Metropolitan Nektarios of Corfu called for the preservation of Christian identity in Europe

Metropolitan Nektarios of Corfu, Paxos, and the Diapontia Islands issued a message on the need for spiritual vigilance, expressing deep concern about the situation of the modern Church and the state of Christian identity in Europe. According to the news portal Vima Orthodoxias, the hierarch emphasized that today the Christian faith faces new challenges comparable to the persecutions of the early centuries.

Speaking on the feast day of St. Demetrius the Great Martyr of Thessaloniki during the consecration of a church at the diocesan camp in Kassiopi, Metropolitan Nektarios drew a parallel between the martyrdom of the saints of antiquity and the modern “disdainful attitude” toward the Church. According to His Eminence, current globalization processes are negatively affecting family values, national identity, and the historical memory of peoples, posing a threat of the formation of a kind of “world religion” at the expense of weakening Christian foundations.

During his sermon, the metropolitan called on the faithful—and especially young people—to offer spiritual resistance to external pressure. Referring to the demographic and sociocultural changes taking place in European countries, particularly in England, he emphasized that Christians must remain steadfast in their faith and follow the example of the saints, who, despite honors and threats, remained faithful to Christ.

It should be recalled that earlier, Metropolitan Seraphim of Kifira issued a strong statement in which he called modern attempts to legitimize same-sex unions a serious threat to the traditional Christian family.