On Sunday morning, June 21, His Grace Bishop Daniel, the Bishop of the Sydney Diocese and its dependencies in Australia, presided over the Divine Liturgy at the Church of the Virgin Mary and the Great Martyr Saint George in Newcastle, north of Sydney, New South Wales.

The ceremony saw the participation of His Grace Bishop Daniel of the St. Anthony Monastery in Australia, His Grace Bishop Royce, the General Bishop for East Asia and overseer of the Melbourne Diocese, as well as Father John Ghandour, the church’s pastor, and Father Mark, the representative of St. Anthony. Following the Prayer of Reconciliation, the esteemed bishops conducted the ordination ceremony for Deacon Suleiman Suleiman, a pillar of the church and one of its founders, elevating him to the rank of a full deacon under the name David Suleiman. Additionally, nine other deacons were promoted to the rank of “Agnostos.”

It is worth mentioning that the bishops had consecrated the church two days prior on Saturday, including the altars, the oratory altars, the sanctuary curtain, the church’s icons, and the baptismal font.