Orthodox ordination yesterday

I attended an ordination yesterday, of a man who is probably the first-ever Swedish Orthodox priest. The bishop had come all the way from Paris. The parish, which is attached to the Patriarchate of Antioch, is a mixture of Swedes and Syrians, and the liturgy was in Swedish, Arabic and English. This of course, contradicts the claim that the Orthodox are divided into national groups.

There was a party afterwards, in which the Bishop emphasised that the most important thing for a Christian was to hold to the love of Christ.

There was a fair sprinkling of Church of Sweden clergy but none of the dozen or so Catholic priests in and around Göteborg came; in fact, apart from myself, there were only two other Catholics present. I wonder if they were invited or knew that the event was occurring?

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