A general clerical assembly was held on Friday morning, November 28, 2025, at the Spiritual Center of the Holy Metropolis of Corfu, Paxoi and Diapontia Islands, with the participation of the local Church’s clergy and deacons. The assembly focused on spiritual preparation for the upcoming Christmas holidays, with key addresses from Metropolitan Nektarios and prominent theologians.
Metropolitan Nektarios Emphasizes Spiritual Renewal Amidst Worldly Confusion
His Eminence Metropolitan Nektarios of Corfu, Paxoi and Diapontia Islands emphasized the widespread confusion experienced in the contemporary world, noting its unfortunate permeation into ecclesiastical life. He stressed the clergy’s obligation to rediscover the fullness offered by God’s grace, to serve the mystery of human salvation, and to share with the people of God the message, “Come, faithful, let us see where Christ was born.” The Metropolitan urged the clergy to pursue personal deification through sacramental life, prayer, stillness, and their inner spiritual “treasure,” without succumbing to the secularization of the Christmas celebration.
Theological Insights on the Incarnation
The assembly featured two significant presentations. The first was delivered by Professor Nikolaos Chionis of Dogmatic Theology at the University of Athens, whose address was inspired by St. Athanasius the Great’s “On the Incarnation.”
Professor Chionis highlighted the connection between God’s creation of the world and its recreation through the Incarnation of the Son and Word of God. He pointed out that the notion of an unconditional Incarnation, advocated by some contemporary theologians, is inconsistent with patristic tradition. According to patristic understanding, the Word of God became human to restore the communion of creation with God, which was disrupted by the fall of humanity. God, out of goodness, created the world, foresaw humanity’s inability to remain in communion with Him, the consequences of corruption and death, and humanity’s invention of evil through the devil, leading to division. Therefore, God undertook to restore humanity to communion with Him through the Incarnation. The Fall, according to St. Athanasius, is not merely a sin but an ontological state, which is why the Word of God came to recreate human nature in His Person and to conquer death. This is the profound meaning of the great feast of our faith, which we are called to live within the life of the Church.
The second speaker was the General Archiepiscopal Commissioner of the Holy Metropolis, Protopresbyter Themistoklis Mourtzanos. He drew attention to points from St. John of Damascus’s “An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith” concerning the Incarnation. Death entered the world through sin, and thus the Sinless One had to redeem human existence. Christ is perfect God and perfect man. The entire divine nature, not merely a part of it, united with the human nature in the Person of Christ. Christ possessed two natural wills, two natural energies, two natural self-determinations, as well as both divine and human wisdom and knowledge. St. John of Damascus emphasizes the refusal of our spiritual tradition to assent to Monophysitism, Monothelitism, and Monoenergism. Humanity is saved by striving for virtue, while the hypostasis of Christ is uncreated according to His divine nature and created according to His human nature, visible and invisible, yet without sin. Finally, the speaker highlighted the Saint’s words that the Gospel was preached throughout all creation, and its adversaries were defeated not by weapons and power, but by nakedness, poverty, simplicity, persecution, torture, death, and resurrection – in a word, by the ultimately omnipotent power of the Crucified Christ. Therefore, we should not fear the weakness we experience in the world, but rather live in the joy that God became man, has compassion on us, and loves us, a truth not found in any other religious belief.
Visit from Metropolitan Kirill of Kazan
At the conclusion of the assembly, His Eminence Metropolitan Kirill of Kazan, from the Russian Church, who is on a pilgrimage to Corfu, arrived at the Spiritual Center.
Metropolitan Kirill extended his wishes to Metropolitan Nektarios of Corfu and the clergy of the Metropolis, praying for their strength in their spiritual struggles. He also shared insights into his own efforts to bear witness to the faith in Kazan.
He presented an icon of the Theotokos of Kazan to Metropolitan Nektarios, with whom he shares a long-standing friendship. Metropolitan Nektarios welcomed him, expressing joy for this pilgrimage visit to the island and to Saint Spyridon.
