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On Holy Thursday, April 12, 2012, His All-Holiness presided over the Sanctification of the Holy Myrrh with the participation of approximately 55 Orthodox Hierarchs from around the world, including representatives from the Senior Patriarchates of Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem, the Patriarchate of Serbia, the Autocephalous Churches of Cyprus, Greece, Poland, Albania, and the Czech Lands and Slovakia. It was an auspicious celebration that takes place approximately once every ten years, when the reserve of Holy Myrrh nears depletion. This was the third time Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew has presided over the sanctification ceremony. In attendance also were the Hon. Dimitris Dollis, Deputy Foreign Minister of Greece, Mr. Theodoros Angelopoulos, Archon Megas Logothetis, the U.S. Consul General, the Hon. Scott Kilner, and the Consul of Greece in Istanbul, the Hon. Victor Maligoudis.