Yesterday, the heart of Greek education beat strongly in Constantinople, as the Greek Consulate General marked the World Greek Language Day with particular splendor through two special events. The keynote speaker at both events, held in the iconic building of the Galata Urban School, was Professor Emerita of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Maria Efthymiou.
According to an official press release, on Sunday, February 8, 2026, the Consulate General, in cooperation with the principals of the Greek minority schools of Constantinople and Imbros, organized a special history lesson for students from Constantinople and Imbros. Notably, students from Imbros traveled especially to Constantinople for this purpose. Professor Efthymiou’s lecture, titled “The Greeks and the Sea: An Enduring Relationship,” captivated the children, who followed it with exemplary interest. Around 350 students and teachers attended in total, including pupils from the Volos Music School and the 1st Primary School of Alexandroupoli, who were visiting Constantinople on an educational trip.
The main event of the Greek Consulate General for World Greek Language Day took place with great success on Monday, February 9, when Professor Efthymiou delivered a lecture entitled “Romanos–Romios: The Historical Coordinates of an Identity.” The event was honored by the high presence of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.
Welcoming the numerous guests, Ambassador Konstantinos Koutras, Consul General of Greece in Constantinople, stressed the importance of the global recognition of the Greek language, as reflected in the decision of UNESCO’s General Conference. He noted that this recognition is a tangible affirmation of the invaluable contribution of Hellenism to world history, cultural heritage, and the shaping of national identity, as well as to the promotion of intercultural dialogue and understanding among peoples. He made special reference to the contribution of the Greek minority educational institutions in Constantinople and Imbros, expressing the hope for the reopening of the “precious,” as he described it, Theological School of Halki. He also thanked all teachers serving in the Greek minority schools for their meaningful contribution to Greek letters and education.
Taking the floor, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew congratulated Mr. Koutras for the initiative and spoke about the significance of the Greek language, the language of Homer and Sappho, of the philosophers and the tragedians, of the New Testament and the Fathers of the Church, of the Divine Liturgy and hymnography. “We honor the mother tongue of the spirit,” he noted, emphasizing its countless and invaluable contributions to world culture, letters, and the sciences.
“It is by no means accidental that Greek became the axial language of Christian theology. Through it, the Church articulated her faith and addressed broader circles of humanity. Obviously, the union of philosophical language and theology was not without risk, since, as has been said, ‘through language an entire culture is transmitted.’ Given this power of language, it was very difficult for the influence of the Greek spirit to remain merely at the level of linguistic expression.
The great Fathers of the Church, however, achieved this feat: that is, they avoided the so-called ‘Hellenization of Christianity’ and not only expressed, in a remarkable way, ‘an entirely new experience’ through the use of philosophical terminology, but also opened new paths and a new universality for philosophy itself, while demonstrating the power of the Greek spirit and the Greek language.”
The Patriarch then pointed out that the Greek language and the Orthodox faith belong to the very core of the spiritual and cultural identity of our nation: “We never cease to emphasize the contribution of the Church, from the early Christian period, through the Byzantine and post-Byzantine eras, up to the present day, to the formation, preservation, enrichment, and dissemination of the Greek language. The Church founded schools and academies and taught our language through her liturgical life, hymnography, and theology.
This language is still heard today in the services of the Church; it connects us with the past and bears witness to its cohesion, continuity, and unity. We recall the words of Zissimos Lorentzatos: ‘Only through our faith and our language have we been preserved until today, and only through these two will we be preserved tomorrow.’
Never in the history of our nation has the lamp of the ancient Greek spirit been extinguished. It is truly a miracle that this lamp was placed upon the lampstand by Fathers and Teachers of the Church. Our people lived their Hellenic identity together with their lived experience of Orthodoxy. And today, as the late Metropolitan of Pergamon John wrote, ‘the more we draw from ourselves and from our Hellenic identity, the more we drink the water of Orthodoxy.’”
At another point in his address, the Patriarch said: “We are certain that you, all of you, feel proud of our language, language of our forebears and our own language, the language of the indigenous inhabitants of the City of Constantine, the language of the Greek diaspora, which is the bearer and expression of the ethos and culture of the human person, of freedom as faith and love in their indivisible unity.
We take pride in this magnificent language in which incomparable and unique works were written. This is the language which, even in our own time, remains a source of inspiration and a compass of spiritual orientation for countless people throughout the inhabited world. We rejoice that the works of the ancient philosophers and poets adorn the libraries of the world, are studied and discussed, and that thousands of Greek and Greek-derived words and terms are found in scientific terminology and in the languages of the world.”
In her main address, Professor Maria Efthymiou offered incisive observations on the gradual shifts of cultural centers across Eurasia, the remarkable strengthening and diffusion of the Greek language, and the equally impressive geographical expansion and long duration of the Roman Empire, with the significant linguistic consequences these developments entailed, especially after the rise and consolidation of Christianity. She also noted that the Turkish side, when it assumed administrative authority in the Balkans and the Eastern Mediterranean, entered similar processes of adopting terms of self-identification and external designation for reasons of internal and external policy and balances of power.
The event, moderated by the Head of the Public Diplomacy Office, Georgios-Spyridon Mamalos, was attended, among others, by members of the Holy Synod and other hierarchs, Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, all principals and teachers of the Greek minority schools, members of the Greek community, and Greeks residing in Constantinople.
Source: ANA-MPA, Translated by: Konstantinos Menyktas
