Canada to Korea: Annual Dialogue Between St. Nicholas Sister Churches

For the fourth consecutive year during Holy and Great Lent, parishioners from the Church of St. Nicholas in Toronto held a live discussion with its sister Church of St. Nicholas in Seoul, South Korea.

Following the Fourth Salutations to the Theotokos in Toronto, dozens of parishioners made their way to the church hall for the live Skype session with His Eminence Metropolitan Ambrosios, together with clergy and co-workers from theOrthodox Metropolis of Korea – where it was already Saturday morning.

With the blessings of His Eminence Metropolitan Sotirios, the annual dialogue was once again wonderfully organized by Parish Priest Fr. Fanourios Pappas and Archon E. Sotiropoulos.

During the discussion, which lasted almost one hour, Metropolitan Ambrosios spoke about the blessed Lenten period and the importance in today’s society of having strong faith in Christ. He also spoke about the significant progress being made by all Orthodox clergy and laity in Korea to grow the Metropolis there and spread the Word of God.

Metropolitan Ambrosios provided a summary to parishioners in Toronto about the visit to Korea by His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, who visited Korea as Ecumenical Patriarch for the fourth time in December 2018. In addition to celebrating the feast day of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker (December 6) in the Cathedral in Seoul, His All-Holiness participated in a distinguished environmental symposium, met with the President of Korea, visited and prayed for peace at the de-militarized zone, among other notable activities.

The Orthodox Metropolis of Korea, it should be noted, is under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the only canonical Orthodox Church in that country where the faithful, regardless of national background or ethnic identity, come together as one in Christ.

Parishioners in Toronto asked Metropolitan Ambrosios a number of questions, which generated fruitful and joyous conversation. Funds were collected in Toronto that will be sent to Korea through the Metropolis of Toronto’s Missions Department.