Metropolitan of Sweden and All Scandinavia Cleopa commented for the ORTHODOXIA agency on his recent pastoral visit to Denmark, and also spoke about his planned trip to Iceland. This is reported by orthodoxianewsagency.

“The grace of the Lord helped us find our own temple a few years ago, and now we have our spiritual space, our place for prayer and concentration, which we lacked so much. There are at least five thousand Greeks here, there are many students, since there are many serious universities in the region that attract a large number of students and researchers. We do not yet have a permanent priest in Denmark, but Fr. Sosipater from Stockholm comes there. It would be important to get a permanent priest,” said the Phanar hierarch about the changes in Denmark.

Also, the Metropolitan, accompanied by the clergy, met with the Ambassador of Greece to Denmark Nikolaos Kotrokois, Chargé d’Affaires of the Republic of Cyprus in Denmark, Jacob Giragosian, and representatives of the local diaspora in the city of Roskilde, 30 km from Copenhagen. There is a parish where the New Martyr George of Ioannina is honored, the opening of the church in whose honor took place on November 18, 2018.

“In two weeks I will visit Iceland and meet with our brothers there. It is very important and touching that 7.5 years ago I began my ministry in the Scandinavian countries, and there were 100 flock in Iceland, now we have over 500 brothers there,” added Metropolitan Cleopa.

Earlier it was reported that the structure of the Phanar in Scandinavia was strengthened by the actual dissolution of the Scandinavian deanery of the Western European Archdiocese of Orthodox parishes of the Russian tradition, part of which remained under the jurisdiction of Constantinople.