Donn George Represents the OCP Society at the 27th General Assembly of Inter-Parliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy
OCP News Service – 17/9/2020
Greece: The 27th General Assembly of InterParliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy was held through a virtual platform on 17th September 2020.
The meeting was initiated with the welcome address from the president of IAO Mr Sergei Gavrilov, which was followed by greeting messages from the Chairman of the State Duma of the Russian Federation Mr Vyacheslav Volodin, President of the Interparliamentary Union (IPU) Ms Gabriela Cuevas Barron, His All-Holiness The Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, His Beatitude Theodoros II Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and all Africa and His Holiness The Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia.
After the greeting, Dr Andreas Michailidis (IAO Secretary) delivered his speech. In the same auspicious occasion, Dr. Andreas Michailidis was awarded the Medal of Grand Cross of St Mark, for his valuable works in the orthodox world. In the address of Dr Michailidis, he mentioned about the works of IAO in previous years and also added IAO’s strong protest against the ongoing crisis in Turkey against Orthodox Christians, on issues like that of Hagia Sofia Church. through his speech he also introduced new members of IAO from various countries. This was followed by the presentation and approval of the financial report of IAO.
The core objective of the election to the office of IAO was subsequently taken, and proposals were announced by President and Secretary of IAO. This followed to re Election of Mr. Sergei Garvilov to the office of IAO president and Mr. Maximos Charakopoulos was elected as the new secretary of the organisation. This was followed by the approval of the election of new members to the organs of IAO.
Presentation of the activities proposed for the year 2020 – 2021 was made by newly elected Secretary Mr. Maximos Charakopoulos, where he expressed about his plans about new cooperations with similar interparliamentary organisations. He also proposed a plan for future works regarding conserving the diverse culture of Hagia Sophia. The 27th General Assembly was then closed by the words of President Mr Gavrilov.
Parliamentary members from Albania, Argentina, Armenia, Belarus, Bosnia- Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Egypt, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Moldova, Polland, Russia, Serbia, Sudan and Uganda participated in the General Assembly. Many Special Guests and Observers also took part in the General Assembly.
Orthodoxy Cognate PAGE society was cordially invited with Observer status and was adequately represented by its International Affairs Editor – Donn George Varghese. Orthodoxy Cognate Page looks forward to more cordial cooperation with Inter-Parliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy in coming years.
Source:
OCP News Service
