The honor guest of the first official event of the Prinz Gharios Stiftung (the Prince Gharios Foundation headquartered in Germany) celebrating HIRH Prince Gharios El Chemor‘s 43rd birthday was His Eminence Bishop Anba Damian head of the Coptic Orthodox Church in Germany and representative of His Holiness Coptic Pope Tawadros II. His Eminence was also the protagonist of one of the event’s highlights when he gifted Prince Gharios with his personal Blessing cross.

The Hand Cross, also Blessing Cross, is used in the Orthodox Church by a priest or bishop to give a blessing or benediction. The hand cross is kept on the Holy Table in the Altar and used at certain moments during the liturgy, most noticeably when he holds it in his right hand as he gives the final blessing at the dismissal of the Divine Liturgy. In many traditions, usually Slavic, after the dismissal of the Divine Liturgy all of the faithful come forward to kiss the cross.

The Bishop was invested in the Sacred Order of Saint Michael Archangel, which concomitantly to the event was recognized being canonically erected by the Catholic church in a holy thanksgiving mass in Brazil.