Culture Minister Mendoni visits Patriarchate, Yad Vashem Museum in Jerusalem

Culture Minister Lina Mendoni paid an official visit to Jerusalem and reaffirmed the Greek government's steadfast commitment to supporting the Jerusalem Patriarchate, as well as to close cooperation for the preservation and promotion of the religious and cultural heritage of the Holy Lands, according to a culture ministry announcement on Thursday.
In her meeting with the Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos III, Mendoni said that Greece intends to continue to actively assist the Patriarchate's mission for the preservation of the Christian presence and its efforts to protect its valuable historical and cultural heritage.
The Patriarch stressed the Patriarchate's readiness to work closely with Greece and the culture ministry.
Mendoni visited the Patriarchate archives and discussed the existing possibilities for cooperation, focusing on immediate conservation action that must be taken but also the organisation and digitalisation of the archives to ensure their best protection and use.
She also visited the Church of the Resurrection at the Holy Sepulchre, where she attended a service, and the ancient Monastery of St. John Prodromos and saw the renovations carried out there.
Patriarch Theophilos also accompanied her to the Monastery of the Sacred Cross and briefed her on plans to found a Centre for Theological Studies and Research.
Mendoni's visit to Jerusalem ended with a tour of the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum, where she laid a wreath in honour of the Holocaust victims and had a working meeting with the Museum director Dani Dayan to discuss closer cooperation with the Jewish museums of Athens and Thessaloniki and the under-construction Holocaust Museum in Thessaloniki.