaningless universe. In this sense, we should not forget the original meaning of the Greek term ‘cosmos’ (ornament, beauty). Think of the word cosmetics! Since the Divine becomes the point of reference, it is clear that human life is essentially oriented towards transcendence. Here, we have to remind ourselves once again that ‘human being’, in Greek (ἄνθρωπος), is the one who ἄνω θρώσκει, i.e. the one who looks upwards. It is now time to discuss the second term of our theme.
His Eminence Archbishop Stylianos
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Continued over
APPRECIATING CULTURE
PRIORITIES
IN
TRUE
CULTURE
Continued Culture
And this is memory.
Although many attempts have been made in modern times to define what culture is, we must admit that there is a certain ambiguity at least in the context of European nations, but also including America and Australia.
From this concrete example, one can draw the conclusion that culture is decisively based and nourished more by memory than by remembrance.
Nations of Greco-Roman derivation see culture more or less based in humanities, as do most nations of Africa and Asia. By contrast, the Anglo -Saxon nations generally lean more towards practical and technological development. However, the globalization of our time and the concrete recent sociopolitical developments internationally would not allow us to be bound to a partisan view on such a vital question. In order to be comprehensive rather than exclusive, we should for this reason consider culture according to the wisdom of some exceptionally talented thinkers. One had strikingly stated that culture is what remains after we forget all we had learnt! There is no doubt that many would say: What a contradiction! How is it possible to declare ‘forgetfulness’ a source of assets? And yet: if we consider the difference between ‘remembrance’ and ‘memory’, we will be able to appreciate the wisdom of that paradoxical definition. Let us see the difference between remembrance and memory through a very simple example, which is for all of us quite familiar in our days: After suffering ‘concussion of the brain’ from a car accident, or through the illness of Alzheimer’s, we easily forget basic things concerning our personal life, such as names, addresses, telephone numbers and so on. This means we are unable for a while to re-member. By contrast, in the same situation, we never lose essential moral judgments and convictions, because they are deeply rooted in our conscience. 9
At this very point, we enter the most special and refined area of culture, which is usually called ‘Tradition’. It is not without significance that people who have a long history are, at the same time, distinguished for their comprehensive sense of unity and continuity throughout the centuries. For this reason, the great poet George Seferis, the first Greek Nobel Prize recipient, could very accurately define Tradition as “an endless solidarity between the living and the dead”. A second important definition of culture as described above is that of the great Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa, who stated that “Culture is a result, not an addition”. Such a definition makes it quite clear that our life, whether collectively or individually, is always supported by different structures and values. The variety and even diversity of such goods from the material and technological, through to the social, moral, economic, political and so on, reaching the highest ideals of religion, philosophy, science and arts, are undoubtedly ‘anthropocentric’, since they aim to serve the different needs or desires of the human person and society. Yet all the abovementioned cannot be collectively called ‘culture’, unless they are deeply assimilated as a productively balanced synthesis of various endeavours. If such a wholistic synthesis is not achieved, the various endeavours remain merely a multitude of parallel facilities and techniques, which make life perhaps easier, but not necessarily happier.
PRIORITIES IN TRUE CULTURE Continued Having discussed two characteristic examples of definitions of culture, we can easily say that both point clearly not only to the sacredness, but also to the uniqueness of the human person. In this context, we should observe that, although ancient Greek philosophy – in particular Heraclitus and Socrates – had taught the sacredness of the human person, in the form of a theistic anthropocentrism, the real value of the human person could not be appreciated in light of its ultimate goal without the Biblical doctrine of the creation of human beings in the “image and likeness of God” (cf. Gen. 1:26) as already mentioned. At this point, one should furthermore consider the great cultural and social importance of the Trinitarian dogma of Christendom, beyond all its theological and religious significance. True Culture Should we now, in the third part, try to point out briefly the most important values in cultural life, we could classify at least five major areas, each of which is dominated by a special ideal. 1. Freedom, as the postulate of liberation from one inherited situation and stage, to a more promising integration of the human person. 2. Health, as a basic presupposition for peace and happiness in human life which has to be experienced day by day as a task to overcome manifold obstacles on the way towards final fulfillment. 3. Property, as the necessary means for the development and safeguarding of human dignity in the noble ambition , not to separate the individual from fellow human beings, but rather to serve them in the spirit of justice and common well-being in all respects.
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4. Education, as a highly responsible training in different fields and at various levels, with the purpose of enabling the human being to regain the God-given innocence and virginity, both lost due to the “original sin”. It is perhaps not superfluous to recall that, while Greeks spoke of Paideia coming from the word pais meaning ‘child’, the languages of Latin derivation using the term ‘education’, express (even if latently), the praiseworthy intention to teach leadership: How to lead one’s own life and how to lead others. For, educo (from where ‘duke’ comes) means ‘to lead’. 5. Interpersonal relations, as a genuine expression of world solidarity and stability, which should not be confused with so-called ‘public relations’, the most dangerous trap of our times. Dear Friends, I know that, having just indicated briefly the five main areas on which true culture should concentrate, I had not the time, nor the intention to elaborate even on the basic implications which each of them contains. For those who would like to have a more detailed essay on this theme, I would like to refer to my keynote address to the 6th National Youth Conference of our Archdiocese, held in Brisbane in 1994 under the title “The Moral Values of the World and Christian Morality’ (published in vol. 6 of ‘Greek Orthodox Youth of Australia in Dialogue’).
I thank you sincerely for your patience and attention.
APPRECIATING CULTURE
VOTE OF THANKS Professor Gavin Brown, Vice Chancellor University of Sydney
Your Eminence, Distinguished Guests, Ladies & Gentleman, Brothers & Fathers. It is a very great pleasure for me to have the opportunity to thank His Eminence for his delightful presentation. A presentation especially delightful to a Mathematician who loves the playing with words, playing in the sense of caressing words, the precision of making sure that one has defined one’s terms. The contrast between pairs of words, where right at the beginning Your Eminence in beginning to speak to us about culture, you immediately introduced pain alongside pleasure in a sense. And then of course you made the important distinctions between chronos and kairos, emphasizing the relativism of personal perception and how that means that culture is in some sense outside ourselves, but true culture must be found inside ourselves. I could see that it is valuable to be seeking for some order in the chaos that sometimes presents as modern culture and so the great desire for the “hierarchy” which as you emphasized, captures not just the moral dimension but the moral dimension underlined by religious conviction. When we come to looking at culture around us and what it means to us what we give to it, you emphasized for us the five values that you spoke of. Now these five values which are freedom, health, property, education, interpersonal relations are guides; but all are meaningless unless they are underpinned by the personal conviction and the personal moral conviction to these things. I believe you presented that to us in a way which was entirely appropriate and celebrates the sacredness and the uniqueness that defines the human person and that is where culture is.
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I thank you for the pleasure which you gave me - the pain of course that you gave me as well since I had to prepare these few words; but I thank you for that delightful presentation.
Since you gave us two definitions of culture I can perhaps just be permitted to lower the tone slightly and give a non definition of culture. There is a kiwi question that is asked especially at the time of rugby matches and it is “What is the difference between Australia and a pot of yoghurt?” And the answer is “The pot of yoghurt contains culture”. Thank you.
Professor Gavin Brown giving the Vote of Thanks
Appreciating Culture Lecture 2005
ST. SPYRIDON COLLEGE Invites
You To The
Appreciating Culture Lecture 2005 Speaker:
His Eminence Archbishop Stylianos of Australia Topic: “Priorities in True Culture”
Vote of Thanks: Mr Bob Carr, Former Premier of New South Wales
Venue: Conference Centre,
First Floor, Technology Wing
St Spyridon College, Senior School Campus 1130 Anzac Parade, Maroubra NSW 2035
Date: Friday 19th August 2005
Time: 12
Arrival: 7.00pm, Lecture: 7.30pm-8.30pm
APPRECIATING CULTURE
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Warm thanks are extended to the following people for making the evening an unqualified success:
His Eminence Archbishop Stylianos for naming the series of Lectures
Professor Gavin Brown Vice Chancellor University of Sydney for his Vote of Thanks
Mr James Phillips for presenting a Gift to His Eminence Archbishop Stylianos
Mrs A. Katsogiannis in her inimitable role as the MC
Mrs Angela Roditis and all the P&F members who provided a quality and generous Supper. It is this kind of support from our parent body that helps our College to grow academically and socially
The Year 12 students and their Year Adviser Mrs C. Mio for assisting the P&F and in the hospitality for this event
The dedicated School Support Staff who worked so hard to organise and promote the event, namely Mrs Olga Lambi, Mrs Mary Diakanastasis, Mrs Angela Kringas, Mrs Donna Cross and Mrs Mina Mills
The audience who attended and expressed their appreciation for the lecture
Students who assisted with the evening’s proceedings. L to R: Marko Stojanovic, Steven Bouziannis, George Spanos, Angela Bekiaris, Andrea Constantinides, Chris Georgiou, Toula Stathopoulos
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His Eminence Archbishop Stylianos enjoying a conversation with Professor and Mrs Gavin Brown
GUEST LIST His Eminence, Archbishop Stylianos
Mr George Bouteris
Mr Kyriacos Mavrolefteros
The Hon. Michael Costa, MP
Mrs Julie Savoulis
Mrs Mary Diakanastasis
The Hon. Lionel Brown
Mr Nicholas Sakaris
Mrs Christine Contominas
Mrs Claire Bowen
Miss Effy Murray
Miss Marina Kalithrakas
Dr Nicholas Pappas
Mr Vito Radice
Mr Theo Magoulias
Mrs Deborah Costa
Ms Mariclaire Pringle
Mrs Patricia Stefadouros
Prof. Manuel Aroney
Mr Anthony Condous
Mrs Chryse Mio
Prof. Gavin Brown
Mr Frank Kaldis
Mr Spiros Kollias
Mrs Diane Brown
Mr Alex Cardamis
Mrs Maria Zafiropoulos
Mr Dimitri Kepreotes
Miss Ariane Parzakonis
Mr Peter Mavrommatis
Mrs Eleni Kepreotes
Mrs Maria Parzakonis
Mr Ikaros Kyriacou
Mr John Ralston
Dr John Coe
Mr & Mrs Terry Bekiaris
Mr Tony Rafty, OAM
Mr John Veneris
Mr William Malos
Councillor John Procopiadis
Mrs Jenny Richardson
Ms Helene Abouyanni
Mr Peter Souleles
Mr Bill Maloukis
Mrs Dragila Teofilovic
Mrs Patricia Souleles
Mr Andrew Kouras
Ms Zora Maricic
Miss Yianna Souleles
Mrs Christalla Koureas
Mrs Maria Tsangaris
Very Rev. Father Steven Scoutas
Mr A. Bakoulis
Mrs Kathy Giannikouris
Mrs E. Stefanou-Haag
Mrs Vesna Belajcic
Mr George Goulousis
Mr Kevin Haag
Mrs Margaret Stasos
Mr Michael Avramidis
Miss Elena Haag
Mr Spiros Contominas
Mrs Poppy Avramidis
Miss Rena Haag
Mr Peter Meintanis
Mrs Dimitra Bakoulis
Mrs Amelia Katsogiannis
Miss Nicole Georgoulas
Mrs Betty Pappas
Mr Arthur Katsogiannis
Mrs Angela Spanos
Mr Bill Kirkis
Mrs Mary Hamer
Mrs Aristea Synesios
Mrs Leah Kirkis
Mr Peter Hamer
Mrs Yvonne Nicholls
Mrs E. Marinos
Mr Elia Economou
Mr George Mavrocordatos
Mr Theo Menounos
Archimandrite Eleftherios Kambourakis
Mrs Dimi Kefalouros
Miss Asimina Todorovic
Rev. Father Nektarios Zorbalas
Mr Nick Anastasopoulos
Mr Asimakis Tsomis
Rev. Father Sotirios Papafilopoulos
Mrs Vicky Grillakis
Dr Anthony Michael
Rev. Father Peter Baskoutas
Mr George Heretakis
Mrs Alison Skerman
Rev. Father Constantine Varipatis
Mr Costa Lianos
Ms A. Minopetrou
Rev. Father Loukas Kordonouris
Mrs Eleni Lianos
Mr James Politis
Mrs Eleni Theodosi
Mr Peter Kepreotes
Miss Penny Katsaros
Miss C. Brocklehurst
Mrs E. Demetriou
Miss Maria Zamagias
Mrs Elizabeth Brocklehurst
Dr George Abouyanni
Mrs Sylvia Melas
Mrs Maritsa Doyle
Mr Emmanuel Hatzi
Mr Steven Tropoulos
Mr Peter Theophilou
Mr & Mrs V. Papayioryiou
Miss Leticia Wakeley
Mr Miltiades Yiangou
Mr Harry Hirakis
Mr Pavlos Theodorakopoulos
Mrs Ioanna Yiangou
Mr Andrew Vatiliotis
Mr Peter Varvaressos
Mr Anthony Tsoutsa Mr 14 Leonidas Stefadouros Mrs Elsie Tsangaris
APPRECIATING CULTURE
PHOTO GALLERY
L to R: Mr Peter Souleles, Mrs E. Stefanou-Haag, The Hon. Michael Costa, His Eminence Archbishop Stylianos, Mrs Deborah Costa
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PHOTO
His Eminence Archbishop Stylianos admiring the works of Lisa Nicole Jewellry
GALLERY
Professor Gavin Brown & His Eminence Archbishop Stylianos
His Eminence Archbishop Stylianos with Mrs DianĂŠ Brown
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Mrs S. Melas & Mrs D. Kefalouros
L to R: Father Sotirios Papafilopoulos, Mrs E. StefanouHaag, His Eminence Archbishop Stylianos & Mr P. Souleles
APPRECIATING CULTURE
PHOTO GALLERY
Guests are seated prior to the lecture commencing
Very Rev. Father Steven Scoutas with The Hon. Michael Costa MP and Mrs Deborah Costa
L to R: AIS Chairman, Mr John Ralston, Professor Manual Aroney, Mrs E. Stefanou-Haag
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Mrs Claire Bowen & The Hon. Mr Lionel Bowen
PHOTO GALLERY
His Eminence Archbishop Stylianos & Mrs Stefanou-Haag admiring the works of an exhibitor
Mr Tony Rafty, OAM & Mr Con Pavlou
Mr Dimitri Kepreotes enjoying the company of guests
L to R: Father Constantine Varipatis, Archimandrite Eleftherios Kambourakis, Father Sotirios Papafilopoulos, Father Loukas Kordonouris, Father Panagiotis Baskoutas & Father Nectarios Zorbalas
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