As some of you are already aware, Father Vasileios is retiring this summer. His last day with our church will be 30 June 2023. He has written a message for our community.

Friends of the Parish of the Holy Cross and Archangel Michael,

Our life is divided into periods that follow one another: one ends and a new one begins, and so life goes on with more interest.

For my presbytera and for me the period of our ministry in the Holy Cross Community has come to an end after 13 years, minus than a few months, which were in every way exciting and interesting. We have decided to say goodbye at the end of June to the friends of the parish in Hendon and return to our homeland Greece to offer the experience we gained after almost 30 years of absence from home.

In this farewell message I would not wish to succumb to temptation and name all those many real friends who have supported us in our work, but it would be ingratitude on my part not to express my, and my, wife’s deepest respect and great gratitude to my mentors: the late Archbishop Gregory of Thyateira and Great Britain who received us into the Archdiocese after my fifteen-year term in the Diocese of Switzerland, and also to his successor His Eminence Nikitas. Both of them have supported us with their wise advice whenever we asked for it.

In saying goodbye to all our friends, we would like you to know that our stay in the parish of the Holy Cross will forever be one of the most important periods of our lives.

May the blessings of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father always accompany you!

With Love in Christ,

Protopresbyter Vasilios Papathanasiou and presbytera Olga