Gaborone — The singing from the Anglican Church Hall resonates harmonies similar to a synchronisation from the opening of a CNN or BBC news bulletin often associated with Arabic-speaking nations captured during worship.

But today (last week Thursday) this harmony is as foreign to these church walls as the language this papal mission worships in. This is an alien type of worship trying to find a home right in this city. For the first time, the Greek Orthodox Church held its first service in Gaborone in borrowed space. The main attraction is the newly appointed Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa, His Beatitude Theodoros II of the Greek Orthodox Church who stopped over Botswana after a papal visit to South Africa to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ and show fellowship with the Greek community here.

Speaking on behalf of the Pope, His Eminence George, Archbishop of Zimbabwe, Angola, Botswana, Malawi and Mozambique told Echo that the purpose of the visit was for the new pope to meet and interact with the Greek Orthodox community in Botswana and commemorate the past festive season.

"He has come to celebrate the Liturgy," said His Eminence.

George added that as a new community in Botswana there is no Greek Orthodox Church in here, but plans are underway to establish one.

"Botswana is under the jurisdiction of the archdiocese of Zimbabwe, which is in charge of Zimbabwe, Angola, Malawi and Mozambique. But if we manage to secure land from the government we would like to begin building the church right away. Once we are set up there will be a big celebration and we would like to invite the entire sister churches," he said.

There are about 200 Greek families in the country who follow in the Greek Orthodox faith and.

"Our roots can be traced as far back as the apostles of Jesus Christ. We separated from the Western church in the year 1047. After the separation it became the Western church and the Eastern church. However, we both follow the same dogma," he explained.

This untouched dogma, according to history books, holds its papacy in the same stance as that of the Roman Catholic Church suggesting that the Pope and Patriarchy of Alexandria and All Africa, His Beatitude Theodoros II holds the same position as the Catholic pope Benedict XVI. Whether he shares similar power is debatable.

But are there not too many Christian churches in the country as it is?

"We celebrate in the name of Jesus Christ and we are all children of the one Lord. The other separations are because of human weaknesses. So one more Christian denomination in this country will not hurt," opined His Eminence.

Like his German-born counterpart, Benedict XVI, Theodoros II will remain the Pope of Alexandria and All Africa for life. He was born Nicholas Choreftakis in 1954 in Crete and was elected by the Synod of the Alexandrian Throne in Egypt as Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa on October 9, 2004. His investiture was celebrated 25 days later making him the 115th patriarch of the Ancient Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa.