Failure to do so would result in problems of banishment, renunciation, illegitimacy or disinheritance in Greece. (Gilchrist, 1992 P.270) .
It became obvious that what was needed was to entice a Greek priest to come to Australia. This search was what triggered the formation of the many Greek Orthodox Communities that were charged with the dual responsibility of advancing the Greek Orthodox faith and preserving the Greek cultural traditions. (Gilchrist, 1992 P. 270) .
The formation of the Greek Community in Sydney in the early 1890's provided sufficient funds to be collected to enable a Greek Orthodox church to be built. The first Greek Orthodox Church was opened on May 29, 1898 at Surry Hills, New South Wales, and was dedicated to the Holy Trinity. This was followed, two years later, by the opening of the Church of the Annunciation, in East Melbourne, Victoria. In 1927 the Church of St. Sophia in Sydney was consecrated and served as the Greek Orthodox Church's Cathedral in Australia for many years. (Vondra ,1979 P.134).
After much correspondence and requests to the Patriarch, the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem appointed Father Seraphim Phokas in Sydney and Father Athanasios Kantopoulos in Melbourne in 1898. Further appointments were made by the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece, until 1924 when the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople asserted its authority over the Greek Orthodox communities and parishes and proceeded to establish the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia and New Zealand. (Kapardis & Tamis 1988, P.54) .
The creation of the Metropolitan See of Australia and New Zealand in 1924 marked the official establishment of the Church. It was responsible for the islands of the Pacific, Asia and India. The Greek settlers numbered some 10,000 at that time and there were active communities in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane, Port Pirie and Darwin. Of those communities only Sydney, Melbourne and Port Pirie had Greek churches.
