Kakanda, Republic of the Congo, July 23, 2019
Holy Orthodoxy has been growing rapidly in the Republic of the Congo in the past several years, with hundreds of faithful souls receiving Baptism and a number of new churches being opened.
Another such spiritual event took place on Monday, with the laying of the foundation stone of the Church of St. Cyril of Jerusalem in the southern city of Kakanda. The rite was celebrated by His Eminence Metropolitan Meletios of Katanga, reports Romfea.
The land for the church was donated by the Greek-African Michael Kouvas. Met. Meletios was greeted by the people of Kakanda with great enthusiasm upon arriving to the site of the future church, and he and a team of technicians determined the precise site for the construction of the church.
A hole was then dug and the foundation stone, bearing the image of the Cross, was laid and consecrated. Met. Meletios was joined by three priests and a deacon. At the end of the service, His Eminence spoke of the great significance of the event, saying that “where a church is founded, the devil’s power is expelled.”
Representing a group of donors from Greece, Archimandrite Vasilios Giannakas of the Metropolis of Nea Smyrni of the Greek Orthodox Church noted that “the foundation stone symbolizes Christ and our faith in Him. Upon this faith, the Church was founded and built and no force is able to overcome it.”
The Church of St. John the Baptist and St. Nicholas, the first church in northern Congo, was consecrated in the town of Impfondo in February 2017, and the Church of the Holy Martyr Photini in Pointe Noire was consecrated in May 2018.
556 people were baptized in two days in January 2018, a mass Baptism was celebrated in the Congo River in April 2018, and another 117 were baptized in December 2018.
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