Βy His Eminence Metropolitan Cleopas of Sweden Vasilopita/St. Basil’s pie is one of the most recognizable and beloved customs of the New Year. It is not merely a sweet bread, but a living bearer of history, faith, and cultural continuity, bridging Antiquity, Byzantium, and modern Greece, both within and beyond its borders. The origin of…

By His Eminence Metropolitan Cleopas of Sweden New Year’s Day, as a chronological landmark and a cultural symbol, is a subject of particular interest for the history of religions and cultural anthropology, and it constitutes a privileged field of study for understanding the ways in which societies ascribe meaning to time. Therefore, the beginning of…

By His Eminence Metropolitan Cleopas of Sweden Human experience, across all cultures and in every age, has associated two elements with the very core of life and salvation: light and water. Without light there is no vision, orientation, or knowledge; without water there is no life, purity, or renewal. It is therefore no coincidence that…

By H.E. Metropolitan Cleopas of Sweden From antiquity to the present day, humanity has sought ways to express truth, to teach virtue, and to demonstrate the consequences of human behavior. Two great pedagogical currents of history—seemingly different yet essentially convergent—are the fables of Aesop and the teaching of Christ, as interpreted and lived within the…

By His Eminence Metropolitan Cleopas of Sweden Christ’s Nativity as a Prefiguration of His Burial and Resurrection in the Patristic and Liturgical Tradition The Mystery of the Incarnation of the Son and Word of God is not an isolated event within the history of the Divine Economia/Dispensation. The Nativity of Christ is inseparably linked with…

H.E. Metropolitan Cleopas of Sweden and All Scandinavia’s Presentation on “What Makes a Space Holy,” within the framework of the Dialogue between the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople (Office of Inter-religious and Inter-cultural Affairs) and the International Jewish Committee for Inter-religious Consultations. Geneva, December 8, 2025 Your All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, Distinguished Members of the International…