Orthodox Observer - Sept 2010 by Orthodox Marketplace

SEPTEMBER 2010 • Vol. 75 • No. 1259

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www.observer.goarch.org • e-mail: observer@goarch.org

A Time to Mourn, a Time to Rebuild

On the ninth anniversary of the attacks of 9/11, His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios, Primate of the Greek Orthodox Church in America, joined the thousands of mourners at Ground Zero who offered prayers and remembrance on behalf of those who lost their lives that dreadful day. His leadership in those ceremonies, and the Memorial Service that followed, were conducted against the swirling controversy surrounding the sudden refusal by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to honor their agreements that will see St. Nicholas Church rebuilt following its destruction on the morning of 9/11. Archbishop Demetrios, joined by Bishop Savas of Troas and several priests of the Archdiocese and Fr. John Romas, pastor of St. Nicholas, officiated at the memorial service held at 4 p.m. about 50 yards from the new site at 130 Liberty Street. The service took place under an overhang behind the National Museum commemorating Sept. 11, 2001, that is currently under construction. Following the prayers for all the victims of 9/11, His Eminence read the list of names of Greek Orthodox victims of the attack. In his comments, he reassured those gathered that “St. Nicholas will be rebuilt as a memorial to freedom and to honor and remember the innocent victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks.” The Archbishop asked the members of the community to “praise and ask God to give eternal rest to the victims” and read a passage from a passage in the Old Testament book “The Wisdom of Solomon,” 3:1-7 that he said characterizes the victims of the attacks: “But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and no torture will ever touch them. In the eyes of the undiscerning they seemed to have died, and their departure was considered to be misfortune and their passage from us to be their destruction; but they are at peace. For though in man’s view they were punished, their hope is full of immortality. Though chastened in a few things, Great kindness will be shown them, for God tested them and found them worthy of Himself. He tested them like gold in a furnace and accepted them as a whole burnt offering. In the time of their visitation they will shine forth. Archbishop Demetrios continued that the church will be built “in the shadow of this place where people can find peace and reconciliation.” Speaking after His Eminence, John Couloucoundis, parish council president, thanked those who attended and said “I believe St. Nicholas will be a sanctuary for all who want to come.” Many in the media covering the anniversary sought out the Archbishop in an effort to obtain a comment on the Port Authority dispute. His response was firm and insightful. He stated, “This is a day to mourn and to remember. We shall not speak of other issues that would distract us from our purpose. “This is a day to recall the lives of all those who were slain by terrorists, who would defame the name of God by invoking his name in pursuit of murder. “We shall celebrate the lives of those we lost here on that day. And by doing so we shall keep their memories alive. But let us also understand that St. Nicholas will be rebuilt within the shadow of this national memorial for the purpose of resuming its role as a holy place for all New Yorkers, for all Americans, and for all those who celebrate the freedoms our democracy represents,” the Archbishop explained through a statement. Turning to the future and the rebuilding of St. Nicholas Jerry Dimitriou, executive administrator of the Archdiocese, observed, that the Port Authority had reneged on its

Photo by Eric O’Connell

One of the last photos taken of St. Nicholas Church, with the Twin Towers ablaze in the background.

years old commitment to rebuild St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church on Liberty Street – a location that the Port Authority itself originally proposed – and told the Church to go back to its original location at Cedar Street, while at the same time excavating away the original Cedar Street site and proffering plans that would put

the rebuilt church literally on the sidewalk. “This was completely inappropriate for a government agency that serves the public,” he continued. “The New York and New Jersey communities

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NSP Celebrates Its Third Decade

A RCHDIOCESE N E WS

SEPTEMBER 2010

Archons to Bestow Athenagoras Award Upon Cardinal McCarrick

by Presbytera Alice Noplos

The National Sisterhood of Presvyteres (NSP) is celebrating its 30th anniversary. In 1980, at the Clergy Laity Congress in Atlanta, Archbishop Iakovos of blessed memory, gave his blessing to the presbyteres attending to form a support organization. While support is forefront in the NSP, the organization has grown into many different committees and ministries. The NSP’s role is: • To promote the spirit of Christian love among the presbyteres of the Archdiocese. • To provide opportunities for presbyteres to get acquainted with one another. • To meet periodically to discuss mutual concerns and to develop programs for outreach. Each Metropolis has a representative who is an active board member. The existing standing committees are: TLC (The Listening Connection); Sister to Sister (a welcome committee for new presbyteres); Caregivers (a support for sister presbyteres who are caregivers); Clergy Family Concerns; Historian and Website. In partnership with the Archdiocesan Presbyters Council, the NSP continues to maintain a benevolent fund to help fellow priests and presbyteres who are in financial need. Two memorial funds (The Gregory Paleologos Memorial Fund and The Presbytera Stella Constantelos Memorial Fund) were set up to help widowed presbyteres. The NSP has a very accurate directory of all presbyteres, and via an e–mail listserver, are able to communicate clergy family news rather quickly. A recent letter from one of our brother clergyman said, “I wanted to sincerely thank you and our sister presbyteres for this beautiful ministry of communicating clergy family news and prayer requests to all of us on the NSP e–mail list. The moment I receive a notification, I cross

Change of Address

The newly-elected executive board for the National Sisterhood of Presvyteres with Archbishop Demetrios. (From left) Presbyteres Jeannie Monos (treasurer), Pauline Pavlakos (vice president), Alice Noplos (president), Cynthia Paleologos (past president/advisor), Magda Andronache (corresponding secretary) and Vassi Haros (recording secretary).

myself, utter a small prayer to the Lord, and immediately place the names on the e–mail into my personal prayer list for the holy proskomide, to be read at the next Divine Liturgy. “Though you may modestly deny taking any credit for this undertaking, I still believe it is important to thank you and all the sisters for your love and sensitiv-

ity to the plight of other clergy and their families. May God continue to grant you all good health, peace, and strength in Christ’s blessed diakonia.” With 30 years behind us, the NSP is looking to the future and realizes that the support, which was the reason for its formation, has now become the essence of what we are about.

Department of Religious Education Has New Shipping Procedures, Rates BROOKLINE, Mass. – Department of Religious Education customers are advised that shipping procedures and rates have changed. Orders involving Department of Religious Education-produced resources – especially textbooks – will ship from a new warehouse in Tulsa, Okla. Other resources will ship from the Brookline offices of the Department. This means that customers will often receive items in different shipments, at different times. Deliveries from Oklahoma will take three to four days to most U.S. locations, serving customers better. Items shipped from Brookline will continue to take one to seven days to reach most customers. Invoices will no longer be included

with the order but will be mailed separately or included only with the items shipped from Brookline. International orders will continue to be shipped as they have been, but with new rates. Rates will reflect the actual shipping charges, whether UPS or US Postal Service, plus a handling fee based on the order size. Customers in the Northeast, who sometimes visit the department to place and pick up an order should first contact the department (1-800-566-1088), before coming to the office. The Department of Religious Education has initiated these new procedures and rates to serve its customers with greater efficiency. Policies on placing orders, invoicing, and payment remain the same.

Inaugural Celebration Set For Mary Jaharis Center

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Leadership Award recipient

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In 2010, published bi–monthly/monthly by the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. Editorial and Business Ofﬁce: 8 East 79th Street, New York, NY 10075 TEL.: (212) 570–3555 FAX (212) 774–0239

D. Panagos photo

Peter G. Peterson (left), founder and chairman of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation and chairman emeritus and co-founder of The Blackstone Group, accepts the Leadership 100 Award for Excellence from L-100 Chairman Constantine G. Caras and Archbishop Demetrios. He spoke at the organizations Forum on Business and Philanthropy on Sept. 9. EDITOR IN CHIEF Jim Golding (Chryssoulis) GREEK SECTION EDITOR Eleftherios Pissalidis

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NEW YORK – The Order of St. Andrew the Apostle–Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate has announced that Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, former Archbishop of Newark and Archbishop Emeritus of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, will be the recipient of this year’s Athenagoras Human Rights Award. The award will be presented at the Archons’ Grand Banquet on Oct. 30. Cardinal McCarrick, one of most prominent Roman Catholic hierarchs in the world, is a longtime friend of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Archdiocese, as well as an internationally known advocate of religious freedom and interfaith understanding, according to an Archons press release. His interfaith leadership is recognized not only by the interfaith community internationaly, but particularly by the State Department. He is a prominent interfaith leader in efforts for peace in the Middle East, a distinguished bridge-builder in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim relations, and a constant sojourner for peace, reconciliation and understanding around the world. He is a long–time personal friend of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and Archbishop Demetrios. The Athenagoras Human Rights Award is presented annually by the Order to a person or organization, which has consistently exemplified by action, purpose and dedication, concern for the basic rights and religious freedom of all people. The 2009 recipient of the award was Anthony J. Limberakis, M.D., national commander of the Order of St. Andrew, who was honored by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew during his 2009 apostolic visit to the United States.

PRODUCTION & ADVERTISING Eleftherios Pissalidis GRAPHIC ARTIST Abel Montoya ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Soula Podaras BUSINESS MANAGER Marissa P. Costidis

CONTRIBUTING CORRESPONDENT & PHOTOGRAPHER: Nicholas Manginas

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BROOKLINE, Mass. – The Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture has been established on the campus of Hellenic College/Holy Cross School of Theology as a result of a $3 million donation from The Jaharis Family Foundation. The Center will serve as a premiere international research center for the promotion of Byzantine art and culture and host a series of academic programs including seminars, conferences, visiting scholars, special events and art programs. The inaugural celebration will take place on Saturday, Oct. 2. Complete coverage in the Observer’s October issue.

To Contact Us For questions about submitting information/news to the Orthodox Observer: Jim Golding, 212.570.3557, jim@goarch.org. Advertising & Greek sections, Lefteris Pissalidis, 212.570.3555, lefteris@goarch.org.

Upcoming deadline Deadline for submitting information, articles and photos for consideration for the next issue: Friday, October 1st, 2010 Photos should be sent as a large format jpg attachment (300 dpi or greater). E-mail to: jim@goarch.org Regular mail: Editor, Orthodox Observer, 8 E. 79th St., New York, NY 10075.

SEPTEMBER 2010

A RCHDIOCESE N E WS

CLERGY UPDATE

Ordinations to the Diaconate George Politis – Metropolitan Alexios of Atlanta – Holy Trinity Cathedral, Charlotte, N.C. 5/30/10 Christos Kanakis – Metropolitan Gerasimos of San Francisco – Holy Trinity Church, San Francisco 6/06/10 Ordinations to the Priesthood Deacon Nebojsa Pantic – Metropolitan Gerasimos of San Francisco – Ascension Cathedral, Oakland, Calif. 5/30/10 Deacon Daniel Payne – Metropolitan Isaiah of Denver – St. Nicholas Church, Waco, Texas 8/01/10 Assignments Fr. Nebojsa Pantic – Ascension Cathedral, Oakland, Calif. 6/01/10 Fr. Timothy Pavlantos – St. John the Baptist, Beaverton, Oregon (part-time -p/t) 6/01/10 – Greek Orthodox Mission of Salem, Salem, Oregon (servicing) 6/01/10 Dn. Christos Kanakis – St. Anthony Church, Pasadena, Calif 6/07/10 Fr. Athanasios Demos – St. Eleftherios Church, New York 6/15/10 Fr. John Dalrymple - Christ the Savior Mission, Brooksville, Fla. (p/t) 7/01/10 Fr. Panteleimon Maillis – Annunciation Cathedral, Columbus, Ohio 7/01/10 Dn. Daniel Payne – Annunciation Cathedral, Houston 7/01/10 Fr. Constantine Valantasis – St. Demetrios Church, Warren, Ohio 7/01/10 Fr. Jordan Brown – Holy Trinity Cathedral, Portland, Oregon 8/01/10 Fr. Mark Curtright – Annunciation Church, Lincoln, Neb. 8/01/10 Fr. Michael Lambakis – Annunciation Cathedral, Houston 8/01/10 Fr. Barnabas Powell – Sts. Raphael, Nicholas and Irene Church, Cumming, Ga. 8/01/10 Fr. Michael Tervo – St. Sophia Church, Bellingham, Wash. 8/01/10 Fr. Panteleimon Dalianis – St. Basil Church, Chicago 8/02/10 Fr. James Berends – St. Barbara Church, Durham, N.C. 8/09/10 Fr. Andrew Koufopoulos – Holy Trinity & St. John the Theologian, Jackson, Miss. 8/09/10 Fr. Constantine Lazarakis – Kimisis Tis Theotokou, Southampton, N.Y. 8/15/10 Fr. John Stavropoulos – St. George Church, Ocean City. Md. 8/15/10 Fr. John Alexandres – Prophet Elias, San Bernardino, Calif. (p/t) 09/01/10 Fr. John Artemas – St. George Church, DeKalb, Ill. 9/01/10 Fr. Haralambos Fox – Sts. Constantine & Helen, Lancaster, Calif. 9/01/10 Fr. Conan Gill – St. George Church, Albuquerque, N.M. 9/01/10 Fr. Kevin Millsaps – St. Nektarios Church, Charlotte, N.C. 9/01/10 Fr. Angelo Pappas – St. John the Baptist Church, Myrtle Beach, S.C. 9/01/10 Appointments Dn. Evagoras Constantinides, as director of Youth & Young Adult Ministries, Direct Archdiocesan District 6/01/10 Offikia Fr. Constantine Makrinos – Office of Protopresbyter, bestowed by Archbishop Demetrios 8/06/10 Fr. Constantine Lazarakis – Office of Economos, bestowed by Archbishop Demetrios 8/15/10 Retired Priests Fr. Teodor Bita 9/01/10 Releases Fr. Paul Patitsas to the Greek Orthodox Metropolitanate of New Zealand 7/23/10 Receptions Fr. Peter DeFonce, July 16, 2010 (from the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of North America) Suspensions Rescinded Fr. Dimitrios A. Pappas 6/22/10 Returned to status of Layman Fr. Elias T. Greer 8/06/10 Fr. Basil K. Papanikolaou 8/06/10 Fr. C. Paul Schroeder 8/06/10

ARCHIEPISCOPAL ENCYCLICAL The Ecclesiastical New Year Begins

Archbishop Receives Russian Metropolitan

John Mindala photo

NEW YORK – Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate Department of External Relations, made his first visit to the Archdiocese headquarters on Aug. 30 where he was welcomed by Archbishop Demetrios. After praying at the Chapel of St. Paul, and viewing the surviving relics of St. Nicholas Church of Ground Zero displayed in the chapel, the Metropolitan and the Archbishop discussed the recent Episcopal Assembly of North and Central America and issues of common interest for inter–Orthodox relations in the United States.

New Study Completed on the Orthodox Family GARRISON, N.Y. – The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese Center for Family Care has just completed its first study: “The Orthodox Family in America at Home and in Church.” This study is a first step toward a better understanding of how our Church ministers to the particular needs of families and how Orthodox families in America organize their everyday lives with regard to living their faith. In brief, this study gathered information from 646 parishioners surveyed who had children 18 and under living at home. On average, parishioners reported having about two children per household. 296 parishioners (45.8% of sample) have children ages 14–18 living with them at

Holy Cross feast day

home. Parishioners from 100 different parishes throughout our Archdiocese participated. In addition, the priests from these parishes filled out a survey about their parish’s population and their family ministry resources and needs. The study examined the following: • Religious practices at church and home • Main stressors experienced • Availability of parish support • Interest in workshops and knowledge of current supports • Significant predictors of increased religious and spiritual practices at home and at church To view the results in their entirety, visit www.family.goarch.org.

Dimitris Panagos photo

Archbishop Demetrios celebrates the Feast Day of the Holy Cross on Sept. 14 at the Hellenic College-Holy Cross Chapel. The event marked the beginning of the new school year. At the vespers service the previous evening, His Eminence presented the seminarians with the cross of the school and conducted the rassoforia ceremony for the incoming students. The chapel was filled to capacity. The Archbishop was assisted by HC/HC President Fr. Nicholas Triantafilou, former President Fr. Alkiviadis Calivas, Fr. Peter Chamberas, Fr. Eugen Pentiuc and Fr. Evangelos Thiani, a Holy Cross student from Kenya. Holy Cross has an entering class of 45 students, of whom 25 are Master of Divinity seminarians representing seven Metropolises. Seven of those are married and have come to the School of Theology with their wives and children, joining 30 other married seminarians. Five of this class attended the Crossroad summer program, sponsored by the Oﬃce of Vocation and Ministry at Hellenic College, when they were in high school. Four other Orthodox jurisdictions are represented by five Master of Divinity students. The remainder of the class is comprised of those seeking the degrees of Master of Theology and Master of Theological Studies as well as two exchange students from Greece. Notable is that one Protestant student enrolled in the MTh program and one Roman Catholic student enrolled in the MTS program. Hellenic College welcomed 26 students to the freshman class.

To the Most Reverend Hierarchs, the Reverend Priests and Deacons, the Monks and Nuns, the Presidents and Members of the Parish Councils of the Greek Orthodox Communities, the Distinguished Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Day, Afternoon, and Church Schools, the Philoptochos Sisterhoods, the Youth, the Hellenic Organizations, and the entire Greek Orthodox Family in America Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ, We begin this Ecclesiastical New Year as we should begin every year and each day of our lives, with hope in the promises of our Lord Jesus Christ for our salvation and a blessed life with Him for all eternity. The Apostle Paul in his Epistle to the Romans links this hope in the glory which shall be revealed in us (Romans 8:18) to another attribute that should be characteristic of our Christian lives, “hope with perseverance.” He states, “But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance” (8:25). The hope of believers is not an empty hope. It is not inactive or hesitant. It is not based on the naive idea that things will become better automatically. Our hope originates in our transformation through the power and presence of Christ, and it marks all attitudes and actions of our lives. It is in this hope that we join together with brothers and sisters in Christ in a community of love, worship, and fellowship. In hope, we gather all people into God’s home affirming His love and power to redeem their lives. In hope, we live in a fallen world responding to the needs around us in love, striving for and doing what is just and holy, and offering peace and true life. And we do this with perseverance. On this day of Indiction, of September 1, which marks the beginning of the Ecclesiastical New Year, “hope with perseverance” has a significant meaning. The question is how do we persevere through the challenges of this world in the hope of participating in the glorious liberty we will have as the children of God? We receive the power of perseverance as we gather in prayer and praise to the Holy Trinity, as we are guided through the Holy Sacraments, as we are edified through all aspects of worship through the Holy Scriptures, hymns, prayers, sermons, icons, and the sacred space of the Church. Through all of these, our perseverance is nurtured, and our hope grows into a strong witness of the Gospel to a world which seems hopeless, lost, and confused. This first day of September has also been designated by our holy and beloved Ecumenical Patriarchate as the Day for the Protection of our Natural Environment. We can also affirm the significance of “hope with perseverance” when we consider the challenges we face in the proper care and respect for the natural world. Over the past four months we have been saddened by the environmental tragedy

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A RCHDIOCESE N E WS

SEPTEMBER 2010

Archbishop Holds Memorial Service for St. Nicholas Church, Sept. 11 Victims by Jim Golding

NEW YORK – September 11, 2010 at Ground Zero recalled that tragic day in 2001 when nearly 3,000 people were killed in the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. Weather conditions were eerily similar as a bright, intense sun and cloudless deep blue sky served as a visible reminder of Sept. 11, 2001 for the nearly 100 people who attended the annual memorial service for St. Nicholas Church and the victims of the catastrophe. Many members of the church and family members of the victims gathered for the prayer service officiated by Archbishop Demetrios, who was joined by Bishop Savas of Troas and several priests of the Archdiocese, including Fr. John Romas, pastor of St. Nicholas. The service took place at 4 p.m. under an overhang extension of the national museum commemorating the Sept. 11 tragedy that is under construction, about 50 yards from the church’s new site at 130 Liberty St. Following the prayers, His Eminence read the list of names of Greek Orthodox victims of the attack (see list below). In his comments, he reassured those gathered that “St. Nicholas will be rebuilt as a memorial to freedom and to honor and remember the innocent victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks.” The Archbishop asked the members of the community to “praise and ask God to give eternal rest to the victims” and read a passage from a passage in the Old Testament book “The Wisdom of Solomon,” 3:1-7 that he said characterizes the victims of the attacks: But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and no torture will ever touch them. In the eyes of the undiscerning they seemed to have died, and their departure was considered to be misfortune and their passage from us to be their destruction; but they are at peace... Though chastened in a few things, Great kindness will be shown them, for God tested them and found them worthy of Himself. He tested them like gold in a furnace and accepted them as a whole burnt offering. In the time of their visitation they will shine forth. Archbishop Demetrios continued that the church will be built “in the shadow of

this place where people can find peace and reconciliation.” Speaking after His Eminence, John Couloucoundis, parish council president, thanked those who attended and said, “I believe St. Nicholas will be a sanctuary for all who want to come.” Orthodox Christian victims The following names are of the 16 known Greek Orthodox Christian victims of the 9–11 attacks: Joanna Ahladiotis, Anastasios (Ernest) Alikakos, Katerina Bantis, Lieutenant Peter (Panagiotis) Brennan, Anthony Demas, Konstantinos (Gus) Ekonomos, Peter Hansen, Vasilios (Bill) Haramis, John Katsimatidis, Danielle Kousoulis, George Merkouris, Peter Constantine Moutos, James Nicholas Papageorge, George Paris, Theodore Pigis, and Daphne Pouletsos Another 22 Orthodox Christian victims were: Yelena Melnichenko, Yevgeny Knyazev, Irina Kolpakova, Suzanne Kondratenko, Lyudmilla Ksido, Daniel Ilkanayev, Yelena Belkovsky, Aleksandr Valeryevich Ivantsov, Tatiana Ryjova, Alena Sesinova, Alexander Filipov, Gregory Sikorsky, Alexander Braginsky, Gennady Boyarsky, Tatiana Bakalinskaya, Iuriy Mouchinsky, Vladimir Tomasevic, Anthony Jovic and Bojan Kostic. Others who may be of Orthodox background: John Lezowsky,. Nicholas A. Bogdan, and Stephen Huczko. Renewed interest The issue of the rebuilding of St. Nicholas Church drew renewed public interest in recent weeks, following a flurry of media attention over efforts by an Islamic group to build a 13–story mosque and cultural center in a building (that formerly housed a Burlington Coat Factory store), about a block away from and on the opposite side of the St. Nicholas Ground Zero site. As attention turned to the unresolved issue of the rebuilding of St. Nicholas, the Archdiocese received numerous media inquiries. In the absence of Archbishop Demetrios, who was on a visit to Greece and the Ecumenical Patriarch, Fr. Mark Arey, ecumenical officer of the Archdiocese, was interviewed on several television and radio programs, and print media including FOXTV, Newsweek magazine, Religion News

Dimitris Panagos photo

Archbishop Demetrios conducts the memorial service for St. Nicholas Church and the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. The old and new church sites are located beyond the group of worshipers at the left.

Dimitris Panagos photo

Among those in attendance were several representatives of the military services. His Eminence spoke with the group for several minutes following the service.

Service and the National Herald. He noted that the issues of the building of the mosque and of St. Nicholas Church are separate and unrelated and that the Archdiocese has made every effort to resume negotiations with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which controls the entire Ground Zero site. The Port Authority plans to build an underground garage for its security vehicles directly below the proposed St. Nicholas Church site. Also commenting on the issue to the media was Bishop

Andonios of Phasiane, the Archdiocese chancellor who, on Aug. 23, participated in a press conference at Ground Zero with former Gov. George Pataki, who has been a strong proponent of the rebuilding of St. Nicholas since 2001. The bishop said that “people throughout the nation and the world have expressed the wish to see the church rebuilt” and the church could serve people “of all faiths.” He also thanked Gov. Pataki for his efforts and support for the church’s rebuilding.

A Time to Mourn, a Time to Rebuild   from page 1 served by the Port Authority must be made aware that nine years of promises are being swept aside, and if their actions are not challenged, the Port Authority will prevent the rebuilding of this holy space.” Gov. Pataki makes his intent clear In a recent news conference not far from St. Nicholas, the Hon. George Pataki, former Governor of New York stated, “We must rebuild St. Nicholas and we must do it here at the World Trade Center site. It’s incredibly disappointing to me that almost nine years later, not only is it not underway, but there haven’t been negotiations between church officials and the Port Authority for over a year.” His Grace Bishop Andonios, chancellor of the Archdiocese, stood with the governor and observed, “It is a house of

worship not simply for the Greek Orthodox community, but a monument to the 3,000 souls of all faiths that lost their lives here.” A growing alliance on behalf of rebuilding St. Nicholas New York State Sen. Dean Skelos and Minority Leader of the Senate has directly contacted the Port Authority. In an open letter to its leadership he writes, “The construction of St. Nicholas would be a strong and hopeful symbol of resurgence at Ground Zero that should be allowed to go forward without further delay.” He reminded the Port that in 2004, the agency made a public commitment with then-Governor Pataki and church leaders to build a new church at 130 Liberty Street, but they have since reneged on that commitment and stopped communicating with church leaders. Meeting the Challenge The New York leadership that is

beginning to rally to the Archdiocese because of this profoundly unfair, unethical and inappropriate behavior is heartening. But Fr. Mark Arey, ecumenical officer of the Archdiocese, says the individual church member has an important role to play.“Each one of us needs to be informed and understand the argument. Since 1916, this church has been part of the downtown community. “It must be rebuilt as a symbol of hope not just for the congregation or even the surrounding community but also for the whole country. “It was the only church destroyed on 9/11 and the Archdiocese has engaged in honest, candid negotiating with the Port Authority,” explained Fr. Mark. “Last year they got up from the table, stopped speaking to us and have since made comments that disparage the motivations of the Church, to the point of accusing us of greed. “This is patently not true and

speaks to the Port Authority’s own mind set at a time when they have consistently been criticized for their inability to move the rebuilding of Ground Zero forward,” continued Fr. Mark. Everyone is delegated Jerry Dimitriou stated, “Each and every one of us is empowered to contact our elected officials and ask them to confront the Port Authority on this issue. “Each one of us has the means to be heard and to entreat others to join in our fight to rebuild St. Nicholas. “Know who your state senator is, your Assemblyman or woman, and your member of Congress. Together, we will overcome this difficult challenge and re-build St. Nicholas.” (Go to Congress.org/congressorg/ dbq/officials for jurisdiction maps of elected officials and their contact information).

SEPTEMBER 2010

Ecumenical

Patriarchate

CNN Program Documents Ecumenical Patriarchate’s Plight In late August, CNN International aired a program entitled “Turkey’s Dwindling Greek Christians” as part of its series “World’s Untold Stories.” Ivan Watson’s insightful documentary captured the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s plight in Turkey. CNN’s international reach is more than 200 million households and hotel rooms in over 200 countries. by Bill Wunner - CNN Worldwide

ISTANBUL, Turkey --Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew is the living embodiment of an ancient tradition. From his historic base in Istanbul, Turkey, the 270th Patriarch of Constantinople claims to be the direct successor of the Apostle Andrew. Today he’s considered “first among equals” in the leadership of the Greek Orthodox church, and is the spiritual leader of 250 million Orthodox Christians around the world. But few of them are in his own home country. “We are a small Christian minority,” Bartholomew laments. “We have suffered because of Greek-Turkish confrontation, struggle, and a lack of mutual trust and confidence. And that is why we lost most of our faithful.” Turkey’s once-flourishing Greek community is fading away. The country is predominantly Muslim and led by a secular government that’s had a complicated relationship with the patriarchate. If Turkish laws, demographics and attitudes aren’t changed, Bartholomew could ultimately be the last Patriarch of Constantinople. “We are not all in despair for the future of our church,” Bartholomew said. “It is not easy, but it is not impossible.” The Turkish government can veto any candidate put forward for the position of patriarch. And it requires the patriarch be a Turkish citizen. Bartholomew is, but most of those best qualified to succeed him are not. So the government has proposed offering Turkish citizenship to Orthodox archbishops overseas. Several have applied; so far, none has been approved. The Turkish government also refuses to recognize the title Ecumenical Patriarch, or Bartholomew’s role as an international religious leader. Officially, he is viewed as a local bishop who leads a shrinking community of a few thousand Greek Orthodox citizens. Yorgo Stefanopulos is one of them. “I am a curiosity now in Turkey,” he said. “We used to be a minority; now we are a curiosity.” Stefanopulos is an outspoken leader of Istanbul’s Greek community. About 50 years ago, that community numbered more than 100,000. Today, it’s probably less than 3,000. He insists that decline was not accidental. Instead, he blames the Turkish government. Decades ago, he said, they targeted ethnic Greeks with nationalist policies,like wealth taxes, property seizures, and campaigns to speak only Turkish in the streets. Then there was the pogrom in 1955: riots directed against Greeks and Greekowned property. The violence was later found to have been orchestrated by Turkish authorities.

The historic Monastery of Panagia Soumela in Trapezounda (right), where Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew (top) celebrated the Service of the Kimisis tis Theotokou on Aug. 15, the first time a service has been held here in more than 90 years. More photos and coverage on page 15. (Also, see related story below).

As a result, Greeks left Istanbul in droves. “The Turkish government somehow managed to do a bloodless ethnic cleansing,” Stefanopulos said. Today’s Turkish government says those events are from the distant past, and they’re now looking ahead to reconciliation. “Turkey is going through a period of transition,” said Egemen Bagis, the country’s Minister for European Union Affairs. “Turkey’s becoming a much more democratic, much more prosperous, much more transparent society.” Yet, the government has resisted calls to reopen the patriarchate’s main school of theology. For more than a century, the Halki seminary educated future Greek Orthodox bishops, theologians and patriarchs, until Turkey’s highest court ordered it closed in 1971. Since then, it’s remained empty, worrying former students like theologian Satirios Varnalidis. “We want to reopen this school so that we can provide new priests to the Ecumenical Patriarchate,” Varnalidis said. “Otherwise, in a little while our community just won’t have any more priests.” For years, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has talked of reopening the school. Bagis insists the government is still working on it. Despite these difficulties, Patriarch Bartholomew is heartened by new signs of hope that his community and his church will survive. “We have many young people from Greece who want to come and be established in Turkey,” he says. “This is an opposite current than before.” Haris Rigas is part of that trickle of fresh immigration, which offers perhaps the best hope of reviving Istanbul’s Greek community. “The minute I came I was in love with the city and felt that I had to live here,” he said. Rigas has been studying the city’s indigenous Greek community. He’s also a musician in a band that plays Rembetiko, a genre of old, mostly Greek, folk songs. His studies and his music are focused on the preservation and promotion of Greek culture. “The only way for the community to survive is to attain a degree of visibility,”

he said. “They’ve played an important historical role in this city throughout the centuries, and I think they should still do it.” Earlier this month, the Turkish state and the Ecumenical Patriarchate made a historic step towards reconciliation. Thousands of Orthodox Christians gathered for a prayer service at the ancient cliffside monastery of Sumela, near Turkey’s Black Sea Coast, on Aug. 15. Patriarch Bartholomew conducted a divine liturgy, the first Christian service of its kind at Sumela, in more then 80 years. Even if Istanbul’s Greek community makes a comeback, some fear that the patriarchate itself may not last much longer, due to demographics and lingering suspicion from the Turkish government.

And the patriarch remains hopeful and resolute. He rejects conjecture that he could be the last Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. “Absolutely not,” Bartholomew insists. “We trust a divine providence, and the guarantee given to us by our Lord himself, that the church can survive. “This is our faith, this is our conviction, this is our hope, this is our prayer. And all the rest we leave at the hands of God.” To view the link, go to https://zimbra. goarch.org/service/home Reprinted from The Order of St. Andrew, Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate newsletter.

Ecumenical Patriarch Celebrates Service at Historic Monastery in Pontus TRAPEZOND, Turkey – After almost nine decades, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew celebrated the Divine Liturgy for the Feast of the Dormition of Theotokos on Aug. 15 at the historic Monastery of Panagia Soumela in Trapezounda. In attendance were Metropolitans of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, members of the Greek and Russian parliaments, Turkish authorities as well as numerous pilgrims from Greece, Russia, and other countries. According to news reports The Turkish government allowed Christians to pray Sunday at a Greek Orthodox monastery for the first time since the country’s creation, seeking to improve the country’s record on religious tolerance and boost tourism. Most of the hundreds of people packed into Sumela’s tiny cliff–hanging monastery were descendants of Pontic Greeks, forced from the coastal areas of the Black Sea in a huge population exchange between Turkey and Greece in 1923. Others fled to Russia. “This is our fathers’ land and the land of our grandfathers,” said Fr. Athenagoras from Thessaloniki, explaining the event’s importance as he

returned from wading into the crowd with a chalice of wine for communion. Other priests passed huge baskets of bread over the heads of jostling worshippers.“We came because we think this is our native town,” said a 20–year–old language student and Pontic Greek descendant who lives in Piatagorsk, Russia. Two Russian Cossacks in uniform held up an icon throughout the service. “We came to support our Greek brothers,” said Ataman Oleg Gobelinski. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew thanked Turkey’s government – and the medieval Ottoman emperors who helped the monastery – in his sermon. He led the service with top prelates from Greece and Russia. Turkey’s government was represented by the mayor of the local town, Macka. Only small numbers remain of Turkey’s once–large Christian communities. While Christians have freedom of worship and access to churches, many holy places have been converted to mosques or museums, or were allowed to decay. The political atmosphere in Turkey has transformed since the Islamic–leaning government agreed to the church openings more than a year ago.

SEPTEMBER 2010

Ecumenical

Patriarchate

Ecumenical Patriarch’s Message for the Day of the Protection of the Environment

Beloved Children in Lord, Our ever-memorable predecessor, the late Patriarch Demetrios, who possessed a deep awareness of the gravity of the environmental crisis, as well as of the responsibility of the Church to directly and effectively confront the crisis, issued the first official encyclical dealing with the protection of the natural environment more than two decades ago. Through this encyclical, the Mother Church officially established the date of September 1st, the beginning of the ecclesiastical year - as a day of prayer for the protection of the environment, declaring it to the plenitude of the Church throughout the length and breadth of the world. At that time, our Church insightfully emphasized the significance of the eucharistic and ascetic ethos of our tradition, that manifests our most important and most crucial unique contribution toward the proper and universal struggle for the protection of the natural environment as a Divine Creation and shared inheritance. Today, in the midst of an unprecedented financial crisis, humanity is facing many and diverse trials. But this trial is related not only to our individual hardships; this trial affects every aspect of human society, especially our behavior and perception of the surrounding world and the way we rank our values and priorities. It is important to note that the current grievous financial crisis may spark the much-reported and absolutely essential shift to environmentally viable develop-

† BARTHOLOMEW

By THE MERCY OF GOD Archbishop of Constantinople, New Rome, and Ecumenical Patriarch, Grace AND PeacE UNTO THE PLENTITUDE OF THE CHURCH, FROM THE FASHIONER OF ALL CREATION, OUR LORD AND GOD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST ment; i.e., to a standard of economic and social policy whose priority will be the environment, and not unbridled financial gain. Let us all consider as an example what may happen to countries that are suffering today on account of the financial crisis and poverty, such as Greece, which at the same time have exceptional natural riches: unique ecosystems, rare fauna and flora and natural resources, exquisite

landscapes, abundant sunlight and wind. If ecosystems deteriorate and disappear, natural sources become depleted, and landscapes suffer destruction, and climate change produces unpredictable weather conditions, on what basis will the financial future of these countries and the planet as a whole depend? We hold, therefore, that there is a dire need in our day for a combination of

societal sanctions and political initiatives, such that there is a powerful change in direction, to a path of viable and sustainable environmental development. For our Orthodox Church, the protection of the environment, as a divine and very good creation, embodies a great responsibility for every human person, regardless of material or financial benefits. The direct correlation of the God-given duty and mandate, to work and preserve, with every aspect of contemporary life constitutes the only way to a harmonious co-existence with each and every element of creation, and the entirety of the natural world in general. Therefore, we call upon all of you, beloved brethren and children in the Lord, to take part in the titanic and righteous battle to alleviate the environmental crisis, and to prevent the even worse results that derive from its consequences. Let us motivate ourselves to harmonize our personal and collective life and attitudes with the needs of nature’s ecosystems, so that every kind of fauna and flora in the world and in the universe may live and thrive and be preserved.

September 1st 2010 Your beloved brother in Christ and fervent supplicant before God í Bartholomew of Constantinople

SEPTEMBER 2010

The Voice of Philoptochos President Skeadas Extols Convention and Philoptochos Members Important concerns, meaningful projects and compassionate faith brought 382 Philoptochos delegates from throughout the USA to convene in Atlanta for the 2010 National Philoptochos Biennial Convention. We gathered in response to His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios’ call to Come and See – Witnessing our Faith in Christ through Works. The Philoptochos Convention opened on Independence Day commemorating the freedom that our forefathers declared 234 years ago. Freedom is a work in progress and the women of Philoptochos attending the Convention representing the entire membership demonstrated their commitment to freedom and affirmed their dedication to the mission of Philoptochos. On behalf of the Greek Orthodox Ladies Philoptochos Society, I share with you some highlights from this extraordinary and successful Convention. We did come and we did see. Our program offered the opportunity to come together as a whole body not only to execute the administrative duties that allow our organization to proceed in the professional and respectful manner that has become our hallmark, but more importantly, we observed presentations by Greek Orthodox women and men of faith and vision, further affirming our spirituality which is the heart and soul of this magnificent army of Philoptochos women! We truly did “Come and See” as we witnessed the ministry of our missionaries at work. We were fortunate to have with us individuals who have directly benefitted through our Ministry Commitment Programs. Our journey took us from Saint Basil Academy to Holy Cross Seminary to colleges across the country where our

Orthodox young adults study. We heard how Philoptochos continues to make a difference to their lives. We then ventured overseas to bear witness and see the fruits of our labors for IOCC in Ethiopia and OCMC in Alaska, India and Albania. The thought and care that was enacted by our nine 2010 Chapter Challenge chapters through their projects spoke to the mission of Philoptochos, that of dedication, dignity and respect to helping those in need. They took the mission statement of our organization and with kindness and caring brought it to life. Challenges were directed to benefit the aged, the children, the hungry, the destitute and the disabled. In one Challenge, the collecting and gifting of purses helped to restore women’s confidence as they reenter the workforce after having faced homelessness and despair. Another Challenge partnered with Bless-

ings in a Backpack, an organization which fills backpacks with nonperishable food and drink items given to school children every Friday to ensure they have food to eat on the weekends. We were honored to have with us the founder of Blessings in a Backpack, Mr. Stan Curtis, along with Liz Murray, a homeless child who through perseverance graduated from Harvard U. Over 500 backpacks were collected at this Convention from our delegates and were given to the Atlanta Public School system as they will be starting the Blessings in a Backpack initiative this fall. Important topics were addressed including membership, leadership, and through Social Services, how to cope with the 21st century day-to-day stresses that women face. The Convention Program Committee invited Greek Orthodox women, leaders in their fields, to make appropriate presentations. The Membership Committee presented a different approach to engage and enlist new Philoptochos stewards. Leadership was led by Evelyn PloumisDevick, Ph.D., a 25–year veteran of counseling organizations on how to cultivate leaders who created a workbook specifically for Philoptochos titled “Vision in Action, The Journey and Legacy of a Servant Leader,” which was given to each delegate. Finally,

Convention Honors Exemplary Programs Among the many 2010 Convention highpoints was the Awards Program presentations by National President Aphrodite Skeadas and Awards Chairman Dee Nicolaou to the chapters and metropolises listed below: Most Notable Membership Project 1st Place – St. John the Baptist, Omaha, Neb. – Microi Philoi Project. 1st Place Runner-Up – St. Demetrios, Warren, Ohio – Medallions for Newly Married Couples. Most Creative Project 1st Place - Sts. Constantine and Helen, Middletown, Ohio – Philoptochos Philotisyis- Friends of the poor and Friends of the Earth 1st Place Runner-Up – Annunciation Cathedral, Baltimore – Bridal Bags – Welcome bags Most Outstanding Outreach Project 1st Place – St. Barbara, Durham, N.C. – Medical Ministry-for patients and families at Duke University Medical Center 1st Place Runner Up – St. Luke, Broomall, Pa. – ConKerr Cancer – Distributed pillowcases to children with cancer. 1st Place – Metropolis of San Francisco – Kids ‘n Cancer Camp Agape 1st Place Runner Up – Metropolis of Atlanta – All Children’s Hospital ICU Neo Natal Consultation Room Most Unique Outreach Project 1st Place – Annunciation Cathedral, Houston, – Spread Your Wings – Conference for Orthodox girls and their families focused on facing today’s challenges 1st Place Runner Up - St. Sophia,

Syracuse, N.Y. – Pillowcase Dresses for African Girls 1st Place – Metropolis of Atlanta – Shoes for Orphan Souls Most Successful Fundraising Project 1st Place – St. Spyridon, San Diego – En Vogue – Multi-faceted project with online reservations 1st Place Runner Up – St. Luke – Broomall, Pa. – Bid ‘n Buy Most Innovative Website Communique 1st Place – St. George Cathedral, Springfield, Mass. 1st Place Runner Up – Sts. Nicholas, Constantine and Helen - Orange, N.J. 1st Place – Metropolis of Atlanta Most Impressive Internet Newsletter 1st Place – Holy Trinity, Raleigh, N.C. 1st Place Runner Up – Annunciation Cathedral, Baltimore 1st Place – Metropolis of Atlanta Most Impressive Printed Newsletter 1st Place – Sts. Peter and Paul, Frederick, Md. 1st Place Runner Up – Sts. Constantine and Helen, Cardiff- By-The Sea, Calif. 1st Place – Metropolis of Chicago, Philoptochos Focus Most Notable Special Awareness Projects Sts. Nicholas, Constantine and Helen, Orange, N.J. – Inform, Engage, Maintain and Grow St. George, Piscataway, N.J. – Philoptochos United Way Program Holy Trinity, Portland, Oregon – Flavor in Greek Sts. Constantine and Helen, West-

land, Mich. – Forty Day Blessing Gift Bag St. Paul, Savannah, Ga. – Sheila House Membership Participation and Growth Winners by number of members and percent increase Chapter with 20 or Fewer Members 1st Place - Holy Trinity- Waterbury, Conn. – 111 percent increase 1st Place Runner Up - Holy Transfiguration – Anchorage, Alaska – 71 percent Chapter with 21 to 49 Members 1st Place - St. Basil – San Jose, Calif. – 100 percent 1st Place Runner Up - Annunciation – Mobile, Ala. – 91 percent Chapter with 50 to 99 Members 1st Place - Holy Transfiguration – Marietta, Ga. – 110 percent 1st Place Runner-Up - Sts. Constantine and Helen – Andover, MA – 79 percent Chapter with 100 to 199 Members 1st Place - St. John the Theologian – Tenafly, N.J. – 28 percent 1st Place Runner-Up - Assumption Cathedral – Denver – 24 percent Chapter with 200 or More Members 1st Place - Holy Trinity Cathedral, NYC – 17 percent 1st Place Runner-Up - St. Luke – Broomall, Pa. – 2 percent National Ministry Commitments 240 chapters were recognized for their 100 percent participation in the National Commitments. Complete information on the Awards Program and the projects may be found at www.philoptochos.org.

we were treated to our own version of the prime-time show “The View.” This panel of professional Orthodox clinicians, Paula Marchman-Lekas, Presbytera Dr. Roxanne Louh and Melissa Tsongranis, Associate Director for the Center for Family Care of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, gave us “Permission to Breathe.” Our rich presentations were well received as were the special honors to the AGAPE recipients and the Chapter Award winners. The cultural event at the Michael C. Carlos Museum provided for a beautiful evening of art and fellowship where our esteemed and beloved Past National President Mimi Skandalakis served as honorary chair. Immense thanks are extended to our capable public relations chairmen and their committee who will make available on the Philoptochos website all presentations and power points for your viewing. I hope everyone will take advantage of these resources that may be utilized to enrich chapters’ stewardship and further chapter outreach programs. With the blessings of Archbishop Demetrios, members of the National Philoptochos Executive and National Boards presented a compelling and all encompassing presentation on the need for the Philoptochos Center of Philanthropy to be located in New York City. Being present in the room, Metropolitan Evangelos of New Jersey vigorously supported the action taken by the Executive and National Boards. The response from the delegates was overwhelming and humbling. In true Philoptochos fashion, when need arises, Philoptochos women respond with action. As soon as the presentation was completed a delegate approached the microphone and with pride and determination in her voice, thanked the Board for undertaking this initiative honoring all the women who came before us offering a legacy for our daughters and those who follow and offered the first pledge towards the Center. This began a tremendous outpouring of love and support. The Direct Archdiocesan District Philoptochos president and each Metropolis Philoptochos president stood and pledged their respective support. I am humbled to report that from the Convention floor more than $585,000 was raised through donations and pledges by the numerous delegates in less than 45 minutes on Wednesday, July 7th, 2010! This will be a Center for the people whom we serve, built and supported by the people who serve the greatest organization, Philoptochos. The room was imbued with love and vision for the future. My deepest thanks to each of you and each of the delegates who also saw that vision and responded to it! I thank all members of this extraordinary organization. To the dedicated delegates, if you were spiritually renewed, you are blessed. If you returned to your home parish and chapter with positive and rejuvenated energy, eager to further the good works that you do, you are commended. To all of our members, if you share the vision of the future Philoptochos, you are applauded. Every action occurred because of your fervent belief in our mission and your commitment to be part of it. On behalf of the Greek Orthodox Ladies Philoptochos Society, I express great gratitude to each and every member of the Society. May you always be guided and blessed by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. With love in Christ, Aphrodite Skeadas, President

Commentaries and Reflections

9/11 Church NY forgot

St. Nicholas Church in 1920. by Andrea Peyser-NY Post

Who will cry for the church at Ground Zero? No one has or ganized a march urging St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church to rise at the World Trade Center site. And no one has raised a voice to defend the tiny house of worship’s right to exist. But all New Yorkers should shout in unison: Bring back St. Nick’s! While the city’s political brass stands behind the construction of a massive, 13-story mosque and Islamic cultural center near Ground Zero, St. Nicholas Church, far smaller but no less revered, is all but forgotten. A crying shame. Long before the Twin Towers were imagined, the 1,200–square–foot, giltadorned church was built in 1916 by a handful of Greek immigrants at 155 Cedar St., site of a former tavern. For generations, people of all faiths stopped in to pray. And, unlike the Ground Zero mosque, whose spiritual leader says separate prayer spaces will divide worshippers of various faiths, the pews at St. Nick were never segregated. But on Sept. 11, 2001, it ended. The church was crushed by tons of concrete and debris as the south tower fell on its roof. Fortunately, no one was killed in the church. But relics, hidden in a safe, were turned to dust. And, worshippers learned much later, their church was never to return. With all the tales of horror that emerged that dark day, the story of St. Nicholas should enrage New Yorkers, regardless of faith. Because plans to rebuild the little church – the only house of worship destroyed on 9/11 – were scrapped by the Port Authority as early as last year. But news of the demolished plans trickled into the parish only in the last few weeks. Evidently, the brass believes they have bigger things to worry about than a

curious, little homeless church. “It’s outrageous that the politicians are falling all over themselves to say the mosque has a right to be built there, and none of them, with the exception of former Gov. [George] Pataki, has come out in support of the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church being allowed to be rebuilt in its legal and rightful place,” said Nicholas Karacostas, who now prays in New Jersey. His title is supreme president of the American-Hellenic Educational Progressive Association. “It’s extremely disheartening,” said Ellen Karis, a Greek–American comedienne who has raised thousands for the church. “It was so beautiful.” A deal to move the church to a 6,500-square-foot space on Liberty Street, plus pay it $20 million for air and ground rights, was proposed, then crushed, by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. PA spokesman Steve Sigmund blames church leaders for the loss. St. Nick honchos “spent eight months trying to get more out of the agreement, more in cash,” Sigmund complained. The PA cut off negotiations, he said, because it wanted to start building an underground vehicle center, which extends under the Liberty Street site, and had lost patience with the church. But Greek Orthodox Archdiocese spokesman Father Mark Arey insists, “It was never about money!” Father Arey said talks broke down after the church resisted handing the PA its Cedar Street site before it got hold of new digs on Liberty Street. Even so, he’d hoped negotiations would resume this year. A thriving church “could be a sign of hope and reconciliation at Ground Zero.” But last month, the PA let it be known the deal was kaput. “The PA won’t return our calls,” Arey griped. “We’ve been intimidated and bullied. We’re just a little church.” Sigmund said St. Nick’s might as well go back to Cedar Street. Arey said the site is not habitable. Now, 100 member families, plus thousands of devoted worshippers, pray for a miracle. An online petition started by Karcostas has drawn more than 2,000 signatures. This is a disgrace. There must be room at Ground Zero for a little Greek church. Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/ news/local/church_ny_forgot_t3ZNFWDEm AjWWe7T1G6bdN/1#ixzz104xxbt2t

SEPTEMBER 2010

Help Us Rebuild Ground Zero Greek Orthodox Church: Pastor Wants St. Nicholas to Rise Again by Fr. Mark Arey

Amid the atmosphere of progress in the rebuilding of Ground Zero, there’s an important story that the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey would rather you didn’t know about: The Port Authority has virtually seized the property of the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church at 155 Cedar St., and has refused to make good on its promise to help rebuild the historic church that was destroyed there on 9/11. St. Nicholas Church was founded in 1916 by Greek immigrants, who dedicated the church to the patron saint of those who sail the seas. Over the years, it served not only the spiritual needs of its own parishioners, but also became known as a place of meditation and retreat for those who worked on Wall Street and in lower Manhattan. It served as a sacred space in which people of all backgrounds working or visiting in the surrounding areas could stop, light a candle and spend a few moments in prayer and reflection. St. Nicholas Church was the only house of worship destroyed by the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, and its reconstruction is imperative, not only as a memorial to the nearly 3,000 innocent people of all faiths who lost their lives on 9/11, but also as a living demonstration of our determination as Americans to stand for the values of democracy and freedom. Few, if any, people would challenge the importance of rebuilding St. Nicholas, and although the process has been slow, four successive Lower Manhattan Development Corp. and Port Authority administrations honored this commitment, which has entailed extensive planning on both their part and the part of the archdiocese. Then, in March 2009, the newest Port Authority administration sent the archdiocese a curt e-mail that stated, “We are terminating negotiations and

will be proceeding with an alternative approach.” The PA reneged on its agreement to rebuild the church at a nearby location, 130 Liberty St., and at the same time — without the church’s permission or even informing it — excavated the original site, rendering it unusable. With this unilateral decision, the Port Authority literally swept away the remains of St. Nicholas Church — and nearly a decade of promises to rebuild it. There have been no further negotiations with the PA in well over a year. We have engaged in honest, forthright negotiations with the Port Authority. We would prefer to resolve this issue by sitting back down at the table with the PA. At the same time, the archdiocese has no choice at this point other than to appeal to the public, to our civic leaders and to the elected officials of New York and New Jersey — and, if necessary and with regret, to proceed with other avenues afforded to us under our system of government. Former Gov. George Pataki and state Senate Minority Leader Dean Skelos have already stepped up to help the archdiocese, and others we are contacting have agreed to join us. We are saddened that through its actions regarding St. Nicholas, the Port Authority does not seem to understand the very reason Americans are dedicated to rebuilding Ground Zero. We pray that this situation will soon be resolved, and we will rebuild this house of prayer and remembrance for all people. Fr. Arey is the ecumenical officer of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese. This article first appeared in the Sept. 20 edition of the New York Daily News. * Read more: www.nydailynews. com/opinions/2010/09/20/2010-09-20_ help_us_rebuild_ground_zero_greek_ orthodox_church_pastor_wants_st_nicholas_to_ri.html#ixzz10BI3n8Sb

Andrea Peyser is a NY Post columnist. Her column appeared in the Sept. 20 edition of the Post and is reprinted here with permission.

ORTHODOX OBSERVER photo

New site – The new location for St. Nicholas Church is situated in the area near the yellow construction vehicle behind the signs.

Interior of St. Nicholas Church in 1992

ORTHODOX OBSERVER archival photo

The tiny sanctuary of St. Nicholas Church at Ground Zero could seat about 50 during worship services in the unevenly shaped rectangular building that measured 22 feet wide in front, but 20 feet, 11 inches wide in the read. It’s sides measured 56 feet and 55 ½ feet.

SEPTEMBER 2010

TALES FROM L.A. The Macho Approach to Christ by Fr. John S. Bakas

Sitting at LAX some weeks ago and waiting for my flight to depart, I was looking through my old briefcase. Unexpectedly, I found an old copy of USA Today I had tucked into a side pocket and forgotten. What quickly caught my attention was the Life Section article; “Guys are few in the pews… churches change to attract men.” The article by Cathy Lynn Grossman stated that churches nationwide are worried about attracting men to their services on Sundays. It seems that women outnumber men in attendance in every major Christian denomination and that they are 20 to 25 percent more likely to attend worship at least weekly. In reaction to what is really not new in Christianity but has now surfaced as a new trend, is what Christianity Today calls the “evolution of the chestthumping evangelism.” This trend (yes, we see them come and go), has some churches designing and building their worship facilities with stone floors, hunter-green and amber decor and rustic-beam ceilings to woodsy scenes on church websites. No pastels. No flowers. No sweet music. No sitting with your hands-folded prayer postures in these “guy churches.” These congregations, especially across the Sun Belt, are even holding “Beast Feasts” as ways to attract and evangelize unchurched men. The pastor of one of these churches stated: “We wanted it to feel like some guy’s really, really cool home.” I put the paper down and didn’t know whether I should smile, thinking of the number of Saturday Night Live skits that could be spawned by this “new” phenomenon, or just shake my head in cynical disbelief of the “trendy shenanigans” that pass for Christianity. No wonder, I thought, that so many unbelievers and critics of contemporary Christianity roll their eyes with mocking gestures when they see religion being marketed as just another product reaching a targeted audience to increase market share. I don’t want to sound self-righteous but as a Greek Orthodox priest who comes from a 2,000-year-old unbroken Christian liturgical and sacramental tradition, I cringe when I see what seems to me to be superficial “botoxed theology” lacking in the transcendent feeling

and anesthetized to the full message of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is a message that is not always comfortable or color coordinated to individual egos who have forgotten our Lord saying; “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me!” (Mk. 8:34). God respects our freedom of choice. That is why Jesus says: “Whoever desires.” I believe the desire for God in one form or another is in every human being. Gender has nothing to do with it. I also believe that the search for God and some personal revelation of Him is the only true meaning in the life of humans. Without this heart search and revelation we live only as animals without comfort and wisdom. Life becomes futile, no matter of our station or power or birth. Eminent scholar Joseph Campbell, noted for his writings on religion and mythology states: “The problem for and the function of religion in this age is to awaken the heart when the clergy do not or cannot awaken the heart, which tells us that they are unable to interpret the symbols through which they are supposed to enlighten and spiritually nourish their people.” The psalmist cries out: “My soul longs, yes, even faints for the courts of the Lord; My heart and flesh cry out for the living God.” (Ps. 84:2) Trendy pastors, trendy issues, trendy marketing schemes are not new in the Church. The challenge for the Church is to touch the human heart and let Christ transform it through the inimitable power of the cross. The heart is the battleground of our search for God. Gender plays a very minor role in our conceits, lusts, intemperance and self-centeredness. We can be comforted in the Lord’s words: “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.” In my Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” (Jn.14:1-3). Fr. Bakas is dean of St. Sophia Cathedral, Los Angeles and a faculty member of the Loyola Marymount University School of Theology.

SEPTEMBER 2010

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Marriage and Family Getting Past Couple Gridlock by Fr. Charles Joanides, Ph.D., LMFT

Father Charles, I was raised Greek Orthodox, and I married a man who was raised Catholic. After one year of marriage, we have been struggling with the following major question: In which religion will we raise our future children? I know that a successful marriage is built on sacrifice and consideration for your partner, but what do you do when one person has to give? I am not willing to compromise on this issue? Please help. As time passes, I feel more confused. E-mail Respondent I recently received this E-mail. My response appears below. While my response may be especially relevant to couples with similar issues and challenges, I believe my suggestions also relate to all couples who are struggling to get past couple gridlock and cultivate oneness. Here is how I answered this respondent. Dear Respondent, As you may already know from reading the information on the Interfaith Marriage website, couples who have strong connections to their religious and cultural backgrounds are more vulnerable to encountering challenges like those you’ve described. Often, it is not easy for such couples to come to mutually satisfying resolutions because both partners are highly committed to their backgrounds. Another closely related reason is because one partner usually has to make most of the concessions. As a result, many couples with high connections to their backgrounds are unable to reach mutually satisfying resolutions for months and even years. Even when changes occur in such marriages, they are often unilateral changes that create distance and negatively affect their relationship. So, I’m glad you wrote me, because these days couples – especially newlyweds- can’t afford to remain stuck for long periods of time. Gridlock is toxic, and it compromises oneness by infecting a young couple’s marriage with destructive negativity. With that stated, here are some suggestions that I hope will help you both get past the gridlock you have written about to me. My Suggestions Step #1. Once you review my response, if you’re interested in trying what I’ve suggested, inform your husband that you wrote to me for a second opinion, and let him review my e-mail. If he finds what I’ve written of value, and is willing to try these ideas, make an appointment with one another. You’ll need around an hour to begin taking advantage of these suggestions. Step #2. Formerly commit yourselves to finding some mutually satisfying Christ -centered resolutions. This step is important because it helps you form a partnership that begins to dissolve thehim-versus-her standoff that likely exists between the two of you whenever the issues you’ve described arise. Step #3. Once you’ve formed a partnership, pray together for guidance and assistance. Your prayers should come from the heart. If possible, each of you should take turns praying. Whoever feels the most comfortable with this suggestion should begin. If you’re not certain how to begin

this step, begin by reciting prayers from each partner’s tradition. Once you’ve read several prayers, end by speaking to God from your heart just as you might speak to a trusted mentor or parent figure. Step #4. After you pray together, start defining and articulating the issues and problems in respectful language that you both understand. During this step, each of you should take turns speaking. One of you should write down the issues in objective language on a piece of paper entitled, “Our Christ-centered Partnership.” You should also avoid becoming critical and contemptuous. Blame, criticism and contempt will quickly put one or both of you on the defensive and back into gridlock. Step #5. Assuming you complete step four, this next step will require you to clearly and respectfully talk about what you’ve done to loosen the gridlock. Often, partners have different opinions about what’s been done. You should take turns speaking and listening when attempting to complete this step. Both partner’s perspectives are important here and throughout this exercise. As you proceed through this step a common understanding of the issues and problems should emerge, along with a better understanding of the reasons that have caused the gridlock. Warning: Do not proceed to the next step until you both believe steps four and five have been completed. In an effort to complete the last two steps the following few observations might help. Please remember that both partners may have different opinions and strong beliefs regarding the steps that need to take place in order for them to get past the gridlock. Please also avoid getting too bogged down in the details – the devil is often in the details. Your common objective should be to chronicle what has been done and what you’ve done to resolve the gridlock. Step #6. If you get through the first five steps, you are now ready to proceed to the sixth step. During this step you will want to begin identifying some new and different strategies that might prove helpful to you in your quest to find some mutually satisfying resolutions. During this step it’s especially important that you work together in an effort to find new and different solutions. Recalling any counsel you’ve received from your pastors and what Scripture teaches should prove indispensable to you in identifying new potentially effective strategies. Step #7. If you manage to get to this point, you are ready to proceed to the seventh step. During this step review all the information that was generated during the last step and prayerfully select the best and most promising strategies. Then try them. Step #8. If you get through the first seven steps, before implementing the strategies you have identified, don’t forget to complete this process by praying together. Your prayers should include the following thoughts and requests, but not be limited to them: Thank God for the love that you share. Ask God and your partner for forgiveness wherever appropriate. Ask Him to continue to richly bless you with the gifts of the Holy Spirit – gifts like “love, joy peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Gal. 5:22). Ask Him to help you both live with the decisions that will prayerfully emerge through this process.

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A RCHDIOCESE N E WS

SEPTEMBER 2010

HC-HC News

ARCHIEPISCOPAL ENCYCLICAL The Universal Exaltation of The Precious and Life-Giving Cross

School starts

Dimitris Panagos photo

Seminarians and students of Hellenic College Holy Cross School of Theology gather with Archbishop Demetrios, school President Fr. Nicholas Triantafilou and other school oﬃcials and faculty at Holy Cross Chapel for the start of the new school year.

Missions Institute Established at HC/HC

BROOKLINE, Mass. – Hellenic CollegeHoly Cross School of Theology recently established the Missions Institute of Orthodox Christianity with an initial endowed gift of $1 million from EFOM (the Endowment Fund for Orthodox Missions). EFOM, a charity connected with the Annunciation Church of Lancaster, Pa., was created in 1981 to honor the missionsminded ministry of Fr. Alexander and Presbytera Pearl Veronis. The endowment was presented to the Rev. Nicholas Triantafilou, president of HC/HC, by EFOM’s Board President Helen Nicozisis. Upon presenting the check to the school, Nicozisis noted that this gift came from not one major benefactor, but from many people who gave both small and large donations over many years. “All of these people,” Mrs. Nicozisis emphasized, “believe in the essential importance of cultivating the spirit of missions especially among our seminarians and future clergy.” Fr. Veronis addressed the entire HC/ HC community after a great vespers service in Holy Cross Chapel. He called the inauguration of the Missions Institute the fulfillment of a 50–year–old dream, dating to the establishment of a Missionary Society at Holy Cross when he was a student there. Following vespers, a special reception was held for the faculty and student body of the school. Archbishop Demetrios and Fr. Triantafilou hosted a dinner at the Cathedral Center in Brookline to celebrate the event for the new Missions Institute Board members, along with the EFOM Board and several donors and friends. The Archbishop addressed the gathering by saying, in part: “Missions are not simply important. They are vital, an indispensable component of our existence as Orthodox Christians… As this new Missions Institute cultivates a

deeper consciousness and awareness of the missionary dimension of the Church, it will provide something absolutely central to the life of the Church.” The Rev. Dr. Chad Hatfield, chancellor of St. Vladimir’s Seminary and a member of the new board, highlighted the role the Missions Institute can play at all Orthodox seminaries in the United States. “The first program of this new Institute will be to offer a three- credit class and practicum for students from Holy Cross and SVS, taking them to Albania to witness one of the most vibrant missions in the Orthodox world. What an exciting program!” (Related story on page 23). Fr. Luke A. Veronis, himself a missionary with more than 12 years in Albania and Africa, was named the executive director of the Institute. Fr. Luke recently published the book Go Forth: Stories of Mission and Resurrection in Albania, his third book related to Orthodox Christian missions. He teaches courses in world missions and evangelism at Holy Cross and has taught at St. Vladimir’s Theological Seminary. He expressed the “hope that through the programs and courses this Missions Institute will offer, no students will graduate from our Orthodox seminaries without having some knowledge of a missions-minded ministry. Any form of parochialism, or of limiting our faith in any way, is a distortion of the Gospel, which is Good News for all people everywhere, locally, nationally and globally. Our future clergy and leaders of the Church need to capture this universal vision of God’s love.” EFOM, in addition to endowing the Institute, sponsors an annual missions lecture at Holy Cross, grants annual scholarships to mission-minded seminarians and financially underwrites noteworthy mission projects.

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To the Most Reverend Hierarchs, the Reverend Priests and Deacons, the Monks and Nuns, Presidents and Members of the Parish Councils of the Greek Orthodox Communities, the Distinguished Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Day, Afternoon, and Church Schools, the Philoptochos Sisterhoods, the Youth, the Hellenic Organizations, and the entire Greek Orthodox Family in America Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ, On this Feast of the Universal Exaltation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross, I greet you in the love and joy of our Lord Jesus Christ, and I ask you to contemplate the meaning of our commemoration through one of the inspiring hymns of this day. In the service of Great Vespers we sing: “Enlighten us by your brightness, O lifegiving Cross; make us holy by your might O all venerable Cross; and strengthen us through your Exaltation.” This threefold prayerful petition as presented in the hymn offers guidance to us in understanding the meaning of the glorious Feast of the Universal Exaltation of the Precious Cross. First “we are enlightened by the brightness of the Cross.” This is a superb brightness radiating from the Cross of Christ and illumining our minds and souls. It is a spiritual brilliance causing an illumination of our souls because it offers love as the absolute principle and rule of life, love as the ultimate wisdom of God. The brightness of the Exalted Cross, as a unique enlightening power, is in essence the brightness of the unlimited love of the Crucified Christ Whom we worship on this solemn day of September 14. Second, “we are made holy by the might of the Cross.” Through the Cross and the sacrifice made by the “One who is without sin,” the power of sin was broken. Our sins were forgiven. The way to holiness became wide open. Our relationship with God was restored through the Cross, and through faith in Christ our lives could be restored to the holiness and image of God in which we were created. We are made holy by the power of the Cross and, as a consequence, we may proceed in seeking and upholding the will of God so as to enjoy the blessings of the kingdom of heaven, committing all of our life to Christ, because this is the path leading to holiness by the power of the Cross. Finally, “we are strengthened by the Exaltation of the Precious Cross,” as we declare in the quoted hymn

of the Feast. This is a day which gives us strength for our lives in this world and for our efforts to be with God always and under all circumstances. On this day the Cross is lifted up for all to see. Our Churches are adorned with the Cross, our clergy bless with the Cross, and faithful wear the Cross, not only as a jewel but as power too. As much as the Cross is the symbol of our faith, the same Cross gives us strength through our faith in what Christ has accomplished when He was nailed on it. Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ, On this Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, it is our tradition as the faithful of the Greek Orthodox Church in America to offer prayers and offerings for our beloved Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology and for the students, teachers, staff, directors and benefactors who give faithfully to the work and mission of this sacred institution. Following the hymn above, we can acknowledge that Holy Cross is a place of enlightenment for men and women where they receive both knowledge of the faith and intellectual skills, but more importantly where they gain spiritual maturity and deep insight into the power of faith and the wisdom of God. In addition, our seminarians are led in the path of holiness through the environment of worship, prayer, and spiritual guidance that characterizes Holy Cross. In the chapel, in their own places of prayer, and in the classroom they are shown the way of the Cross. They are prepared for lives of sacrifice, service, self-denial, and commitment to the will of God. They are also strengthened to follow the call of God upon their lives. The challenges of ministry are great, but the preparation for service received at Holy Cross instills the might and power of the Cross in our seminarians so that they can go into all the world and teach and preach in the strength and boldness of Christ. As we celebrate this great Feast of our Church, may we, in addition to our prayers, be also willing to give generously of our resources for the needs of Hellenic College/Holy Cross, our Greek Orthodox School of Theology. May we also look upon the Cross on this day and celebrate the great love and wisdom of God as we commit to a life of holiness and as we find strength in the Cross for each day and our journey unto eternal life.

With paternal love in Christ,

† Archbishop DEMETRIOS of America

I n

SEPTEMBER 2010

M e m o r i a m

Metropolitan Christopher NEW YORK – Metropolitan Christopher, of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the United States and Canada fell asleep in the Lord on Aug. 18 at age 81. He was the first American-born bishop to serve a diocese of his church in North America. Upon learning of Archpastor’s passing, Archbishop Demetrios conveyed his “deepest and heartfelt condolences to the precious flock of Metropolitan Christopher, and to his beloved family.” In his letter addressed to the Locum Tenens, Bishop Mitrophan, the Archbishop states: I join you and clergy and laity of the Serbian Orthodox Church in prayerfully commending this beloved shepherd of the Church to our Heavenly Father’s eternal love. I am confident that the memory of his dedicated archpastoral ministry distinguished by his fervent commitment to education, ecumenism, and church unity will inspire the precious flock he served ever so zealously to respond ever more generously to the call of discipleship. May Our Savior give rest to this devoted servant of God among the spirits of the saints and righteous perfected in faith. Eternal be the memory of His Eminence Metropolitan Christopher, the unforgettable brother and distinguished Hierarch, worthy of blessedness and everlasting remembrance. Metropolitan Christopher was born on Christmas Day in 1928 in Galveston Texas. He was the ninth of 12 children of Serbian immigrant parents, the late Petar and Rista Kovacevich. He was baptized Velimir Kovacevich. After graduation from high school, he attended Nashotah House and graduated from St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Seminary in Libertyville, Ill. After marriage, he was ordained to the diaconate and priesthood. Continu-

ing his education, he earned a B.A. at the University of Pittsburgh, a Master of Divinity from Holy Cross School of Theology in Brookline, Mass., and completed courses and examinations for the doctorate at the Chicago Theological Seminary. Fr. Velimir ministered to parishes in Pennsylvania and in Chicago, also serving as chaplain to four universities. He assisted his parishes to become bilingual in their worship and education programs, and at the same time he was active in the defense of unity and canonical order in his Church during a period of schism. As a priest, he served as spiritual father, counselor, youth worker, administrator, educator, and, above all, in priestly ministry at the Holy Altar. Widowed in 1970, he is the father of four, as well as the grandfather of nine. Elevated to the episcopate in 1978 by the Assembly of Bishops in Belgrade, he was tonsured with the monastic name of Christopher. As bishop of Eastern America and Canada, he soon developed a diocesanwide program in religious education. Active also in ecumenism, he has served on the joint commission of Orthodox and Roman Catholic bishops and on the Orthodox-Lutheran dialogue, and has represented his Church at high levels in both the National and World Councils of Churches. In 1991, he was elevated to the rank of Metropolitan of the Midwestern Diocese of his Church, thereby becoming also its Primate. A Hierarchical Divine Liturgy was celebrated Aug. 23, at the Holy Resurrection Serbian Orthodox Cathedral, in Chicago. The Hierarchical Divine Liturgy and Requiem Service, followed by interment were held Aug. 24, at the St. Sava Monastery, in Libertyville, Ill.

Vice Admiral Michael Kalleres JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Retired Navy Vice Adm. Michael Kalleres, a former member of the Archdiocesan Council, died at a hospice in Jacksonville July 18 after a long battle with cancer. He was 71. During his time in uniform, Adm. Kalleres, who retired in Jacksonville after a 32-year career with the Navy, commanded the 2nd Fleet, which oversees the Navy’s war fighting assets on the East Coast, as well as the Military Sea Lift Command. U.S. Navy Chaplain Corps Capt. Fr. William Bartz remembers Adm. Kalleres as “a devout Christian. “During a tour of duty in Washington he along with other admirals and generals began a Bible study which was only for “flag” officers (admirals and generals). “The Bible study met at noon, but due to their hectic pace and erratic schedules, many of them could not attend as often as they desired. They

changed the Bible study to 6 a.m. Immediately 25 admirals and generals met and continued to meet studying the word of God every week.” As commander of the U.S. Second Fleet in the Atlantic and NATO Striking Fleet, he commanded over 250,000 Navy, Marine, fleet forces of 10 countries, 300 to 400 ships, and more than 2,000 aircraft during Desert Storm. While Fr. Bartz was stationed at Norfolk Naval Station from 1989-91, he would celebrate the Divine Liturgy at noon every Thursday in the base chapel and recalled that Kalleres “would make every effort to attend. In spite of the many demands on him and his schedule, he made an extra effort to attend the Divine Liturgy by simply carving out the hour on Thursday, allowing himself to pray and receive Holy Communion. Oftentimes there was only three or four of us present.” They included the present Denver Metropolis chancellor, Fr. Luke Uhl, who worked for a Department of Defense contractor at the time.

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Historical Picture Book Published of Metropolis of Boston & Parishes BOSTON -- The Metropolis of Boston has published a book about its history and that of its parishes. The hardcover volume is illustrated with magnificent color photographs. It contains brief historic synopses and photographs depicting the exteriors and interiors of all New England Greek Orthodox churches. “We thank Almighty God for the pioneers of Orthodoxy, the hierarchs, priests and deacons as well as the faithful laity----our great-grandparents, grandparents and parents who bequeathed our Faith and heritage to the present generation,” said Metropolitan Methodios. “Reading through the text, one is impressed with what the founders accomplished, and comes to appreciate the sacrifices made so that Orthodoxy and Hellenism not only survive, but prosper in New England and throughout America.” The book also contains an article titled, “Why We Should Be Interested in the History of Our Metropolis and its Communities,” a brief history of the Metropolis and the hierarchs who served it, and a section on Hellenic College/Holy Cross School of Theology. There are also articles and photographs of the Metropolis Administration Center, the Philoxenia House, and the

St. Methodios Faith & Heritage Center and Retreat House. The inspiring vignettes from the parish histories include the following: “To raise funds for the church, the organizers asked every Greek house to contribute five cents per person weekly and a penny tax was levied upon each loaf of bread purchased from the Greek bakery.” “Church records show that approximately 50 young men and women served in the armed forces in World War II. Parishioners at home were active in defense plant employment, working on farms, preparing gift packs, organizing blood drives, wrapping Red Cross bandages and helping to fund the war through the purchase of war bonds.” The astounding achievements of the founders are a testimony to the power of faith, the greatness of the Hellenic Spirit and the strength of a Community that stands united. The book was designed and compiled by Anastasia Tanis Smith and George Panagakos took most of the photographs. Great Benefactors George and Margo Behrakis underwrote the publication of the magnificent volume which is available at all parishes of the Metropolis.

Metropolis of Boston Philoptochos Plans Major Fundraiser BOSTON – The Metropolis of Boston Philoptochos will hold its Biennial Charities Benefit Luncheon, “The Giving Feast,” that will feature Executive Chef James Botsacos of the Molyvos restaurant in New York. This major fund–raiser will be held Sunday, Nov. 14 at the Granite Links in Quincy, Mass. Luncheon proceeds benefit the many philanthropic ministries and projects supported by the Philoptochos members throughout the Metropolis. These include the St. Methodios Faith and Heritage Center, the Philoxenia House,

Social Services, the Hellenic Nursing Home, the Pine Street Inn, Hope Found and Project Bread Walk for Hunger as well as the myriad Metropolis ministries and other outreach activities. Luncheon Chairmen Georgia Lagadinos and Frances Levas are working with the entire Metropolis Philoptochos board under the leadership of Metropolis Philoptochos President Philippa Condakes to ensure a successful event with a sell-out crowd expected. For reservations contact Presbytera Stephanie Panagos at 860.447.8365.

Metropolis Of San Francisco Selects New Philoptochos Board SAN FRANCISCO -- Metropolitan Gerasimos announced the new Metropolis Philoptochos Board as follows: President Jeannie Ranglas; 1st Vice President Agatha Felactu; 2nd Vice President Michele Genetos; Recording Secretary Lisa Xanthos; Corresponding Secretary Mari Lou Diamond; Treasurer

Diana Jianas; and Assistant Treasurer Mary Lofton. Gratitude was extended to Valerie Roumeliotes who served as Metropolis Philoptochos President for eight years. The board of 25 members under the leadership of President Ranglas will continue the exemplary Metropolis programs.

Metropolis of Chicago Philoptochos Holds Annual Luncheon CHICAGO – The Metropolis of Chicago Philoptochos held its annual luncheon with the theme “Falling in Love…With our Faith,” on Sept. 18 that featured Greek American actor/writer Robert Krantz who supported the event by speaking and signing his first novel, “Falling in Love with Sophia.” Mr. Krantz has been featured in several television shows and movies and has written screenplays for major

motion picture studios. Krantz wrote, produced, and acted in the film “Do You Wanna Dance?” He owns the production and distribution company Ellinas Multimedia, the largest producer and distributor of Greek multimedia products in the United States. Proceeds from this year’sluncheon will benefit the Philotochos Philanthropy Fund, St. Iakovos Camp and Retreat Center and Philanthropic Endeavors of Philoptochos.

SEPTEMBER 2010

PAOI to Honor Alex & Faye Spanos, the late Metropolitan Anthony OAKLAND, Calif. – The Patriarch Athenagoras Orthodox Institute (PAOI) will hold “An Evening of Thanksgiving” in honor of three of its founders on Nov. 6. Highlight of the event will be two musical tributes written and produced by Helen Lambros, past chairman of the PAOI Board of Directors. The event will take place at the Father Thomas J. Paris Event Center of Ascension Cathedral, 4700 Lincoln Ave. The first of two musical tributes will be performed honoring the life and work of Alex and Faye Spanos who endowed the Alexander Spanos Chair in Eastern Orthodox Studies at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. The Spanos’ founding gift provides a witness in one of the nation’s foremost consortia of theological studies. The evening will conclude with the second musical tribute honoring Metropolitan Anthony of blessed memory. Metropolitan Anthony led the effort to bring the PAOI into existence and had the vision to provide a place for the hundreds of Orthodox college students attending the University of California at Berkeley to gather and to deepen in their faith. Founded almost 30 years ago, Patri-

arch Athenagoras Orthodox Institute is an inter-Orthodox endeavor and represents the diversity of Orthodoxy in America. PAOI is one of the few research and teaching institutions in the nation to offer classes and an MA program in Orthodox Studies, as well as lecture series featuring internationally famed scholars. In 1992, the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople designated PAOI as “Patriarchal,” making it the only center of learning in the United States with this designation. PAOI is currently led by Director Metropolitan Nikitas of the Dardanelles. His Eminence joined PAOI in 2007. He has taught at Loyola University, Spirit Catholic Seminary in Hong Kong, and presently teaches graduate courses at the Institute. PAOI sponsors the Orthodox Christian Fellowship (OCF) at Berkeley. This campus ministry provides Orthodox students at Berkeley a place to meet, socialize and participate every Tuesday evening in the celebration of Divine Liturgy in the St. Demetrios Chapel. For more information about the PAOI and the “Evening of Thanksgiving,” call (510) 649-3450.

Church Dedicated to Archangel Michael Built in W. Central Fla. LECANTO, Fla. – More than 200 persons attended the Thyranoixia of the Archangel Michael Church, a Byzantinestyle church in this community north of Tampa in late May. Metropolitan Alexios of Atlanta officiated, assisted by various area clergy and Fr. Demetrios Simeonidis. The new $3 million church complex and its facilities have been designed in the architecture of the Byzantine 6th century, the golden age for Christian architecture. The new Archangel Michael Church is located high on a hill above Highway-44

adjacent to the parish center which, is dedicated the late Michael G. Cantonis, and his wife, Anastasia. Metropolitan Alexios proclaimed, “I am truly inspired as to what a small, dedicated group of faithful people can achieve. Fr. Jim, and Mr. Lovelace, Dr. Mavros, Mr. Ponticos and other parish leaders, Mr. Kamages, and the community leaders worked together to make this beautiful day happen. I must also make special note and thanks to our friend the late Michael Cantonis and his family, whose stewardship and guidance has been tremendous.”

Nina Schefe receives the blessing to be a reader from Metropolitan Gerasimos. Assisting are Fr. Leo and Deacon Steven Bambakidis.

Metropolitan Gerasimos Blesses New Anchorage Church Project by Diane Primis

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Metropolitan Gerasimos traveled to Alaska to visit Holy Transfiguration parish the weekend of Sept. 4-5 and gave his blessing to the construction project of the new church building. The church is scheduled to be fully enclosed by the end of October, before the construction season ends and winter sets in. Participating in the Divine Liturgy on Sunday along with Metropolitan Gerasimos and Fr. Leo Schefe, was Deacon Steven Bambakidis of Homer and Sisters Agni, Ioanna and Parthenia from the Monastery of St. John the Forerunner in Goldendale, Wash.

Following the Liturgy, past Parish Council President Vasilios Copadis and his daughter Kimberly, who were instrumental in the passing of Alaska Senate Joint Resolution 28 for the Religious Freedom of the Ecumenical Patriarch, presented a copy of the Resolution to Metropolitan Gerasimos. Also Nina Schefe, 11–year–old daughter of Fr. Leo and Presbytera Candace received the Metropolitan’s blessing to be a Reader of the Church. Sunday evening Evangelos and Dialekti Lambernakis hosted a fundraising dinner in Wasilla for St. John the Forerunner Monastery, attended by nearly 200 persons, including parishioners from Holy Transfiguration, as well as Russian and Antiochian Orthodox churches in the area.

Annunciation Orthodox School Celebrates 40 Years HOUSTON – Opening ceremonies for Annunciation Orthodox School (AOS) marked its 40th anniversary with opening ceremonies Aug. 19 in an all-school chapel ceremony. The ceremony was the start of a year-long celebration that will continue until May with a 40th anniversary party. Throughout the year, teachers will incorporate the 40 theme in their curriculum. The students, faculty, staff, and parents will receive a blessing for a wonderful school year from Fr. Michael Lambakis of Annunciation Cathedral. A commemorative flag was presented by Student Council President Christian

Cain and blessed to fly over the school for the year. After the chapel ceremony, Fr. Michael visited classrooms and offices on campus to sprinkle holy water and share blessings on students, faculty and staff. The opening ceremony also featured the AOS Chapel Buddy program that pairs younger students with older students for chapel services and special projects and reinforces a sense of community and responsibility to others. The school was founded in 1970 by Fr. Nicholas Triantafilou, now president of Hellenic College-Holy Cross School of Theology, when he served as cathedral dean, and Presbytera Diane Triantafilou.

Metropolis of New Jersey Choir Conference Set NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – The Eastern Federation of Greek Orthodox Church Musicians, EFGOCM, will hold its annual conference Oct.14-17, at Sts. Constantine & Helen Church in Newport News. Choir members, youth and adult, from the Metropolis of New Jersey, which consists of parishes from Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Staten Island, NY, will be joined by members from the Me-

tropolis of Denver Church Music Federation and the Southeastern Federation of Greek Orthodox Church Musicians, to participate in singing the beautiful Liturgy of Steven Cardiasmenos. Steven Cardiasmenos, who resides in California with his wife, Leslie, and who has served as choir director at the Church of the Holy Cross in Belmont, CA since 1985, first published his Liturgy in 1991. He has received numerous awards.

Religious Freedom Resolution

Diane Primis photo

Alaska State Sen. Kevin Meyer (right) presented a framed copy of the Religious Freedom Resolution he sponsored and that was adopted unanimously by both houses of the State Legislature this year to Fr. Leo Schefe (left), proistamenos of Anchorage’s Holy Transfiguration Church. Also participating in the presentation in August were former Parish Council President Vasilios (Bill) Copadis and his daughter Kimberly Copadis, a former member of Sen. Meyer’s staﬀ. They played a major role in getting the resolution adopted that calls on the Turkish government to allow Religious Freedom and Human Rights for the Ecumenical Patriarchate. In turn, the parish presented Sen. Meyer with a copy of the famous painting “The Secret School” by Nikolaos Gyzis. Alaska is one of 32 states to adopt such a resolution as part of the Religious Freedom Project of the Order of St. Andrew-Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

SEPTEMBER 2010

Stewardship and Evangelism

The Meaning of Church Membership by Fr. Jim Kordaris

“Now you are the body of Christ, and individually members of it.” (I Corinthians 12:27) To be a member of the Church is not the same as being a member of a club or civic group. The Church is the “Body of Christ.” Therefore, to be a member of the Church is to be a part of the living Body of Christ. Just as every member has a different function in the human body, so do we each have a specific function or calling in His Church. God did not create each of us to do the same thing. If a member of the human body is missing or not functioning, the entire body struggles to reach its full potential. In the same way, without all the members of the Church participating and working together, our ministries do not reach their full potential. The Church needs not only to maintain its current ministries, but also to grow them and add new ministries as needs or opportunities arise. Often new ministries come about because one member has an idea and the gifts, talent, training, abilities, education and skills to make it a reality. Each of us is called to offer our gifts as we have been blessed and serve according to the task that God has placed before us in service to His Church. WHAT CAN WE DO? Holy Scripture provides guiding principles for us as members of the Church for building up the Body of Christ: Promote Truth and Unity In Ephesians 4:25 we read, “Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body.” Use Our God-given Abilities to Serve In I Corinthians 12 we read of the importance of using our gifts to serve the Church. Your gift is unique and important. The proper functioning of the body requires that you use your gifts in service to God. Regular and Cheerful Giving In I Corinthians 16:2 we read “On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his/her income.” In this way, we offer back to God’s Church the “first fruits” of our labor, realizing that all we possess comes from Him. In II Corinthians 9:7 we read “Each person should give what he/she has decided in his/her heart, not reluctantly or

under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” Keep in mind that the expenses of the Church increase every year. In order to grow our ministries, your stewardship contributions must also increase each year. Let your life be an example to others In chapter 5 of the Gospel of Matthew Jesus tells us that we “…are the light of the world.” He calls on us to let our “… light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” Worship God In Psalm 92 we read “It is good to praise the LORD and make music to your name, O Most High, to proclaim your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night.” We are healed by praying and worshipping with others. There is a great sense of community that gives us strength when we pray and worship together in liturgy. We pray for ourselves and others, and we thank God for the many blessings in our lives. Love each other In I John 4 we read, “Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” And in the 13th chapter of the Gospel of John, Jesus tells us, “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” EVALUATE YOUR LIFE Are you a contributing member of the Body of Christ? Are you actively serving God and sharing Him with others? Are you contributing to peace and unity within His body? Do you worship regularly? Take a moment to evaluate your life in light of these principles. We are called to apply our gifts, training, abilities, education and skills to the tasks that God places before us. If we do this humbly and prayerfully, the Body of Christ will function to its full potential. The New Testament’s motivation for giving is grace; giving is an act of worship in response to the generosity of God. You are to give, Paul says, “as God has prospered you.” II Corinthians 8 and 9 teaches clearly, “He who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.” God blesses those who give with generosity. Giving is a way to thank God for His grace and generosity. The question is not, “How much do I give to stay in the club?” or “What are the dues?” but “How can I thank God for my many blessings?” Fr. Jim Kordaris (FrJimK@goarch. org) serves the Archdiocese as director of Stewardship, Outreach & Evangelism and as pastor of the Church of St .George on West 54th Street in New York City.

ΣΕΠΤΕΜΒΡΙΟΣ 2010

ΠΑΡΟΥΣΙΑΣΤΗΚΕ ΣΤΗΝ ΙΜΒΡΟ Η ΕΠΑΝΕΚΔΟΣΗ ΤΟΥ ΙΣΤΟΡΙΚΟΥ ΥΠΟΜΝΗΜΑΤΟΣ ΓΙΑ ΤΗ ΝΗΣΟ ôïõ Íéêüëáïõ Ìáããßíá

Με μία αγανακτισμένη απάντηση του Πατριάρχου Βαρθολομαίου έληξε η εκδήλωση για την παρουσίαση του βιβλίου Ιστορικό Υπόμνημα για την Ίμβρο των Ανδρέου Μουστοξύδη και Βαρθολομαίου Κουτλουμουσιανού, που εκδόθηκε το 1845 και το οποίο ανατυπώθηκε φέτος σε τρεις γλώσσες. Αφορμή στάθηκε η τοποθέτηση ενός εκ των ομιλητών, του Ερόλ Σαϊγκί, Τούρκου συνταξιούχου εκπαιδευτικού ο οποίος υπηρέτησε σε σχολεία της Ίμβρου. Ο κ. Σαϊγκί, στην ομιλία του αναφέρθηκε, μεταξύ άλλων, στα σχολεία που έκλεισαν αναγκαστικά από τις τουρκικές αρχές το 1964 και τα οποία σήμερα, τα περισσότερα είναι ερειπωμένα και ορισμένα έχουν μετατραπεί σε ξενοδοχεία.

ΠΑΤΡΙΑΡΧΙΚΗ ΘΕΙΑ ΛΕΙΤΟΥΡΓΙΑ ΣΕ ΑΓΙΟΥΣ ΘΕΟΔΩΡΟΥΣ ΙΜΒΡΟΥ ΣΥΛΛΕΙΤΟΥΡΓΗΣΑΝ Ο ΑΡΧΙΕΠΙΣΚΟΠΟΣ ΑΜΕΡΙΚΗΣ ΔΗΜΗΤΡΙΟΣ ΚΑΙ Ο ΜΗΤΡΟΠΟΛΙΤΗΣ ΜΥΡΩΝ ΧΡΥΣΟΣΤΟΜΟΣ Ο συνταξιούχος εκπαιδευτικός απευθυνόμενος στον Πατριάρχη είπε ότι τα σχολεία αυτά θα πρέπει «να τα αποκτήσετε και να τα χρησιμοποιήσετε όπως και οι άλλοι, διότι γνωρίζω τον πλούτο που διαθέτετε από το αξίωμά σας και λόγω του ότι είστε τόσο φημισμένος». Μιλώντας για τη ζωή των ομογενών κατέληξε λέγοντας, «ο Θεός να μην αξιώνει κανέναν να γίνεται πρόσφυγας», φράση που δανείστηκε από Ρωμιό του πολύπαθου νησιού. Αξίζει να αναφερθεί ότι ο Τούρκος ομιλητής πρωτοήρθε στην Ίμβρο τη δεκαετία του ‘70 ως δάσκαλος σε τουρκικά σχολεία, γνώρισε πολλούς Ρωμιούς και το 1985 εξέδωσε το πρώτο τουρκικό βιβλίο που αναφερόταν στην ιστορία, στη ζωή και στους Ρωμιούς της Ίμβρου. «Θέλω να τελειώσω με μία απάντηση οφειλομένη στον τελευταίο ομιλητή, ο οποίος μας είπε, ούτε λίγο ούτε πολύ, ότι έπρεπε να αγοράσουμε εμείς, τα δικά μας τα κτίρια, τα σχολεία, να μην αφήσουμε να γίνουν εστιατόρια και ξενοδοχεία, αλλά να τα αγοράζαμε εμείς που τα κτίσαμε με τον ιδρώτα μας και από το υστέρημά μας και με κόπο και με ελπίδες και προοπτικές», είπε εμφανώς ενοχλημένος  óåë. 18 Ο ΣΕΒΑΣΜΙΩΤΑΤΟΣ ΑΡΧΙΕΠΙΣΚΟΠΟΣ ΑΜΕΡΙΚΗΣ ΔΗΜΗΤΡΙΟΣ ΤΕΛΕΣΕ ΤΡΙΣΑΓΙΟ ΕΙΣ ΜΝΗΜΗΝ ΤΩΝ ΘΥΜΑΤΩΝ ΚΑΙ ΗΡΩΙΚΩΣ ΠΕΣΟΝΤΩΝ ΣΤΟ «ΣΗΜΕΙΟ ΜΗΔΕΝ» ΣΤΗ ΝΕΑ ΥΟΡΚΗ Σελίδα 17

ΕΤΟΣ 75 • ΑΡΙΘΜΟΣ 1259

87 χρόνια μετά η Παναγία του Πόντου βρήκε τη λαλιά της

Ο ΟΙΚΟΥΜΕΝΙΚΟΣ ΠΑΤΡΙΑΡΧΗΣ ΒΑΡΘΟΛΟΜΑΙΟΣ ΣΤΗΝ ΙΣΤΟΡΙΚΗ ΘΕΙΑ ΛΕΙΤΟΥΡΓΙΑ ôïõ Íéêüëáïõ Ìáããßíá

Μπορεί οι «18 καμπάνες και τα 38 σήμαντρα» της Παναγιάς του Πόντου να μην ήχησαν την περασμένη Κυριακή, αλλά για τους χιλιάδες προσκυνητές που ανέβηκαν στο Μοναστήρι ήταν σαν να ηχούσε ο χαρμόσυνος ήχος τους. Σαν να καλούσαν ξανά του πιστούς να λάβουν μέρος σε μια ξεχωριστή μυσταγωγία, 87 χρόνια μετά την τελευταία λειτουργία που τελέστηκε στη Σουμελά. Και ήρθαν χριστιανοί Oρθόδοξοι από την Πόλη και κάθε γωνιά του πλανήτη για να προσευχηθούν στο ιστορικό Μοναστήρι, εκεί όπου προσεύχονταν οι γονείς τους και οι γονείς των γονιών τους. Κεντρικό πρόσωπο ο Οικουμενικός Πατριάρχης Βαρθολομαίος, χάρη στις διακριτικές προσπάθειες του οποίου, η Κυβέρνηση έδωσε την άδεια να πραγματοποιηθεί Θεία Λειτουργία στη Μονή που σήμερα λειτουργεί σαν μουσείο. Προεξάρχοντος του Πατριάρχη μας και με την συμμετοχή του Μητροπολίτη Δράμας Παύλου και του Επισκόπου Ποντόλσκ Τύχωνα, εκ του Πατριαρχείου Ρωσίας, τελέστηκε με λαμπρότητα και σε κλίμα κατάνυξης, η Θεία Λειτουργία που αποτέλεσε ένα ιστορικό γεγονός, έναν σταθμό στην λαμπρή αλλά και μαρτυρική πορεία της Μονήςσυμβόλου της Ορθόδοξης Ρωμηοσύνης. «Μετά από ογδόντα οκτώ έτη ληθάργου και σιωπής, «αητέντς επαραπέτανεν ψηλά σα επουράνε» και ιδού ότι, κατόπιν της αδείας των εντίμων τοπικών αρχών της Τουρκίας, τας οποίας και δια τούτο και επαινούμεν και ευγνωμόνως ευχαριστούμεν, εδώ, εις το όρος Μελά, εις το παλλάδιον της Θεομητορικής ευλαβείας του Πόντου, της Καππαδοκίας, όλης της Μικράς Ασίας, της Νοτίου Ρωσσίας, της Ουκρανίας και των Παραδουναβίων Χωρών, εις την πανίερον Πατριαρχικήν ημών και Σταυροπηγιακήν Μονήν της Υπεραγίας Θεοτόκου της Σουμελιώτισσας, έστω και χωρίς «λαλίαν» από τα τέως «τρανταπέντε σήμαντρα και τα δεκαοχτώ καμπάνας» του άσματος, ακούσθηκε και πάλιν γλυκύτατον το “Πεποικιλμένη τη θεία δόξη η ιερά και ευπρεπής, Παρθένε, μνήμη σου”!» σημείωσε ο Προκαθήμενος της Ορθοδοξίας. Οι προσκυνητές ξέσπασαν σε χειροκροτήματα. Η συγκίνηση είχε κορυφωθεί. Ο Οικουμενικός Πατριάρχης λειτουργούσε στο αλειτούργητο από το 1923 Μοναστήρι. Τελούσε την πρώτη πανήγυρη, ανήμερα της Κοιμήσεως της Θεοτόκου, μετά το 1915 όταν η μακραίωνη παράδοση διεκόπη λόγω του Α’ Παγκοσμίου Πολέμου. Ο πρώτος Οικουμενικός Πατριάρχης που προεξήρχε Θείας Λειτουργίας, από ιδρύσεως της Μονής το 386, από τους Αθηναίους Μοναχούς Σωφρόνιο και Βαρνάβα. Ο αύλειος χώρος της Μονής είχε κατακλυσθεί από προσκυνητές και εκπροσώπους των Μέσων Γενικής Ενημερώσεως. Οι ψαλμωδίες του χορού υπό τη διεύθυνση του Άρχοντος Πρωτοψάλτου της Μεγάλης του Χριστού Εκκλησίας Λεωνίδα Αστέρη, αντηχούσαν στις καταπράσινες κοιλάδες του όρους Μελά και ακολουθώντας το ταξίδι των

 óåë. 16

ΟΡΘΟΔΟΞΟΣ ΠΑΡΑΤΗΡΗΤΗΣ

ΣΕΠΤΕΜΒΡΙΟΣ 2010

ΟΙΚΟΥΜΕΝΙΚΟΣ ΠΑΤΡΙΑΡΧΗΣ ΒΑΡΘΟΛΟΜΑΙΟΣ ΓΙΑ ΧΑΛΚΗ: “ΕΜΜΕΝΟΝΤΕΣ ΑΝΑΜΕΝΟΜΕΝ” Τό ἑσπέρας τῆς 29ης Αυγούστου ὁ Πατριάρχης διεπεραιώθη εἰς τήν Ἱ. Μονήν Ἁγίας Τριάδος Χάλκης καί ἐχοροστάτησε κατά τόν ἐν αὐτῇ τελεσθέντα Ἑσπερινόν καί ἐν συνεχείᾳ ἐτίμησε διά τῆς ὑψηλῆς Αὐτοῦ παρουσίας τήν ἔναρξιν τῆς διοργανουμένης ἐν τοῖς χώροις τῆς Ἱ. Θεολογικῆς Σχολῆς ὁμαδικῆς εἰκαστικῆς ἐκθέσεως, μέ θέμα «Ἰχνηλατώντας τήν Κωνσταντινούπολη», ὁμιλήσας καταλλήλως, τῇ παρουσίᾳ τοῦ Ἐξοχ. Ὑπουργοῦ Πολιτισμοῦ καί Τουρισμοῦ τῆς Ἑλλάδος κ. Παύλου Γερουλάνου, τοῦ Ἐντιμ. κ. Νικήτα Κακλαμάνη, Δημάρχου Ἀθηναίων, καί ἄλλων προσωπικοτήτων ἐντεῦθεν τε καί ἐκ τοῦ ἐξωτερικοῦ.

ΟΜΙΛΙΑ ΟΙΚΟΥΜΕΝΙΚΟΥ ΠΑΤΡΙΑΡΧΟΥ Πολλαί ἐκδηλώσεις ἐγένοντο καί γίνονται κατά τό ὑπερμεσοῦν παρόν ἔτος ἐν τῇ Πόλει ἡμῶν, λόγῳ τῆς καθιερώσεως αὐτῆς ὡς πολιτιστικῆς πρωτευούσης τῆς Εὐρώπης. Κατεβλήθη ἐκ μέρους τῶν ἀρχῶν πᾶσα προσπάθεια ὅπως ἀναδειχθῇ ἡ πόλις «προκαθεζομένη τῆς Εὐρώπης», ἵνα κατά Γρηγόριον τόν Θεολόγον εἴπωμεν. Ἔργον καί ἐγχείρημα δύσκολον καί ἐν πολλοῖς δυσκατόρθωτον. Ἄχρι τοῦδε πολλαί ἐκδηλώσεις ἐγένοντο. Αἱ πλεῖσται ἐπιτυχεῖς. Πιστεύομεν ἀκραδάντως ὅτι καί ἡ ἐν τῇ Θεολογικῇ ταύτῃ Σχολῇ ἔκθεσις εἰκαστικῶν τεχνῶν, ἡ σχέσιν ἄμεσον ἔχουσα πρός τήν τῶν πόλεων Ἄνασσαν, θά στεφθῇ ὑπό πλήρους ἐπιτυχίας. Εὑρισκόμεθα εἰς νῆσον μικράν, ἀντιστρόφως ἀνάλογον σχέσιν ἔχουσαν πρός τήν μεγάλην ἱστορίαν αὐτῆς. «Παπάζ - ἀντασί» ἐκαλεῖτο ὑπό τῶν ἐντοπίων τό πάλαι. Νῆσος τῶν παπάδων δηλαδή, καί τοῦτο διότι καθ᾿ ἡμέραν ἔβλεπαν ἐν τῇ ἀποβάθρᾳ, εἰς ἐποχήν ἐλευθέρας ρασοφορίας, ἀποβιβαζομένους καί ἐπιβιβαζομένους εἰς τά πλοῖα τῆς γραμμῆς κληρικούς ἐκ περάτων γῆς. Οἱ πλεῖστοι ἀνήρχοντο καί κατήρχοντο πεζῇ πρός καί ἀπό τοῦ λόφου τῆς Ἐλπίδος. Ἡ ἐν μέσῳ τῶν πεύκων γραφική ἀτραπός ὑπάρχει εἰσέτι καί διηγεῖται πόσον ἦσαν «ὡραῖοι οἱ πόδες τῶν

Κηρύττομεν, λοιπόν, τήν ἔναρξιν τῆς σπουδαίας ταύτης ἐκθέσεως εἰκαστικῶν τεχνῶν ἐν ταῖς αἰθούσαις τῆς Σχολῆς, εὐλογοῦντες πάντας τούς καλλιτέχνας καί τούς κοπιάσαντας διά τήν εὐπρόσωπον ταύτην παρουσίασιν. Ἔστω ἡ παροῦσα ἔναρξις, προανάκρουσμα ἐπαναλειτουργίας τῆς Σχολῆς, καί ἔμμεσος κροῦσις κώδωνος ἐνάρξεως μαθημάτων καί πάλιν. Ναί, Κύριε, ἐλθέτωσαν ταχύ!

εὐαγγελιζομένων τήν εἰρήνην, τῶν εὐαγγελιζομένων τά ἀγαθά» (Ρωμ. Ι’, 15 πρβλ. Ἡσαΐου ΝΒ’, 7). Σήμερον ἐλάχιστοι οἱ ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ ταύτῃ διασταυρούμενοι. Καί δέν λέγουν οἱ παράγοντες: «Εὐλογία Κυρίου ἐφ᾿ ἡμᾶς, εὐλογήκαμεν ὑμᾶς ἐν ὀνόματι Κυρίου» (Ψαλμ. ΡΚΗ’, 8). Ἀνοικτή παραμένει, ὑπό τήν πεφωτισμένην ἡγουμενίαν τοῦ προσφιλοῦς ἀδελφοῦ Ἱερωτάτου Μητροπολίτου Μοσχονησίων κυρίου Ἀποστόλου, ἡ Ἱερά Μονή τῆς Ἁγίας Τριάδος. Δέχεται τούς πολυπληθεῖς προσκυνητάς –καί ὄχι μόνον- ἐν ἀγάπῃ πολλῇ καί ἐν αὐταπαρνήσει, παρ᾿ ὅλην τήν λειψανδρίαν. Ἀπό τοῦ ἁγίου Βήματος τοῦ Καθολικοῦ ἕως καί τῆς ἐσχατιᾶς τοῦ ἀπεράντου κήπου, τά πάντα εἶναι εὐτάκτως τοποθετημένα, ἐν καθαριότητι οὐ τῇ τυχούσῃ, μέ πολύ «μεράκι» ὡς θά ἐλέγομεν. Καί ἰδού, σήμερον, καί ἔκθεσις εἰκαστικῶν τεχνῶν φιλοξενεῖται εἰς τάς αἰθούσας αἱ ὁποῖαι παλαιότερον ἔσφυζον ἀπό καθηγητάς καί μαθητάς, γέλωτας καί συγκινήσεις, ἀγῶνας καί ἀγωνίας, ὄνειρα καί στοχασμούς.

Κλειστή ὅμως ἀπό τοῦ 1971 ἐξακολουθεῖ νά παραμένῃ ἡ περίπυστος αὕτη Θεολογική Σχολή, ἡ ἀπό τοῦ 1844 ἀδιακόπως καί ἀπροσκόπτως μέχρι τότε λειτουργήσασα. Καί τοῦτο συνέβη παρά πᾶσαν προσδοκίαν. Αἱ παρακλήσεις ἡμῶν εἰς οὐδέν ἤνυσαν. Κατανοοῦν οἱ ἁρμόδιοι τό ἄδικον ἀναστολῆς τῆς λειτουργίας, ὑπόσχονται λύσιν, ἀλλ᾿ οὐδέν πλέον τούτου –τοὐλάχιστον πρός τό παρόν. Ὅμως ὁ λόφος καλεῖται «λόφος τῆς ἐλπίδος» καί «ἡ ἐλπίς οὐ καταισχύνει» (Ρωμ. Ε’, 5). Ἐκ τοῦ πυξίου τῆς μυθικῆς Πανδώρας ἀπέπτησαν τά πάντα, ἀλλ᾿ ἔμεινεν ἡ ἐλπίς. Ἐμμένομεν, κρούομεν θύρας, ἡμεδαπάς καί ἀλλοδαπάς, καίτοι γνωρίζομεν ὅτι «εἶναι δύσκολαις ᾑ θύραις, ὅταν ἡ χρεία ταῖς κουρταλῇ». Ἔχομεν ἀνάγκην τῆς προσευχῆς πάντων ὑμῶν. Ἡ Σχολή πρέπει καί πάλιν νά λειτουργήσῃ. Οἱ λόγοι εἶναι προφανεῖς. Ἐξ ἄλλου, τά πάντα εἶναι ἕτοιμα πρός δοχήν σπουδαστῶν, ἀπό τῶν μαυροπινάκων καί τῶν θρανίων, ἕως τῶν σπόγγων καί τῆς κιμωλίας. Ἕν λείπει: Μία ὑπογραφή. Ἐμμένοντες ἀναμένομεν.

ΕΜΜΕΣΗ ΑΝΑΦΟΡΑ ΣΤΗ ΧΑΛΚΗ ΤΟΥ ΤΟΥΡΚΟΥ ΥΠΟΥΡΓΟΥ ΓΙΑ ΤΑ ΒΑΚΟΥΦΙΑ Στο δίκαιο αίτημα της επαναλειτουργίας της Θεολογικής Σχολής της Χάλκης, αναφέρθηκε, εμμέσως πλήν σαφώς, ο Αντιπρόεδρος της Κυβερνήσεως και Υπουργός υπεύθυνος για τα βακουφικά Bulent Arinc κατά τη διάρκεια δείπνου Ιφτάρ που διοργανώθηκε στην Πόλη από τα 161 Μειονοτικά Ιδρύματα. Ο Αντιπρόεδρος της Κυβερνήσεως υπογράμμισε, μεταξύ άλλων, ότι αποτελεί υποχρέωση του κοσμικού και ανεξίθρησκου κράτους η ικανοποίηση των αιτημάτων των Κοινοτικών Ιδρυμάτων λέγοντας: «Εάν μια θρησκευτική κοινότητα ζητεί την δυνατότητα να εκπαιδεύσει τους κληρικούς της, ώστε να εξασφαλισθεί η καλύτερη διδασκαλία της θρησκείας της και εξηγήση, το χρέος που βαρύνει ένα κοσμικό και ανεξίθρησκο κράτος είναι να ικανοποιήσει το αίτημα αυτό». Στο δείπνο, που παρατέθηκε στο Esma Sultan, παρέστησαν ο Οικουμενικός Πατριάρχης Βαρθολομαίος, ο Αρχιεπίσκοπος Αμερκής Δημήτριος, ο Μητροπολίτης Πριγκηποννήσων Ιάκωβος, ο Νομάρχης της Πόλης, θρησκευτικοί ταγοί των Μειονοτήτων και παράγοντές τους, Δήμαρχοι, Έπαρχοι, νομικοί κ.α. Μίλησαν ο Παντελής Βίγκας, μέλος του δεκαπενταμελούς συμβουλίου της Γενικής Διεύθυνσης Βακουφίων, που εδρεύει στην Άγκυρα, εκπρόσωποι Μειονοτήτων, ο Νομάρχης της Πόλης, ο Αρχιεπίσκοπος Αμερικής Δημήτριος και άλλοι επίσημοι.

αφιέρωση στο πρόσωπό του, με ιδιαίτερο σεβασμό, «οι ενθάδε την κοινήν προσδοκώντες Ανάστασιν, τω Οικουμενικώ Πατριάρχη Βαρθολομαίω, ιερά Πατριαρχική και Σταυροπηγιακή Μονή Παναγίας Σουμελά Πόντου, 15- 8- 2010». «Θα το αποθησαυρίσουμε στο σκευοφυλάκιο του Πατριαρχείου», είπε εμφανώς συγκινημένος ο Πατριάρχης . Αξίζει να σημειωθεί ότι, νωρίτερα στην ομιλία του, ο Πατριάρχης ευχήθηκε το ιστορικό αυτό γεγονός της Θείας Λειτουργίας να συμβάλει στην προσέγγιση Ελλήνων και Τούρκων. «Ας είναι η Παναγία η Σουμελιώτισσα, η Αθηνιώτισσα Παναγία, η Παναγία του Ευαγγελιστού Λουκά, η Κυρία του Πόντου, εγγυήτρια καλλιτέρων ημερών δια τους δύο λαούς, οι οποίοι συναντώνται σήμερον εις το εδώ εορτάζον πανίερον σέβασμά της! «Εκεί ατέν προσκύναναν Χριστιανοί και Τούρκοι». Το προσκύνημά μας αυτό ας είναι μία επί πλέον γέφυρα επικοινωνίας και εμπιστοσύνης ανάμεσα εις τους δύο λαούς», είπε με νόημα ο Οικουμενικός Πατριάρχης. ΕΡΝΤΟΓΑΝ: «Τέλεσαν τη Λειτουργία τους. Τι χάσαμε;» Ο Πρωθυπουργός της Τουρκίας Ρετζέπ Ταγίπ Ερντογάν, ευρισκόμενος σε δείπνο του Ραμαζανίου (Ιφτάρ), που παρέθεσε η Ένωση Βιομηχάνων και Επιχειρηματιών στην πόλη Γκαζίαντεπ στην νοτιοανατολική Τουρκία, αναφέρθηκε στην ιστορική Θεία Λειτουργία που τελέσθηκε στην Ιερά Μονή Παναγίας Σουμελά στην Τραπεζούντα του Πόντου λέγοντας ότι: «Σήμερα στη Σουμελά ήρθαν

οι Χριστιανοί και τέλεσαν τη Θεία Λειτουργία σύμφωνα με την παράδοσή τους». Στη συνέχεια ο πρωθυπουργός αναφέρθηκε στις διακηρύξεις των εθνικιστών λέγοντας: «Μία-δύο ομάδες, όπως είναι γνωστό, δε χρειάζεται να εξηγήσω ποιοί είναι αυτοί, λένε «ορίστε, ξαναζωντάνεψαν την επιθυμία για δημιουργία κράτους του Πόντου». Ο Τούρκος Πρωθυπουργός συνέχισε λέγοντας: «Φίλοι μου, τί έγινε; Ήρθαν, τέλεσαν τη Θεία Λειτουργία τους και αναχώρησαν. Πόσοι άνθρωποι; 1500 – 2000. Τί χάσαμε; Στην πραγματικότητα κερδίζουμε. Τί κερδίζουμε; Να σας πω. Αυτός που είναι βέβαιος για την πίστη του δεν φοβάται την ελευθερία της πίστης . Όποιος πιστεύει στις ιδέες του και στις σκέψεις του δεν φοβάται την ελευθερία των ιδεών και των σκέψεων. Αυτοί, λένε, ότι είναι «εθνικιστές». Άνοιξτε και ρίξτε μια ματιά στη Ιστορία των Οθωμανών. Κοιτάξτε, τα είχαν φοβηθεί ποτέ αυτά οι Οθωμανοί; Αντίθετα, επί Οθωμανών ήταν ανοικτά, χωρίς να αντιμετωπίσουν την παραμικρή δυσκολία. Τα χρησιμοποίησαν στις σχέσεις τους με τη διεθνή κοινότητα, με τον καλύτερο τρόπο, προς όφελος της δικής τους εξουσίας. Τώρα τί είναι αυτά;.... Θεέ μου! Ένα κλίμα φοβίας με σκοπό να αναστατώσουν τη χώρα και να φέρουν τα πάνω κάτω». Πριν λίγες ημέρες ο Πρωθυπουργός Ερντογάν επισκέφθηκε την Τραπεζούντα καθ’ οδόν για την ιδιαίτερη πατρίδα του που βρίσκεται στην περιοχή της πόλης Ρίζε, στη Μαύρη Θάλασσα. Σύμφωνα με πληροφορίες σε συζήτηση που είχε με τις αρχές της Τραπεζούντας τούς συνέστησε «η φιλοξενία να είναι άψογη προς τους επισκέπτες που θα έρθουν για την λειτουργία στην Σουμελά».

87 χρόνια μετά η Παναγία του Πόντου βρήκε τη λαλιά της  óåë. 15 γάργαρων νερών του αρχαίου ποταμού Πυξίτη ξεχύνονταν στη θάλασσα της Τραπεζούντας. Το ευωδιαστό θυμίαμα πλημμύριζε την ατμόσφαιρα και γινόταν ένα με το άρωμα του μαύρου ελάτου και του υγρού χώματος του βουνού. «Σήμερα ζούμε ένα κορυφαίο θρησκευτικό και ιστορικό γεγονός. Σήμερα σταματούν «τα δάκρε τη Παναΐας» καθώς υποδέχεται εδώ πολυάριθμα τα παιδιά της “εκ δυσμών, και βορρά, και θαλάσσης, και εώας”», τόνισε ο Πατριάρχης Βαρθολομαίος για να προσθέσει: «Σήμερα ο Πόντος γίνεται πραγματικά Εύξεινος καθώς δέχεται καραβάνια ολόκληρα προσκυνητών που γεμίζουν τους δρόμους και τα δρομάκια και τες ανωφέρειες και τες πλαγιές των βουνών που οδηγούν στον ιερό βράχο όπου η Παναγία η Σουμελιώτισσα θρονιασμένη εκεί ψηλά- εδώ ψηλά, στάζει το ιερό δάκρυ γύρω από προσευχές και λιβανωτά- όπως έγραφε ο νοσταλγός προ 90 ακριβώς ετών. Όλα αυτά τα 88 χρόνια η ακοίμητος κανδήλα της μνήμης και της ευλαβείας προς την Σουμελιώτισσα έκαιε και εφώτιζε και καθοδηγούσε την πορεία όλων των Ποντίων, όλων των Ρωμηών, όλων των Ορθοδόξων, που έλεγαν στην προσευχή τους: «Σουμελά μας Παναγία, την εικόνα σου εγώ, τη σεπτή και την αγία, έρθα για να προσκυνώ». Με υγρά μάτια οι πιστοί άγγιζαν τα πρόσωπα των αγίων στις τοιχογραφίες του Ναού σε μια προσπάθειά τους να συνδεθούν με το παρελθόν τους. Για όσους βρέθηκαν

στο όρος Μελά ήταν και η εκπλήρωση ενός χρέους. Η εκπλήρωση του τάματος όλων εκείνων που δεν μπόρεσαν να προσευχηθούν ξανά στο Μοναστήρι της Κυρίας του Πόντου, της Παναγιάς της Σουμελιώτισσας. Συμπροσευχόμενοι παρέστησαν οι Μητροπολίτες Νεαπόλεως Βαρνάβας και Μεσσηνίας Χρυσόστομος, εκ της Εκκλησίας της Ελλάδος, ο Μητροπολίτης Ηλιουπόλεως Θεόδωρος εκ του Πατριαρχείου Αλεξανδρείας καθώς επίσης και κληρικοί από την Ελλάδα, την Ρωσία και τη Γεωργία. Μετά τη Θεία Λειτουργία ο Μητροπολίτης Δράμας Παύλος, ο οποίος έλκει την καταγωγή του από την Τραπεζούντα, μίλησε με συγκίνηση για την ιστορική αυτή θεία λειτουργία στην Παναγία Σουμελά. Ευχαριστώντας τον Οικουμενικό Πατριάρχη του προσέφερε ως δώρο ένα κειμήλιο που κάποτε άνηκε στην προγιαγιά του. Μια «Φοτά», δηλαδή μια μεταξωτή ποδιά που υφάνθηκε σε αργαλειό της Τραπεζούντας στις αρχές του 20ου αιώνα και αποτελούσε εξάρτημα της επίσημης παραδοσιακής αμφίεσης των γυναικών του Πόντου. Την ποδιά αυτή, η πρόγιαγιά του Ελένη Σιαμανίδου, με καταγωγή από την Κρώμνη, την μετέφερε στην Ελλάδα μετά τον ξεριζωμό. Ένα αντικείμενο που συμπλήρωνε τις αναμνήσεις από την ζωή στον Πόντο. H πρόγιαγιά ήταν ανιψιά του Ματθαίου Κωφίδη, βουλευτού Τραπεζούντος στην Οθωμανική Βουλή. Ο Οικουμενικός Πατριάρχης παρέλαβε το πολύτιμο αυτό δώρο, που έφερε επάνω του κεντημένη

ΣΕΠΤΕΜΒΡΙΟΣ 2010

ΟΡΘΟΔΟΞΟΣ ΠΑΡΑΤΗΡΗΤΗΣ ORTHODOX OBSERVER

Πατριαρχικo Mhnyma ΓΙΑ ΤΗΝ ΗΜΕΡΑ ΠΡΟΣΤΑΣΙΑΣ ΤΟΥ ΠΕΡΙΒΑΛΛΟΝΤΟΣ +ΒΑΡΘΟΛΟΜΑΙΟΣ

ΔΗΜ. ΠΑΝΑΓΟΣ

Ο ΑΡΧΙΕΠΙΣΚΟΠΟΣ ΔΗΜΗΤΡΙΟΣ ΤΕΛΕΣΕ ΤΡΙΣΑΓΙΟ ΣΤΟ GROUND ZERO ΝΕΑ ΥΟΡΚΗ – Κατά την εφετεινή 9η επέτειο των τραγικών γεγονότων της 11ης Σεπτεμβρίου 2001, ο Σεβασμιώτατος Αρχιεπίσκοπος Αμερικής κ. Δημήτριος τέλεσε επιμνημόσυνη δέηση και τρισάγιο εις μνήμην των θυμάτων και των ηρωϊκώς πεσόντων η οποία οργανώθηκε από την κοινότητα του Ι. Ναού του Αγίου Νικολάου το Σάββατο 11 Σεπτεμβρίου στις 4:00 μ.μ. παρουσία 100 περίπου πιστών στην είσοδο 3Β (Gate 3Β) στη συμβολή των οδών Greenwich και 130 Liberty Street, έναντι της Πυροσβεστικής Υπηρεσίας. Ο Αρχιεπίσκοπος ανέπεμψε ιδιαίτερη δέηση για την ανοικοδόμηση του Αγίου Νικολάου, κοντά στο σημείο όπου ευρίσκετο ο Ορθόδοξος Ιερός Ναός, ο μόνος χώρος και τόπος λατρείας που καταστράφηκε την αποφράδα εκείνη ημέρα. Mετά την προσευχή, ο Σεβασμιώτατος ανέγνωσε τα ονόματα των Ελληνορθοδόξων θυμάτων της διπλής επίθεσηςκαι διαβεβαίωσε τους συγκεντρωμένους, τους επίσημους και τα Μέσα Μαζικής Ενημέρωσης ότι ο Ιερός Ναός του Αγίου Νικολάου θα ανεγερθεί εκ νέου και θα αποτελέσει μνημείο για την Ελευθερία και να θυμίζει πάντα τα αθώα θύματα των τρομοκρατικών επιθέσεων της 11ης Σεπτεμβρίου. Και συμπλήρωσε ότι η εκκλησία θα κτιστεί “στη σκιά αυτού του τόπου όπου οι άνθρωποι μπορούν να ανακαλύψουν την ειρήνη και τη συμφιλίωση”. Τα 16 Ελληνορθόδοξα θύματα των επιθέσεων της 9-11 είναι: Joanna Ahladiotis, Anastasios (Ernest) Alikakos, Katerina Bantis, Lieutenant Peter (Panagiotis) Brennan, Anthony Demas, Konstantinos (Gus) Ekonomos, Peter Hansen, Vasilios (Bill) Haramis, John Katsimatidis, Danielle Kousoulis, George Merkouris, Peter Constantine Moutos, James Nicholas Papageorge, George Paris, Theodore Pigis, and Daphne Pouletsos. Επίσης καταγράφθηκαν άλλοι 22 Ορθόδοξοι οι οποίοι εχάθηκαν την ημέρα εκείνη: Yelena Melnichenko, Yevgeny Knyazev, Irina Kolpakova, Suzanne Kondratenko, Lyudmilla Ksido, Daniel Ilkanayev, Yelena Belkovsky, Aleksandr Valeryevich Ivantsov, Tatiana Ryjova, Alena Sesinova, Alexander Filipov, Gregory Sikorsky, Alexander Braginsky, Gennady Boyarsky, Tatiana Bakalinskaya, Iuriy Mouchinsky, Vladimir Tomasevic, Anthony Jovic and Bojan Kostic.

Αρχή του Νέου Εκκλησιαστικού Ετους ôïõ Íéêüëáïõ Ìáããßíá

Με την καθιερωμένη εκκλησιαστική τάξη εορτάσθηκε την 1η Σεπτεμβρίου στο Φανάρι η αρχή του νέου εκκλησι α στικού έτους, η σύναξις της Παναγίας της Παμμακαρίστου, η εικών της οποίας από αιώνες είναι αποθησαυρισμένη στον Πατριαρχικό Ναό, και η ημέρα προστασίας του φυσικού περιβάλλοντος. Ο Οικουμενικός Πατριάρχης Βαρθολομαίος χοροστάτησε στην Θεία Λειτουργία, που τελέστηκε στον Πατριαρχικό Ναό του Αγίου Γεωργίου, στο τέλος της οποίας ο Πατριάρχης ανέγνωσε τη νενομισμένη Ευχή και Πράξη της νέας Δ’ Ινδικτιώνος και ακολούθως την υπέγραψε, όπως και οι συγχοροστατήσαντες αρχιερείς του Οικουμενικού Πατριαρχείου προσερχόμενοι κατά τα πρεσβεία. Αξίζει να σημειωθεί ότι η υπογραφή του κώδικα της Ινδίκτου είναι μία από τις παλαιότερες παραδόσεις του Πατριαρχείου Κωνσταντινουπόλεως, που καταγράφεται από τον τέταρτο μ.Χ αιώνα. Στο τέλος ο Πατριάρχης αγίασε το εκκλησίασμα με τον Αγιασμό της 1ης του μηνός. Το μήνυμα του Οικουμενικού Πατριάρχου για την ημέρα του Περιβάλλοντος -

την οποία το Οικουμενικό Πατριαρχείο καθιέρωσε επί Πατριάρχου Δημητρίου το 1989 - ανέγνωσε μετά το Ευαγγέλιο απ’ άμβωνος ο Αρχιγραμματεύς της Αγίας και Ιεράς Συνόδου Αρχιμ. Ελπιδοφόρος. Στην Θ. Λειτουργία παρέστη και ο αναπληρωτής Υπουργός Εξωτερικών της Ελλάδος Δημήτρης Δρούτσας, ο οποίος, στη συνέχεια, συναντήθηκε κατ’ ιδίαν με τον Οικουμενικό Πατριάρχη. Παρέστησαν, επίσης, οι Πρόξενοι της Ελλάδος στην Πόλη Νικόλαος Σιγάλας και Νικόλαος Σαπουντζής, Άρχοντες Οφφικιάλοι της Μ.τ.Χ.Ε., παράγοντες της Ομογένειας και πλήθος προσκυνητών.

ΕΛΕΩ ΘΕΟΥ ΑΡΧΙΕΠΙΣΚΟΠΟΣ ΚΩΝΣΤΑΝΤΙΝΟΥΠΟΛΕΩΣ ΝΕΑΣ ΡΩΜΗΣ ΚΑΙ ΟΙΚΟΥΜΕΝΙΚΟΣ ΠΑΤΡΙΑΡΧΗΣ ΠΑΝΤΙ Τῼ ΠΛΗΡΩΜΑΤΙ ΤΗΣ ΕΚΚΛΗΣΙΑΣ ΧΑΡΙΝ ΚΑΙ ΕΙΡΗΝΗΝ ΠΑΡΑ ΤΟΥ ΔΗΜΙΟΥΡΓΟΥ ΠΑΣΗΣ ΤΗΣ ΚΤΙΣΕΩΣ ΚΥΡΙΟΥ ΚΑΙ ΘΕΟΥ ΚΑΙ ΣΩΤΗΡΟΣ ΗΜΩΝ ΙΗΣΟΥ ΧΡΙΣΤΟΥ Τέκνα ἐν Κυρίῳ ἀγαπητά, Ὁ μακαριστός προκάτοχος ἡμῶν ἀοίδιμος Πατριάρχης Δημήτριος ἔχων πλήρη ἐπίγνωσιν τῆς κρισιμότητος τῆς περιβαλλοντικῆς κρίσεως, καθώς καί τῆς εὐθύνης τῆς Ἐκκλησίας διά τήν ἄμεσον καί ἀποτελεσματικήν ἀντιμετώπισίν της, ἐξέδωκε πρό δύο καί πλέον δεκαετιῶν τήν πρώτην ἐπίσημον ἐγκύκλιον διά τήν διαφύλαξιν τοῦ φυσικοῦ περιβάλλοντος. Ἡ ἐγκύκλιος ἐκείνη, διά τῆς ὁποίας ἡ Μήτηρ Ἐκκλησία καθιέρωσεν ἐπισήμως τήν α’ Σεπτεμβρίου, ἀρχήν τοῦ ἐκκλησιαστικοῦ ἔτους, ὡς ἡμέραν προσευχῆς διά τήν προστασίαν τοῦ περιβάλλοντος, ἀπηυθύνετο πρός τό πλήρωμα τῆς Ἐκκλησίας εἰς ὅλα τά μήκη καί πλάτη τῆς γῆς. Ὅπως μέ διορατικότητα εἶχεν ἐπισημάνει τότε ἡ Ἐκκλησία μας, ἡ σημασία τοῦ εὐχαριστιακοῦ καί ἀσκητικοῦ ἤθους τῆς παραδόσεώς μας ἀναδεικνύεται ὡς μεγίστη καί κρίσιμος προσωπική συνεισφορά εἰς τόν καλόν καί πανανθρώπινον ἀγῶνα τῆς προστασίας τοῦ φυσικοῦ περιβάλλοντος, ὡς Θείας Κτίσεως καί κοινῆς κληρονομίας. Σήμερον, μεσούσης μιᾶς ἄνευ προηγουμένου οἰκονομικῆς κρίσεως, ἡ ἀνθρωπότης δοκιμάζεται πολλαχῶς. Ἡ δοκιμασία ὅμως αὕτη δέν ἀφορᾷ μόνον εἰς τάς προσωπικάς δυσκολίας ἑνός ἑκάστου ἐξ ἡμῶν, ἀλλά εἰς τήν ἀνθρωπότητα συνολικῶς ὡς κοινωνίαν, συμπεριφοράν καί ἀντίληψιν διά τόν περιβάλλοντα κόσμον καί ἱεράρχησιν ἀξιῶν καί προτεραιοτήτων. Εἶναι σημαντικόν, ἡ παροῦσα θλιβερά οἰκονομική κρίσις νά ἀποτελέσῃ ἔναυσμα διά τήν πολυθρυλουμένην καί ἀπολύτως ἀναγκαίαν στροφήν πρός τήν περιβαλλοντικῶς βιώσιμον ἀνάπτυξιν. Πρός ἐκεῖνο τό πρότυπον δηλαδή τῆς οἰκονομικῆς καί κοινωνικῆς πολιτικῆς, ἡ ὁποία θέτει ὡς βάσιν τό περιβάλλον καί ὄχι τό ἀνεξέλεγκτον οἰκονομικόν κέρδος. Ἄς ἀναλογισθῶμεν ὅλοι ἐπί παραδείγματι τί δύναται νά συμβῇ εἰς κράτη, τά ὁποῖα σήμερον πλήττονται ἐντόνως ἐκ τῆς οἰκονομικῆς κρίσεως καί πενίας, ὅπως ἡ Ἑλλάς, ἡ ὁποία διαθέτει ταὐτοχρόνως ἐξαιρετικόν φυσικόν πλοῦτον: μοναδικά οἰκοσυστήματα, σπάνια εἴδη χλωρίδος καί πανίδος καί φυσικούς πόρους, ὡραιότατα τοπία, ἄφθονον ἥλιον καί ἄνεμον. Ἐάν τά οἰκοσυστήματα ὑποβαθμισθοῦν καί ἐκλείψουν, οἱ φυσικοί πόροι ἐξαντληθοῦν καί τά τοπία καταστραφοῦν, ἐνῷ ἐκ τῆς κλιματικῆς ἀλλαγῆς προκύψουν ἀπρόβλεπται καιρικαί συνθῆκαι, ποία θά εἶναι ἡ βάσις καί τό οἰκονομικόν μέλλον τῶν κρατῶν αὐτῶν καί συνολικῶς τοῦ πλανήτου; Ἐκτιμῶμεν, λοιπόν, ὅτι τώρα καθίσταται ἀδήριτος ἡ ἀνάγκη διά τήν συνάρθρωσιν κοινωνικῶν συναινέσεων καί πολιτικῶν πρωτοβουλιῶν, ὥστε νά καταστῇ δυνατή ἡ στροφή πρός μίαν ὁδόν ἀειφορίας καί οἰκολογικῶς βιωσίμου ἀναπτύξεως. Διά τήν Ὀρθόδοξον Ἐκκλησίαν μας, ἡ προστασία τοῦ περιβάλλοντος, ὡς θείας καί «καλῆς λίαν» κτίσεως, ἀποτελεῖ μεγίστην εὐθύνην διά τόν ἄνθρωπον, ἀνεξαρτήτως τῶν ὑλικῶν ἤ οἰκονομικῶν ὠφελειῶν τάς ὁποίας δύναται νά ἀποφέρῃ. Ἡ ἄμεσος διασύνδεσις τῆς θεοσδότου ὑποχρεώσεως καί ἐντολῆς «ἐργάζεσθαι καί φυλάσσειν» μέ κάθε πτυχήν τῆς συγχρόνου ζωῆς, ἀποτελεῖ τήν μόνην ὁδόν διά τήν ἁρμονικήν συνύπαρξιν μέ ἕκαστον στοιχεῖον τῆς κτίσεως καί μέ τό σύνολον τοῦ φυσικοῦ κόσμου ἐν γένει. Καλοῦμεν λοιπόν πάντας, ἀδελφοί καί τέκνα ἐν Κυρίῳ ἀγαπητά, εἰς τόν τιτάνειον ἀλλ᾿ ὅμως δίκαιον ἀγῶνα διά τόν μετριασμόν τῆς περιβαλλοντικῆς κρίσεως καί τήν ἀποτροπήν τῶν χειροτέρων ἐκ τῶν ἐπιπτώσεων αὐτῆς, μέ ἀπώτερον σκοπόν τήν ἐναρμόνισιν τοῦ προσωπικοῦ ἀλλά καί τοῦ συλλογικοῦ μας τρόπου ζωῆς καί σκέψεως μέ τάς ἀπαιτήσεις διαβιώσεως καί διατηρήσεως τόσον τῶν φυσικῶν οἰκοσυστημάτων καί ἑνός ἑκάστου ἐκ τῶν εἰδῶν χλωρίδος καί πανίδος, ὅσον καί τοῦ σύμπαντος κόσμου ὡς ἑνιαίου καί ἀδιαιρέτου συνόλου.

1η Σεπτεμβρίου 2010 + Ὁ Κωνσταντινουπόλεως

Διάπυρος πρός Θεόν εὐχέτης πάντων ὑμῶν

ΟΡΘΟΔΟΞΟΣ ΠΑΡΑΤΗΡΗΤΗΣ

ΠΑΡΟΥΣΙΑΣΤΗΚΕ ΣΤΗΝ ΙΜΒΡΟ Η ΕΠΑΝΕΚΔΟΣΗ ΤΟΥ ΙΣΤΟΡΙΚΟΥ ΥΠΟΜΝΗΜΑΤΟΣ ΓΙΑ ΤΗ ΝΗΣΟ

ΣΕΠΤΕΜΒΡΙΟΣ 2010

αρχιΕΠιΣκΟΠικΗ ΕΓκΥκΛιΟΣ Ἡ Παγκόσµια Ὕψωση τοῦ Τιµίου καί Ζωοποιοῦ Σταυροῦ Πρός τούς Σεβασµιωτάτους καί Θεοφιλεστάτους Ἀρχιερεῖς, τούς Εὐλαβεστάτους Ἱερεῖς καί ∆ιακόνους, τούς Μοναχούς καί Μοναχές, τούς Προέδρους καί Μέλη τῶν Κοινοτικῶν Συµβουλίων, τά Ἡµερήσια καί Ἀπογευµατινά Σχολεῖα, τίς Φιλοπτώ-χους Ἀδελφότητες, τήν Νεολαία, τίς Ἑλληνορθόδοξες Ὀργανώσεις καί ὁλόκληρο τό Χριστεπώνυµο πλήρωµα τῆς Ἱερᾶς Ἀρχιεπισκοπῆς Ἀµερικῆς.

ÍÉÊ. ÌÁÃÃÉÍÁÓ

Ο Οικουµενικός Πατριάρχης Βαρθολοµαίος λειτουργεί στο χωριό του στους Αγίους Θεοδώρους της Ίµβρου, επί τη εορτή της αποδόσεως της Κοιµήσεως της Θεοτόκου.Μαζί του συλλειτουργούν ο Αρχιεπίσκοπος Αµερικής ∆ηµήτριος (Α) και ο Μητροπολίτης Μύρων Χρυσόστοµος (∆).

 óåë. 15 ο Οικουμενικός Πατριάρχης και συνέχισε: «Εάν σήμερα γίνονται ξενοδοχεία και εστιατόρια αυτά τα κτίρια αυτό να το ρωτήσει σε άλλους και όχι σε εμάς, γιατί γίνονται. Εάν δεν γίνονταν αυτά που έγιναν όλως αδίκως εναντίον του διεθνούς δικαίου την δεκαετία του ’60, δεν θα έφευγαν οι Ίμβριοι από εδώ, δεν θα άδειαζαν τα σχολεία μας, δεν θα χάναμε τα κτήματά μας, δεν θα σκοτώνονταν εννέα - δέκα Ίμβριοι, δεν θα εδολοφονούντο δηλαδή, και ούτω καθεξής». Στη συνέχεια αναφέρθηκε σε μια παλαιότερη δήλωση του Πρωθυπουργού της Τουρκίας Ταγίπ Ερντογάν αναφορικά με την φυγή των μειονοτήτων. «Εάν ο πρωθυπουργός της Τουρκίας πρόσφατα διερωτήθη γιατί επιτρέψαμε να φύγουν οι μειονοτικοί, οι Ρωμιοί και κυρίως οι Ρωμιοί, αλλά και άλλοι μειονοτικοί και ότι ομολόγησε δημοσία ο πρωθυπουργός της χώρας ότι έχασε η Τουρκία με αυτό που έγινε και τους εξηνάγκασε να φύγουν, αυτό ήταν μια γενναία ομολογία του κυβερνήτου της Τουρκίας, την οποία θα πρέπει να ενστερνιστούν, να εγκολπωθούν και όλοι οι άλλοι οι οποίοι διερωτώνται τώρα γιατί γίνονται τα σχολεία μας εστιατόρια και ξενοδοχεία. Λυπούμαι πολύ που κατακλείεται αυτή η ωραία βραδιά με αυτή την αγανακτισμένη απάντησή μου». Στην παρουσίαση του βιβλίου παρέστησαν ο Αρχιεπίσκοπος Αμερικής Δημήτριος, οι Μητροπολίτες Ίμβρου και Τενέδου Κύριλλος και Μύρων Χρυσόστομος, ο Γενικός Πρόξενος της Ελλάδος στην Κωνσταντινούπολη Βασίλης Μπορνόβας, η Γενική Πρόξενος της Ελλάδος

στη Σμύρνη Χαρά Σκολαρίκου, ο Νομάρχης Λέσβου Παύλος Βογιατζής, ο Άρχων Ορφανοτρόφος Νικόλαος Μάνος, χορηγός της έκδοσης του βιβλίου «Ίμβρος». Η παρουσίαση διοργανώθηκε από τον μεικτό Σύλλογο “Προστασίας του Περιβάλλοντος και του Πολιτισμού της Ίμβρου” και τον Σύλλογο “Προστασίας, Αλληλεγγύης και Βιωσίμου Αναπτύξεως Ίμβρος”. Ο Οικουμενικός Πατριάρχης Βαρθολομαίος βρέθηκε στη γενέτειρά του νήσο Ίμβρο, με την ευκαιρία της ετήσιας πανηγύρεως του χωριού του, επί τη αποδόσει της εορτής της Κοιμήσεως της Θεοτόκου. Τον Πατριάρχη συνόδευσαν στην Ίμβρο ο Αρχιεπίσκοπος Αμερικής Δημήτριος, μετά του Αρχιδιακόνου του Παντελεήμονος, ο Μέγας Ιεροκήρυξ Αρχιμ. Βησσαρίων, ο κ. Ανδρέας Δημητριάδης από την Αμερική, ο Άρχων Υμνωδός Γεώργιος Σαρρής και ο δημοσιογράφος Νικόλαος Μαγγίνας. Οι Ίμβριοι, ντόπιοι και απόδημοι, υποδέχθηκαν με άνθη και ενθουσιασμό τον Οικουμενικό Πατριάρχη και τον Αρχιεπίσκοπο Αμερικής, οι οποίοι άμα τη αφίξει τους μετέβησαν στον Καθεδρικό Ναό της νήσου, άναψαν κερί και έψαλαν συγκινημένοι, με την παρουσία δεκάδων πιστών. Υπενθυμίζεται ότι στις 5 Ιουνίου με την παρουσία του Οικουμενικού Πατριάρχου Βαρθολομαίου στην Ίμβρο τελέστηκαν τα Θυρανοίξια του πρόσφατα ανακαινισθέντος αρχαίου εξωκλησίου των Παμμεγίστων Ταξιαρχών Μιχαήλ και Γαβριήλ από τον Μητροπολίτη Δράμας Παύλο, με του οποίου την προσφορά υλοποιήθηκε το όλο έργο.

Για ερωτήματα σχετικά με τον Κανονισμό για θέματα επιλήψιμης σεξουαλικής συμπεριφοράς κληρικών της Ιεράς Αρχιεπισκοπής Αμερικής ή για σχετικές καταγγελίες καλέστε χωρίς χρέωση τον ειδικό αριθμό (877) 554-3382 Όλες οι καταγγελίες θα ληφθούν σοβαρά υπ’ όψιν και θα διερευνηθούν πλήρως και με απόλυτη αμεροληψία. Μπορείτε να μιλήσετε Αγγλικά ή Ελληνικά σε εθελοντή ή εθελόντρια.

Προσφιλεῖς Ἀδελφοί καί Ἀδελφές ἐν Χριστῷ, Τήν ἡμέρα αὐτή τῆς Παγκοσμίου Ὑψώσεως τοῦ Τιμίου καί Ζωοποιοῦ Σταυροῦ, σᾶς χαιρετῶ μέ τήν ἀγάπη καί τήν χαρά τοῦ Κυρίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, καί σᾶς παρακαλῶ νά μελετήσετε τό μήνυμα τῆς ἡμέρας αὐτῆς μέσῳ ἑνός ἀπό τούς ἐμπευσμένους ὓμνους τῆς λατρείας μας. Στήν ἀκολουθία τοῦ Μεγάλου Ἑσπερινοῦ ψάλλουμε: «Φώτισον ἡμᾶς τῇ ἐλλάμψει σου Σταυρέ Ζωηφόρε˙ ἁγίασον ἡμᾶς τῇ ἰσχύϊ σου πανσέβαστε Σταυρέ˙ καί κράτυνον ἡμᾶς τῇ Ὑψώσει σου». Αὐτό τό τριπλό προσευχητικό αἲτημα, ὃπως δίδεται στόν ὓμνο, μᾶς προσφέρει βοήθεια γιά νά καταλάβουμε τό νόημα τῆς μεγάλης Ἑορτῆς τῆς Παγκοσμίου Ὑψώσεως τοῦ Τιμίου Σταυροῦ. Πρῶτον, «φωτιζόμεθα μέ τήν ἒλλαμψη τοῦ Σταυροῦ». Αὐτή εἶναι μία ὑπέροχη λάμψη πού ἀκτινοβολεῖ ἀπό τόν Σταυρό τοῦ Χριστοῦ καί φωτίζει τόν νοῦ καί τήν ψυχή μας. Εἶναι μιά πνευματική λαμπρότης, ἡ ὁποία φωτίζει τίς ψυχές διότι προσφέρει τήν ἀγάπη ὡς ἀπόλυτη ἀρχή καί κανόνα ζωῆς, τήν ἀγάπη ὡς ἒκφραση τῆς ὑπέρτατης σοφίας τοῦ Θεοῦ. Ἡ λάμψη τοῦ Ὑψουμένου Σταυροῦ, ὡς μοναδική φωτιστική δύναμη, εἶναι στήν οὐσία ἡ λάμψη τῆς χωρίς ὃρια ἀγάπης τοῦ Σταυρωθέντος Χριστοῦ, τόν Ὁποῖο λατρεύουμε αὐτή τήν ἱερή ἡμέρα τῆς 14ης Σεπτεμβρίου. Δεύτερον, «ἁγιαζόμεθα διά τῆς ἰσχύος τοῦ Σταυροῦ». Διά τοῦ Σταυροῦ καί τῆς θυσίας πού ἒγινε ἀπό τόν ἀναμάρτητο Κύριο, συνετρίβη ἡ δύναμη τῆς ἁμαρτίας. Οἱ ἁμαρτίες μας συγχωρήθηκαν. Ἡ ὁδός πρός τήν ἁγιότητα ἂνοιξε. Ἡ σχέση μας μέ τόν Θεό ἀποκαταστάθηκε διά τοῦ Σταυροῦ, καί διά τῆς πίστεως στόν Χριστό ἡ ζωή μας μπορεῖ νά ἀποκατασταθῆ στήν κατάσταση ἁγιότητος καί εἰκόνος Θεοῦ, ὃπως εἲχαμε ἀρχικῶς δημιουργηθῆ. Καθιστάμεθα ἃγιοι διά τῆς δυνάμεως τοῦ Σταυροῦ, μέ συνέπεια νά μποροῦμε νά προχωρήσουμε στήν ἀναζήτηση καί τήρηση τοῦ θελήματος τοῦ Θεοῦ στήν ἐκλογή τῶν εὐλογιῶν τῆς Βασιλείας τῶν οὐρανῶν, καί στήν ἀφιέρωση ὁλόκληρης τῆς ζωῆς μας στόν Χριστό. Αὐτό εἶναι τό μονοπάτι πού ὁδηγεῖ στήν ἁγιότητα διά τῆς δυνάμεως τοῦ Σταυροῦ. Τέλος, «ἐνισχυόμεθα διά τῆς Ὑψώσεως τοῦ Τιμίου Σταυροῦ», ὃπως τό διακηρύξαμε στόν ὓμνο πού ἀναφέραμε ἀνωτέρω. Αὐτή εἶναι μιά ἡμέρα πού μᾶς δίνει δύναμη γιά τή ζωή μας στόν κόσμο αὐτό, καί γιά τήν προσπάθειά μας νά εἲμαστε μέ τόν Θεό πάντοτε, καί ὑπό οἱεσδήποτε συνθῆκες. Τήν ἡμέρα αὐτή ὁ Σταυρός ὑψώνεται ὣστε νά τόν ἰδοῦν ὃλοι. Οἱ Ἐκκλησίες μας στολίζονται μέ τόν Σταυρό, οἱ κληρικοί μας εὐλογοῦν μέ τόν Σταυρό, καί οἱ πιστοί φέρουν τόν Σταυρό, ὂχι μόνο ὡς κόσμημα, ἀλλά καί ὡς δύναμη. Πέραν τοῦ γεγονότος ὃτι ὁ Σταυρός ἀποτελεῖ τό σύμβολο τῆς πίστεώς μας, ὁ ἲδιος Σταυρός προσφέρει δύναμη μέσῳ τῆς πίστεώς μας στό ἐπίτευγμα τοῦ Χριστοῦ ὃταν καρφώθηκε ἐπί τοῦ Σταυροῦ. Προσφιλεῖς ἀδελφοί καί ἀδελφές ἐν Χριστῷ, Κατά τήν διάρκεια τῆς γιορτῆς τῆς Ὑψώσεως τοῦ Τιμίου Σταυροῦ, ἀποτελεῖ παράδοση, οἱ πιστοί τῆς Ἑλληνορθοδόξου Ἐκκλησίας στήν Ἀμερική, νά προσφέρουν δωρεές στήν προσφιλή Ἑλληνική Ὀρθόδοξη Θεολογική Σχολή μας τοῦ Τιμίου Σταυροῦ, καί νά ἀναπέμπουν προσευχές ὑπέρ τῶν φοιτητῶν, διδασκάλων, ἐφόρων καί εὐεργετῶν πού προσφέρουν γενναιόδωρα γιά τό ἒργο καί τήν ἀποστολή αὐτοῦ τοῦ ἱεροῦ ἱδρύματος. Ἀκολουθώντας τόν ὓμνο τοῦ Ἑσπερινοῦ πού ἀναφέραμε πάραπάνω, μποροῦμε νά ἀναγνωρίσουμε τήν ἀλήθεια ὃτι ἡ Σχολή τοῦ Τιμίου Σταυροῦ ἀποτελεῖ ἓνα τόπο φωτισμοῦ γιά ἂνδρες καί γυναῖκες, ὃπου ἐμπλουτίζονται μέ τήν γνώση τῆς πίστεως καί μέ διανοητικά προσόντα, ἀλλά ὃπου πολύ περισσότερο ἀποκτοῦν πνευματική ὡριμότητα καί βαθειά γνώση τῆς δυνάμεως τῆς πίστεως καί τῆς σοφίας τοῦ Θεοῦ. Ἐπί πλέον, οἱ φοιτηταί μας ὁδηγοῦνται στό μονοπάτι τῆς ἁγιότητος διά τῆς λατρείας, τῆς προσευχῆς, καί τῆς πνευματικῆς καθοδηγήσεως πού χαρακτηρίζουν τήν Θεολογική Σχολή τοῦ Τιμίου Σταυροῦ. Στό παρεκκλήσιο τῆς Σχολῆς, στούς χώρους προσευχῆς, καί στίς τάξεις τῶν μαθημάτων, βοηθοῦνται νά δοῦν τόν δρόμο τοῦ Σταυροῦ. Προετοιμάζονται γιά μιά ζωή θυσίας, προσφορᾶς, αὐταπαρνήσεως, καί ὑποταγῆς στό θέλημα τοῦ Θεοῦ. Ἐπίσης ἐνισχύονται νά ἀκολουθήσουν στή ζωή τους τήν κλήση τοῦ Θεοῦ. Οἱ προκλήσεις πού συνοδεύουν τήν ἱερωσύνη, καί ἡ ἑτοιμασία γιά διακονία τήν ὁποία λαμβάνουν στήν Σχολή, μεταγγίζει στίς ψυχές τους τήν ἰσχύ καί δύναμη τοῦ Σταυροῦ, ἒτσι ὣστε νά μποροῦν νά βγοῦν στόν κόσμο καί νά κηρύξουν διά τῆς δυνάμεως καί ἰσχύος τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Καθώς γιορτάζουμε τήν μεγάλη αὐτή γιορτή τῆς Ἐκκλησίας μας, παρακαλῶ θερμῶς, μαζύ μέ τίς προσευχές μας νά ἒχουμε τήν θέληση νά δώσουμε μέ γενναιοδωρία, ἒστω καί ἀπό τό ὑστέρημά μας, γιά τίς ἀνάγκες τῆς Σχολῆς μας τοῦ Τιμίου Σταυροῦ. Εἲθε, αὐτή τήν ἡμέρα νά ἀντικρίσουμε τόν Ὑψούμενο Σταυρό, καί νά γιορτάσουμε τήν μεγάλη ἀγάπη καί σοφία τοῦ Θεοῦ, καθώς ἀφιερώνουμε τόν ἑαυτό μας σέ μιά ζωή ἁγιότητος, καί καθώς ἀντικρίζουμε τήν δύναμη τοῦ Σταυροῦ γιά κάθε μέρα, καί στήν πορεία μας πρός αἰώνιο ζωή. Με πατρική ἐν Χριστῷ ἀγάπη,

† ὁ Ἀρχιεπίσκοπος Ἀμερικῆς Δημήτριος

SEPTEMBER 2010

Greek America Foundation to Award Full-Tuition Scholarship The Greek America Foundation has announced it will award its Hellenic Legacy Scholarship for students studying abroad in Greece at DEREE - The American College of Greece in Athens, for the upcoming spring 2011 semester that begins in January. In addition to an extensive series of programming and special events throughout the nation, the Greek America Foundation recently launched its Hellenic Legacy Scholarship Fund to provide semester-long, full tuition scholarships. The Hellenic Legacy Scholarship is one of the core components of the mission of the Greek America Foundation. Study abroad in Greece provides an opportunity for a truly transformative experience in which students have the chance to learn more about themselves and to develop an understanding of the place of Hellenism and Greece in the world. Candidates must be U.S. or Canadian university students with a commitment to community building and leadership who wish to spend a semester abroad in Greece. Ideal candidates are independent-minded students who wish to immerse themselves into the heart of an ancient capital city at an educational institution comprised of over 3,000 Greek and international students. Full requirements are listed on the application document. Deadline for spring semester scholarship applications is Nov. 1. The Greek America Foundation awarded its first scholarship to Deborah Cunningham, a senior at Wheaton College in Illinois. She is studying abroad during the fall semester. For additional information, please contact the Hellenic Legacy Scholarship program director Jennifer Kellogg at jkellogg@greekamerica.org.

Boston Cathedral Awards Scholarships BOSTON – Annunciation Cathedral of New England presented the annual Yerontitis and Geuras scholarships to its active youth members on Aug. 15. The Cathedral provides scholarships to further the education of worthy, talented, and industrious young men and women of Greek parentage or descent. Recipients are chosen based academics, extracurricular activities and community service. Through the annual scholarship program, the scholarship committee encourages young people to explore the concept of Christian stewardship while helping them on their educational journey. This year six students were presented with scholarships totaling $6,600 at the awards ceremony. The scholarship recipients are: Emmanuel Janos, a student at Suffolk Law School; Alexander PallasDienst, a mechanical engineering student at Wentworth Institute of Technology; Nicole Ginarte, an English major at University of Mass-Boston; James Kavaltzis, enrolled at UMass-Amherst studying sports management; Demetra Kavaltzis, studying journalism and education at UMass Amherst; and Dean Papagiorgakis, enrolled at UMass Amherst and studying history.

Fort Worth Church to Celebrate Centennial

Undefeated Volleyball Champions The Holy Trinity Girls Varsity Volleyball Team of Bridgeport, Conn., recently won the Connecticut Eastern Orthodox Volleyball League 2010 Championship after an undefeated 12-0 regular season. They competed against Greek Orthodox church teams from Stamford to New London and New Rochelle, N.Y., then went on to win the semifinals, finals and the All Star game, finishing the season undefeated with 15 games. (Back row, l. to r.) Coach Perry Koutroulas, Eleni Tsilfides, Sia Daniolas, Georgette Kapetaneas, Margarita Kolitsas, and Krystianna Toth. (Front): Marena Cruz, Eleni Georgakopoulos, Demi Skenderis and Maria Kokenos.

OCF honors Bishop Dimitrios of Xanthos FISHERS, Ind. – The OCF Board of Directors honored Bishop Dimitrios of Xanthos Sept. 17 for his efforts in establishing Orthodox Christian Fellowship with a celebratory dinner in Jacksonville, Fla. In 1960, as a recent seminary graduate, Bishop Dimitrios (James Couchell) was the driving force in establishing what has become the all-important campus ministry arm of the Orthodox Church. Inspired by his dedication and devotion to college students, OCF has been able to build upon the foundation he laid 50 years ago. In 2000, OCF experienced a renewal, which included the strong and continuing support of the various Orthodox jurisdictions in North America. Recognizing these two milestones, this fall marks the 50th anniversary of OCF’s creation and the 10th anniversary of its current efforts. In addition to the dinner, OCF held its annual Board of Directors, Chaplain’s Network and Student Advisory Board meetings throughout the weekend.

These planning meetings led into OCF’s College Student Sunday on Sept. 19, which was designated by the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA) as the Sunday after the Feast of the Elevation of the Cross. On this day, Orthodox Christians are asked to call to mind, support and prayer all of our college students. Orthodox Christian Fellowship (OCF) is the official collegiate campus ministry program under SCOBA. Its mission is to support fellowships on college campuses, whose members experience and witness to the Orthodox Christian Church through community life, prayer, service to others and study of the Faith. Headquarters is in Indianapolis, and supports more than 270 local university chapters across North America. In addition, OCF provides a variety of innovative programming, including regional training, annual conferences, and domestic and international service learning programs.

Atlanta Metropolis to Hold Family Retreat ATLANTA – “The Church in the Home” retreat is the first in a series of semi-annual family retreats held at the Diakonia Retreat Center in Salem, S.C. Scheduled for Oct. 15-17 weekend, it is open to couples and families of all ages. This fall’s retreat theme is ‘The Church in the Home.’ The purpose of this retreat is to make Orthodox homes fortresses of faith, hope, and love by creating a church in the home. The Family Retreat is dedicated to strengthening the faith and families through learning, discussions, relationship building, and yes, lots of fun. Religious, recreational and social

activities will include: canoeing, and campfires, music, arts, and crafts, family worship, chapel services and Holy Confession During the weekend adult and youth workshops will take place, along with discussion groups on topics that include: Strengthening relationships between spouses, Effective communication skills within the family structure, Managing conflict in relationships in a healthy way, Setting goals and stress management strategies and nightly discussion groups Space is limited. For more information, contact Fr. Gregory Georgiou at (704) 502-9368 or Paula Marchman at (404) 272-5775.

FORT WORTH, Texas – St. Demetrios Church will celebrate its centennial with a series of events in November. The Greeks who founded the parish came to the city, whose nickname is “Cowtown” from the era of the cattle drives in the late 1800s, to work at the Armour and Swift meat-packing companies. Several eventually purchased land to farm, or started business including small cafes, candy kitchens, shoe repair shops and cleaners. In 1910 they established the first Greek Orthodox Church in Texas and built their first church at 21st and Ross Avenue in Fort Worth in 1917. In 2002 they participated in an emotional walk from the first church to the new sanctuary at Jacksboro Hwy and 21st St., less than a mile away. The celebrations on Nov. 5-7 include a Welcome Night featuring a Texas-style barbecue at the church community center at 2020 NW 21st St. On Saturday, a dinner and dance will take place at the Fort Worth Arts Center. Metropolitan Isaiah of Denver will celebrate the Divine Liturgy on Sunday. A luncheon will follow at the church. For more information on weekend celebration, contact the church office of St. Demetrios, Fort Worth, 817-626-5578.

New Academy Opens in Brooklyn BROOKLYN, N.Y. – A ribbon–cutting ceremony took place at Brooklyn’s newest academy on Aug. 15, the Aristotle Academy of Math and Sciences at Three Hierarchs School. It is affiliated with St. John’s University. In addition to an emphasis on math, sciences and language, the academy offers extracurricular activities, including tennis, basketball, personal hygiene and care, music, dance and cooking. Representatives from the Archdiocese, area churches and schools, city officials, including the Brooklyn borough president and members of the church and school communities attended.

New Chaplain Receives Metropolitan’s Blessing BROOKLINE, Mass. – Fr. Christopher Moody of Clinton, Maine, a Greek Orthodox military chaplain who will leave for Afghanistan in October, received the blessings of Metropolitan Methodios prior to reporting to Fort Jackson in Columbia, S.C., for training. A member of the National Guard, Fr. Moody is a 2010 graduate of Holy Cross School of Theology. Metropolitan Methodios ordained Fr. Moody to the diaconate on Oct. 11, 2009 at Holy Trinity Church in Lewiston, Maine, his home parish, and to the priesthood on Jan. 31, 2010 at the Sts. Constantine & Helen Church in Cambridge, Mass.. Prior to departing for South Carolina, Fr. Moody assisted Fr. Foustoukos at St. Vasilios parish in Peabody, Mass. for five months. Fr. Moody who has also served in Iraq for more than a year, will complete his training at Camp Atterbury, Indiana, before he leaves for Afghanistan. He and his wife, Victoria Angela, are the parents of Hannah, Michael, Sarah and Mary.

SEPTEMBER 2010

Ways of the Lord

The latest book by His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of America includes his Keynote Addresses from his first Clergy-Laity Congress in Philadelphia in July 2000 through his address in Washington, DC in July 2008. Also included are addresses given in Athens, Greece, Cyprus, Fordham University and Brookline, MA plus others. In compiling this book Archbishop Demetrios writes in the Prologue of Ways of the Lord, “ Sharing the Gospel with those who do not know it can be at times an uncomplicated task as we know from the long history of Christianity. Frequently, however, and especially in our days, the very same task seems to require more elaborate, methodical and sophisticated approaches. The texts presented in this book constitute an humble effort to contribute to such a task, which is the sacred but also demanding work of sharing the Gospel with the people of today; hence, the subtitle of the book ‘Perspectives on Sharing the Gospel of Christ.’” To purchase your copy of “Ways of the Lord” ($24.95 per + $6 S&H)* please call 212-774-0244, or email gotel@goarch.org, or comple the order form below and mail it to GOTelecom, 8 East 79th Street, New York, NY 10075.

Yes, I want to order _____ copies Enclosed is my check for: $________________ or I authorize GOTelecom to charge my: Exp. date: _____ Card No.: _____________________________________ Name on Card: ________________________________

Name: _________________________________________ Address: _______________________________________ City: _________________State:_____ Zip: _________ Phone: ________________________________________ Email: _________________________________________

* All proceeds to benefit “Archbishop Demetrios Benevolent Fund”.

Orthodoxy in Washington

White House Correspondent a Dedicated Orthodox Christian by Andrew Manatos

WASHINGTON – From the perspective of Orthodox Christianity, his family and his career, Mike Emanuel, the White House correspondent of the Fox News Channel since 2007, is a very special person. Mike has made time to be fully immersed in his Church and faith amid the time and pressures involved in interviewing presidents and vice presidents, being embedded with American troops in harm’s way in Iraq, traveling with Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama around the country and abroad, traveling to Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates with Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and all the other demands of such a nationally known position. He attributes his reaching this pinnacle of American journalism in his statement: “My only wish is that I could see the faces of my grandparents as I broadcast from the White House lawn and be able to thank them for their struggle and sacrifice that made this possible for me.” As the White House correspondent for Fox, Emanuel has distinguished himself with such notable accomplishments as being the only broadcast journalist in Rome selected to attend President Bush’s first meeting with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican and securing the final cable news interview with former Vice President Dick Cheney before he left office. Prior to his White House assignment with Fox, Emanuel earned a reputation for solid reporting through his coverage of the execution of former dictator Saddam Hussein, the legal troubles of former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, the Iraqi elections, a rare interview with then-Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge and his month of reporting in 2003 from Kuwait City and from Pakistan and Afghanistan. Before joining Fox 13 years ago, Emanuel worked for a local independent station in Los Angeles and for the ABC, NBC and FOX affiliates in Midland, Waco and Austin, Texas. He got his start in journalism as a student at Rutgers University in New Jersey where he was a play-by-play announcer for football, basketball, soccer, and even lacrosse. He also served a brief internship with GOTelecom. Mike Emanuel had an extraordinary honor bestowed on him during a visit to the Holy Land with President Obama. Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem was so moved by Mike’s faith that he presented him with a mother–of–pearl nativity scene that he had originally planned to give to the President of the United States. Today, Mike finds time amid his high pressure news position to serve on the parish council of his church, St. George in Bethesda, Md. As well, he responds without hesitation when asked to do anything for the Archdiocese or the Church. He has been the master of ceremonies at numerous Church events including dinners that included Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. Mike was also selected in 2009 as an Archon of the Ecumenical Patriarchate–Order of St. Andrew. Most recently, he was the emcee at the St. John Chrysostom National Oratorical Festival luncheon in New York, passing up an invitation from President Obama to fly to the Gulf of Mexico for a first-hand view of the BP oil spill.

Fox News photos

Mike Emanuel reports from the north lawn of the White House (above). On a recent trip to the Middle East, he rides in a helicopter with Defense Secretary Robert Gates to some hot spots in southern Afghanistan, including Kandahar.

Mike’s life has been thoroughly Orthodox since his childhood. As a boy, he faithfully attended Sunday school, where he later taught, and also attended Greek School. Mike participated in the Church’s summer camp at the Ionian Village in Greece where he later became a counselor. He was also elected president of GOYA at Holy Trinity, and after college, he sang in the church choir. According to the priest in his home church, Fr. Alexander Leondis, Mike was an extraordinarily devout Orthodox Christian. Fr. Leondis said that like many, Mike participated in retreats, athletic and cultural activities but, unlike most, he also attended church all summer long. Mike has maintained a close relationship with his priest through e-mails and other communications. When Mike met his wife, Evangeline (Lynne) Lailas, in July at the 2000 YAL convention, he had no idea that about six months later the presidential election, fate and his work would take him to from Texas to her home – the Washington. area. A little over a year later, he proposed marriage to her. They were married at St. George Church, where they and their children Savas and Tess attend today. Mike married into an Orthodox family that also mirrored his devotion to the Church. Lynne Lailas grew up close to the St. George Church in Bethesda where her mother, Elaine, served as parish council president. Mike’s current head priest at St. George, Fr. Dimitrios Antokas, by coincidence also served at Mike’s Holy Trinity parish in Westfield, N.J., before becoming the executive director of Leadership 100 for the Archdiocese and before his service at St. George. Fr. Antokas said, “Mike embodies all the traits of a good Orthodox Christian. He demonstrates this as a wonderful husband, father, parishioner and parish council member.” One could say that Mike’s extraordinary success in television journalism is exceeded only by his devotion to his family and his church.

SEPTEMBER 2010

PEOPLE Colorado Church Progressed from Shepherds to Stewards AHEPA Officers QUEBEC – New York attorney Nicholas A. Karacostas won reelection as supreme president at the organization’s annual convention here in July. He is a member of AHEPA Gus Cherevas - EstiaPindus Chapter 326, in Flushing and has served on the parish council of St. Nicholas Church for six years. Christine K Constantine, Vernon Hills, Ill., was elected Daughters of Penelope grand president. She is a member of Ascension of Our Lord Church in Lincolnshire, Ill.. She was born and raised in Ames, Iowa and the oldest of four children of Tom and Elsie Constantine. Also elected were Spiro Nicolopoulos, Atlanta, Sons of Pericles supreme president; and Kiki Amanatidis, Scottsdale, Ariz., Maids of Athena grand president. Reelected to the AHEPA Supreme Lodge were: Supreme Vice President Dr. John Grossomanides, Jr., Westerly, R.I.; Canadian President Nick Aroutzidis, London, Ontario; Supreme Secretary Anthony Kouzounis, Houston; Supreme Treasurer Col. Nicholas P. Vamvakias (ret.), Fairfax, Va.; Supreme Counselor Phillip T. Frangos, Lansing, Mich.; and Supreme Athletic Director Spiro Siaggas, Atlanta. The eight Supreme Governors are: Peter S. Sergis, Rockledge, Fla.; Dr. Peter Nickolas, Baltimore; Andrew Zachariades, Brick, N.J.; Kip Kyprianou, New Milford, Conn.; Chris D. Kontos, Grosse Isle., Mich.; Louis G. Atsavas, Lake Forest, Ill.; Nick Dixie, Dallas; and Peter T. Triantafyllos, West Hills, Calif.

Medal Winners HOUSTON – Capt. Nicholas Catechis of the 453rd Army Division recently completed a one-year tour of duty in Afghanistan where he received the Meritorious Service Medal. While serving in Iraq four years ago, he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal. He and his wife, Emily, are members of Annunciation Cathedral in Houston.

Bar President SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Mt. Vernon, Ill. attorney Mark D. Hassakis recently was installed as the 134th president of the 33,000-member Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA) at the organization’s annual meeting.

Tourism Award

ERIE, Pa. – Gov. Ed Rendell recently honored Erie Greek-American businessman Nicholas Scott Sr. with induction into the Keystone Society of Tourism, the highest honor the state can confer in that industry. The award recognizes “visionaries in destination leadership and community development,” the governor stated. Scott is president and CEO of Scott Enterprises which has invested over $100 million in restaurants, hotels, a conference and banquet center, and Splash Lagoon, a major indoor water park, in the Erie area. Scott is a member of the Koimisis Tis Theotokou Church.

Manatos milestones The Manatos family recently celebrated three important milestones, including the 100th anniversary of the arrival of their family in the United States. The celebration was covered by US News & World Report, Politico, The Hill, Roll Call and NBC Washington.. They also celebrated the 75th anniversary of the arrival of Mike N. Manatos in Washington, where he began the family’s uninterrupted work on U.S. public policy development from the public and private sector, and the 20th anniversary of Mike A. Manatos joining the firm of Manatos & Manatos.

P A R I S H

profile

Name: St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church Location: Grand Junction, Colo. Metropolis of Denver Size: about 100 members Founded: 1918 Clergy: Fr. Luke Uhl (part–time, due to a shortage of priests; degrees from the University of Texas–Austin; the U.S. Navy’s post–graduate school and St. Leo College – Theology) Web: www.saintnicholasgj.org Noteworthy: Parish is supported 100 percent by stewardship ST. NICHOLAS GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Situated approximately midway between Denver and Salt Lake City near the remote Western Slope of the Rocky Mountains, St. Nicholas Church may be far from the centers of Orthodoxy, but its strong presence is evident in the closeness of the parishioners to their faith. “The church is alive, it’s not closed and shuttered,” said Fr. Uhl. “Its heart is beating.” On an average of twice a month over the past 15 years, Fr. Uhl drives the 250 miles from Denver, where he serves as the Metropolis chancellor, along Interstate 70 across the Continental Divide, reaching an altitude of 11,000 feet to conduct a full weekend of services at the parish. It normally takes him four hours, though in winter “that drive can take a long time” if he encounters blizzards and road closings. “The parishioners want a full schedule, following the same pattern as a church in Greece,” said the priest. This means he will conduct Friday evening vespers, Saturday morning matins, a Saturday liturgy, Sunday liturgy and evening vespers and Monday morning matins before leaving for Denver later Monday morning; During this time, Fr. Uhl also holds office hours and makes visitations. The church appears to be growing. Thus far in 2010, he has performed 17 baptisms and chrismations and four weddings. Many of its members consist of younger families. The priest estimates about three-fourths of the parish members are converts, originally half Roman Catholic and half Protestant, with the older families being of mostly Greek background. Beginnings As hinted in the headline, the earliest settlers from Greece in the early 1900s worked in sheep ranching, an occupation they had pursued before immigrating to the U.S. According to a parish history, they established households that became “centers of social activity for the Greek community.” Following the first Greek im-

migrants, other Orthodox Christians settled in western Colorado from Romania, Russia, Serbia, the Ukraine and Armenia and the community aquired a pan–Orthodox character. The parish received its name as a result of the sheepherders coming down from the mountains with their flocks around the feast of St. Nicholas in early December to take part in the season’s religious observances. Though they established their community in 1918, there was no permanent priest and visiting clergy from Denver and Salt Lake City, (about 247 and 285 miles away respectively), through the 1930s traveled to Grand Junction to perform weddings, baptisms and funerals at a local hall. On occasion, the Greeks traveled to Salt Lake or to Assumption Church in Price, Utah, whose priest in the mid1950s encouraged the faithful from Grand Junction to build a church. In 1958 the parish was incorporated and parishioners built a structure that served as a church and social hall through the 1980s. During that decade, plans to build a church took shape and the present house of worship was completed around Christmas of 1991. The original building still functions as the parish hall. After the first generation retired and passed away, the younger generations pursued a variety of occupations. Grand Junction, with a population of nearly 60,000, serves as a major regional medical center and a large number of adult members work in the health care industry as physicians and nurses, and as veterinarians, Fr. Uhl explained. Small as it may be, the parish has a Sunday School with about 40 children enrolled. There is adult education in the fall and spring as the priest holds a series of catechetical classes for inquirers. There is no Greek school, but some families do pursue Greek home schooling and many of the converts want to learn Greek, he noted. “They appreciate that the Greek we’re doing is New Testament, classical liturgical Greek.” 100 percent stewardship As noted above, the parish is supported by stewardship. Per capita giving consists of about $3,000 per family

and 30 families provide a total of $100,000 The community started a Greek festival in 2002, but none of the money is used for the church’s operating budget, only for iconography and building improvements. From the outset of the festival, the parish designated that 10 percent of the festival proceeds go back to the Grand Junction community. Funds are donated to a Roman Catholic charity and to other philanthropic causes that help provide food and clothing to the needy. “Everyone in the city knows it (the parish’s commitment to the community) when they come to participate in our festival,” said Fr. Uhl. Commenting on the remarkable steadfastness of the members of the parish, the priest characterized the community as “a wonderful mix, a wonderful bunch of people who love God and worship God. They love their parish.” Two of the most colorful senior members of the parish that the history and Fr. Uhl make note of are 95-year-old Catherine Shiolas, who was widowed 18 months after her marriage and has remained faithful to her husband’s memory for 75 years. “Catherine has been a mainstay of the parish and has taught all of us to keep the traditions of the faith,” the history notes. The other is Triantafilos Patsantaras, age 94, a World War II veteran who participated in the Albanian campaign against the Italians in 1940, and later fought as an “andarte” (guerilla fighter). He was part of the unit that blew up the Gorgopotamos Bridge, effectively cutting Hitler’s major supply line through the Balkans to North Africa. After later being captured and beaten by the communists, he came to the United States and settled in Grand Junction where he worked as a sheepherder and also made barbed wire fences. “He can still dance and jumps and slaps the bottom of his shoes,” said Fr. Uhl. He also attends church faithfully and serves as a chanter. — Compiled by Jim Golding

SEPTEMBER 2010

God in the Wilderness: A Chaplain’s Day in the War by Fr. Matthew J. Streett Chaplain-Captain, U.S. Air Force

No one has tried to kill me today, and that makes it a good day. My chaplain assistant and I clump our bags together and lay down on the concrete floor, using them as pillows. We rest when we can. Sometimes the hardened terminal overflows with people, sometimes it’s a sparse hanger or a tent. The hours spent waiting pull at you and stretch you thin. Then the call comes and you’re on your feet, your heart pumps as you throw on your armor and helmet, shoulder your bags, pull on gloves, shove in earplugs and waddle as fast as you can out to the flight line. It can be a huge, jet-powered C-17 or an aging prop plane that’s blowing grit into your face, but more often it’s a helicopter like a twin-rotor Chinook or a Blackhawk. You usually end up with your gear on your lap. Let’s say it’s a Blackhawk this time – the land sparkles dimly as you see the ribbons of light winding their way through the darkness, traces of civilization clinging to the banks of the Tigris. In the day, vast green circles bloom out of the ground: farms built like a clock face with a rotating irrigation arm that keeps things alive until the land explodes with life when the season turns. After too many stops one of the aircrew screams our destination at us. We can barely hear him over the engines. We pile out, lugging half our body weight in gear. I’ll stretch the clothes in my backpack out to a week or so, but my other bag holds the tools that bind me to my brother priests: chalice and paten, spoon and spear, plus candles, books, incense, charcoal, and the other elements of the little sensory world

I’ve brought. Our escort meets us and we throw off our armor. We’re soaked underneath from sweat, though our exposed skin is dry – the wind wicks it off so fast you don’t even realize you’re sweating. They take us to quarters first, sometimes a tent, today it’s old Iraqi billeting with a carpet of dust on the floor. It’s not bad – privacy is more precious than comfort. We strip off our fire-resistant flight uniforms and change into dry garrison ones. For the night, we’ve borrowed a small chapel from the Catholics, a little closer to my comfort level than the spare Protestant sanctuaries. Like everything else it’s surrounded by foot-thick concrete walls to contain shrapnel damage. Indirect fire is a dumb weapon designed to scare and harass, but it can still kill you if you don’t take precautions. Before I return to the U.S. I will have been attacked 46 times. I set out my own altar cloth on the dusty slab in the chapel, a small table for the preparatory rites. The altar pieces weigh a fraction of their weight in the parish, and most everything breaks down for travel, even the chalice. Assembly takes a while. My chaplain assistant, an evangelical Christian, has the setup down cold, and already knows how to say “Christos Anesti” in more languages

than the parishioners usually do. It’s ready. I put on my black exorasson, its hem caked with dust. My combat boots peek out from under it. My breath grows deep until silence flows in and out of my heart like the tide. It’s time. I say the kairon to prepare myself, then begin to vest. The vestments are reversible – gold on one side, purple on the other, simple and light. As I put on my vestment cuffs I stare down at my hands – they’re red and a little raw from where hauling all the gear around has cut into them a bit, even through the gloves. I turn around to forgive those present. I look beyond them. I forgive those who tried to kill me yesterday, and who will try again tomorrow. It is hard. It’s harder to forgive those who put a bullet in the head of the soldier I saw in the hospital the other night. Hardest of all is forgiving those who killed 42 innocent people on Easter Sunday, a shockwave that went through my own body. I step up to the little table to prepare the gifts. The bread I’ve got to use for prosphora is acceptable. Not bad, considering it was baked for me by Hindus according to the directions of a Baptist chaplain here after I e-mailed him the instructions. I can work with it. You learn not to get picky in wartime.

When that’s done, I begin the liturgy. Underneath the gospel book is the antimension, a cloth icon that is at once my hierarch’s altar table and his blessing for me to serve, and its relics make this rough wooden slab the tomb of the ancient martyrs, the banquet table of the messianic feast, the one altar of an unrepeatable sacrifice. When I turn around to give the people the sacrament, the chapel’s center of gravity shifts. The holiness moves, no longer confined to the makeshift sanctuary or the borrowed altar but flowing out from the chalice into the bodies of the faithful, they who are the living body of Christ. The sacrament becomes one with them, a river divided into countless pure streams yet still one fluid body. I stand face to face with the image of God renewed in each soldier that approaches me. I am in God’s presence not only in the chalice, but in the assembly, the church. When I stare into their faces, I stare into the face of Christ and encounter my God. And it is done. The last hymns sung, the last goodbyes given. We break down the altar and pack it away for tomorrow. The chow hall is open late. That’s good, we’re hungry. It has been a good day. Tomorrow it begins again. Capt. Streett is with the 502nd Air Base Wing in San Antonio, which incorporates Lackland Air Force Base, Randolph Air Force Base, and Fort Sam Houston. He works at Lackland in the Basic Training program and oversees two training squadrons there, and runs the Orthodox program for the base. He returned from Iraq at the end of April.

SEPTEMBER 2010

Seminarians Have Life-Changing Experience on Mission Team by Fr. Luke Veronis

With OCMC Executive Director Fr. Martin Ritsi, Fr. Zachariah (fore) works to bring the light of Christ to the elder of a neighboring village.

Long Journey Home: Priests Share Gospel in Mission Lands by Alex Goodwin

“When I was a boy my father showed me the way to Lodwar. Each semester I would walk for three days across the desert, so that I could receive an education,” recalls Fr. Zachariah, one of three Orthodox priests of the Turkana tribe in northern Kenya. Fr. Zachariah hails from Loupwala, a small village nestled amidst a forest of acacia trees not far from a river that is bone dry most of the year. It is hot and extremely arid. The people of Loupwala live to survive raising cattle, goats, and camels--they long for a better life for their families. The perilous journey that Fr. Zachariah bravely endured in solitude as a child was well worth the risk, as it meant that he would be one of the few people from his village to receive a formal education. In Lodwar, however, Fr. Zachariah didn’t just learn history, math, and science from the Catholic academy he attended; he also began a relationship with Christ. Years passed and Fr. Zachariah was exposed to other Christians, including a charismatic preacher espousing the truth of Orthodox Christianity. As a result, Fr. Zachariah became an Orthodox Christian. The journey that began as a march across the desert in search of an education ultimately led him to the Makarios III Orthodox Seminary in Nairobi, Kenya. Upon completing his studies, Fr. Zachariah was ordained to the priesthood, and after years away from his home in Loupwala he was sent back – this time with the message of the Gospel. Now, Fr. Zachariah walks amongst his people sharing Christ with them as they fetch water or tend their herd. With the blessing of His Eminence, Archbishop Makarios, and through his evangelistic efforts, Fr. Zachariah was able to start an Orthodox

church in Loupwala. Many people from his village have become Orthodox Christian; and he is working together with the Orthodox Christian Mission Center (OCMC) to start another church in a neighboring village. Each year, young men like Fr. Zachariah are called to the priesthood in countries around the world where the light of Christ and His Church is beginning to shine with ever-increasing brilliance. It is not uncommon for these men to plant two, three, or more parishes once they have been ordained. OCMC supports theses priests and their ministries in many ways, but most directly through its Theological Training and Support a Mission Priest (SAMP) programs. The Theological Training program issues grants to the seminaries that these men attend and sometimes awards scholarships toward their theological education. Once ordained, many of these men then receive regular monthly stipends from their hierarchs. The SAMP program supplements these stipends, enabling them to dedicate themselves to the growth and pastoral care of their communities full-time. Though we are two millennia removed from the mission of the first Apostles, there are still people who need to be evangelized. The priests called, and filled, by the Holy Spirit to continue this work in mission countries are often the ones to take the love of Christ to people who still long for the hope of salvation. They look to us, their brothers and sisters around the world, for strength, prayer, and support as they continue the witness of the Church to the ends of the earth. United under the banner of Orthodoxy, these priests and those who prayerfully support them may help others to begin a journey in Christ that, like Fr. Zachariah’s, ultimately leads them back home.

Men and women from Fr. Zachariah’s village of Loupwala dance to songs in praise of God following the Liturgy on a Sunday afternoon.

Eleven seminarians from Holy Cross School of Theology and St. Vladimir Seminary joined OCMC Missionary Nathan Hoppe, Fr. Paisius Altschul and this writer on a short-term trip to Albania. This mission practicum was combined with a three–credit academic course titled “The Missiology of Archbishop Anastasios of Albania,” where seminarians studied the missiological writings of the one of the greatest contemporary Orthodox missionaries, and then visited and participated in the actual mission occurring in Albania. This inaugural mission class and practicum reflected a cooperative effort between the newly established Missions Institute of Orthodox Christianity and the OCMC. The Missions Institute is a new entity with a specific mandate to create and offer inspiring and educational programs for theological students studying at the Orthodox seminaries in the United States. “Our hope is that through the programs and courses this Missions Institute will offer,” noted its director. “No student will graduate from our Orthodox seminaries without having some knowledge of a missions-minded ministry. Simultaneously, we hope to challenge some students to seriously consider dedicating part or all of their lives to cross-cultural missionary ministry.” The course ran from May 19 - June 6 and included one week of class work at Holy Cross, followed by two weeks of a mission practicum in Albania. The experience created an incredible enthusiasm and enlightenment for all the participants. “This was the greatest experience in my life,” emphasized Holy Cross seminarian Kosta Kollias. “It has opened up my eyes in ways I’ve never dreamed of before. My mission experience has helped me to understand the Church in a much healthier, more universal manner.” Not only did the course readings challenge the students to understand the imperative nature and need of cross-cultural missions, but the practical experience of

witnessing one of the most vibrant mission fields in the contemporary Orthodox Church, meeting Archbishop Anastasios and his indigenous co-workers and leaders of the Church of Albania, while also participating in the mission itself through outreach projects at the University of Tirana, at the Resurrection of Christ Theological Academy, at a student conference, and at the Children’s Home of Hope inspired the seminarians to understand missions in an unforgettably refreshing and even life-changing way. A highlight of the trip was a pilgrimage with Metropolitan John of Korca. The group spent the first night in the Monastery of St. John the Forerunner in Voskopoja, and walked 12 miles to the Monastery of St. Peter and Paul in Vithkuq. Throughout the pilgrimage, Metropolitan John shared stories about life under communism, faith and persecution, life in America as an immigrant, his time as a seminarian at Holy Cross, and then his return and service back in Albania. Throughout all the stories the Metropolitan challenged the students to dedicate their lives in radical ways to serving Christ. The personal interaction and wisdom offered by His Eminence impacted all of the seminarians. During the two week trip in Albania, as well as in the follow-up, six of the eleven seminarians expressed serious interest in possibly pursuing cross-cultural missionary service following their graduation from seminary, while the others affirmed that the entire experience solidified their understanding of missions and strengthened their commitment to creating Church communities that will support the missionary work of the Church. The Orthodox Christian Mission Center (OCMC) is the official missions agency of the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA) dedicated to fulfilling Christ’s last command to make disciples of all nations. Fr. Veronis is a member of the Holy Cross faculty and director of the Missions Institute.

The Garbage Dump by Pamela Anastasia Barksdale

In June, Fr. Luke Veronis brought a group of Mission Institute students to Tirana. We toured the ministries of the Orthodox Church in Albania and, of course, showed off all the fruits of renewal and miraculous growth: Fr. Luke felt his students were receiving a skewed perspective of Albania-seeing only the progress and not the problems--so we took the students to a Roma (gypsy) encampment on the Lana River near the edge of town. Twenty

or more families were living in lean-to tents in the middle of a garbage dump, without water, electricity, or sanitation. We spoke with the families and heard their appeal for just a little “buk” (bread). The real problems, however, go deeper than food; although that is a beginning. Later, we stopped by my apartment for some refreshments and a break on the tour. As the group admired my view of the fountain at Zogu Zi and Mt. Dajti in the distance, they looked

  page 25

SEPTEMBER 2010

Books

ARCHIEPISCOPAL ENCYCLICAL The Universal Exaltation of The Precious and Life-Giving Cross   page 3 in the Gulf of Mexico. The impact of this catastrophe on the ocean, wildlife, shorelines, and the well-being of the involved communities will linger for years and possibly decades. As Orthodox Christians, we also see the spiritual effects of this and many other environmental challenges around the world. As the Apostle Paul states, we know that the entire created order is under the bondage of corruption, eagerly awaiting redemption together with us (Romans 8:21-22). While we await such a final redemption of all, we cannot be idle or insensitive to the suffering environment. In our respect for life, in our love for all things created by God, and in our responsibility to be good stewards of all that He has given us, we must adopt attitudes and habits that show this.

We must respond to environmental challenges with the love that God has shown us. This is a “perseverance in hope” or a “hope with perseverance” that honors truth in the face of insurmountable adversity, values life above convenience and profit, and reveals the hope we have in the glory which shall be revealed in us. Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ, on this day of Indiction I offer you my prayers and wishes for a blessed Ecclesiastical New Year filled with hope and joy as we gather for feasts and commemorations in the name of Christ, and as we persevere in the hope of the life that is ours through Him. With paternal love in Christ,

† Archbishop DEMETRIOS of America

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Archbishop Iakovos’ Last Two Books Now available by Fr. Demetrios Constantelos

The Patriarchal Institute of Patristic Studies in Thessaloniki has published the last two volumes of the writings of the late Archbishop Iakovos of North and South America. The first volume, Prosopon pros Prosopon, is the sixth volume printed in Greek. For a number of reasons, it is very important book. It includes the correspondence of the Archbishop with numerous people - clergy and lay people alike. Most revealing is his correspondence with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, who wrote a letter to introduce it, and several Metropolitans of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. It is followed by letters with several priests and presbyteres, prominent laymen and Church leaders of the Archdiocese.The major part of this 575-page book is devoted to his correspondence with people of letters, education and learning, political and community leaders. The second volume, the sixth in the English series, is under the title Ecumenical Dialogues. It was released recently by Holy Cross Orthodox Press. It supplements the fifth volume that deals with the Archbishop’s contributions

to the Ecumenical Movement, first as the representative of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and, second, as one of the presidents of the World Council of Churches. Ecumenical Dialogues includes his correspondence with various non-Orthodox Church leaders—Roman Catholics, Episcopalians, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Methodists, and others. The entire 12-volume series emphasizes the importance of Archbishop Iakovos’ writings for the Greek Orthodox faithful in America and for all Greek Americans, Orthodox Christians, and others. They deal with a variety of subjects of ecumenical interest. The 12 volumes compile the late Archbishop’s visions and expectations for a dynamic and influential Church. These two books, and the others in the series, are available at the Holy Cross Bookstore in Brookline, Mass. Clergy will find in them much original thought and material for sermons, seminars and discussions. Fr. Constantelos, professor emeritus of Richard Stockton College in New Jersey, is the designated editor of Archbishop Iakovos’ writings for the entire 12-volume series.

Getting Past Couple Gridlock   page 10 A Few Additional Suggestions Some couples will be able to complete all of these steps in one sitting. Some will not. So, if an hour passes and you’re not done with the exercise, make an appointment to come back to your discussion within 48 hours. The objective of this exercise is not to see how fast you can get through each step. The objective is to help you both prayerfully identify new ideas that can guide you to some Christcentered mutually satisfying resolutions. As you prayerfully struggle through each of these steps, you should also find that the Holy Spirit will take control of the issues and problems you’ve described,

and your egos will take a backseat. If this occurs, you will also find that your hearts will soften and some mutually satisfying resolutions will emerge that you can both live with. And finally, if you try these suggestions, and are unsuccessful, then it may be that you need some outside help. If that is the case, do not delay in finding the help you need. Consult your pastors or a marriage–friendly therapist. Fr. Charles directs the Archdiocese’s outreach efforts to intermarried couples and their families. He is also on faculty at Nyack College teaching marriage and family therapy. For more information, log onto the Interfaith Marriage Web site at www.interfaith.goarch.org.

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SEPTEMBER 2010

Orthodox Scouts Attend Anniversary Jamboree The gala 100th Anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America was celebrated this summer at a camp in Virginia at a special Jamboree with more than 35,000 Scouts and 6,000 adult Scouters. The Jamboree brought together Scouts and Scouters from all over the United States and attracted several patrols from abroad including Russia, according to George Boulukos, national chairman of the Eastern Orthodox Committee on Scouting. Religion is a major part of the Boy

Scout program, and in order for the Scouts to earn their Jamboree Patch they were required to attend their religious services and to visit the religious display booth of their faith. Services were led by Fr. Joel MsEachon of Connecticut, one of the founding fathers of the Eastern Orthodox Committee on Scouting. Services and Communion were offered to the Scouts along with individual Bibles, a small card with the Creed and a EOCS commemorative patch of the Jamboree, that numbered 260 Scouts.

Orthodox Scouts of the EOCS Program taking part in the Jamboree.

Ribbon-Cutting Held for St. Louis Church Center by Fr. Michael Arbanas

ST. LOUIS – St. Nicholas Church of St. Louis recently held a ribbon–cutting ceremony for the new family life Center. More than 200 people gathered for the elegant event on May 22, which began with a brief ceremony outside the front doors of this architectural state-of-the-art new facility. It was the culmination of an $8 million effort to build the Family Life Center to serve the evolving needs of our parish, while also enhancing and updating the historic church in the central West End of St. Louis. After a prayer service asking for God’s blessing on the parish’s new effort, the proistamenos Fr. Douglas Papulis and Parish Council President Nicky Antoniou cut the ribbon, and guests streamed into the spacious new lobby as Fr. Douglas and this writer blessed the entire building with Holy Water. It was the beginning of a festive evening of wonderful food, music and excited conversation about both the splendor of the new building and the many op-

portunities it will provide for our parish. In his remarks before the prayer service, Fr. Douglas reminded everyone that the Center’s true beauty will be in the way we use it. “It is, without a doubt a magnificent building,” Fr. Douglas said. “But we have to keep in mind, what will make it really beautiful for years to come is the fellowship of the people who gather here, along with the many ministries that we develop to build up and serve our community.” The opening ceremony began with a greeting from Town and Country Mayor Jon Dalton, who welcomed the Center as an asset to the community. Steven Papadatos was the design architect and Lou Chiodini was the local architect for the building. Leon Spanos, chairman of the capital campaign, commended all those who supported the effort both financially and with their hard work. He reminded those gathered for the evening that the fundraising for the campaign was ongoing. “This is a wonderful day, but it is not the end,” he said. “We continue to need your support.”

The Garbage Dump   page 23 down and there in the middle of downtown Tirana was an open space filled with garbage, just like the abandoned

Photo courtesy of Alex Mavradis

Campers at St. Methodios Faith and Heritage Center in Contoocook, N.H. with Metropolitan Methodios of Boston who spent the day visiting them. Hundreds of youth attend the camp each summer. The retreat center functions year-around.

field of the gypsy camp. This group and subsequent groups of visitors have commented on this eyesore. I look at this garbage dump and I see a playground, maybe even a water park for the children who live in the huge, back to back apartment complexes to play in. In Portland, Oregon there is Waterfront Park downtown, with a wonderful water fountain that serves as a sprinkler system on hot days for the children to play in. They run to and fro, and in and out of the rhythmic jets of the water’s geyser-like eruptions, laughing and playing for hours. A shaded walkway with benches offers moms a place to stroll on with their baby carriages and for the elderly to sit in the cool of the evening, play horseshoes, checkers and backgammon. It’s a vision of what the world can become with love and care, rather than the garbage dump that it currently is, with children trying to play soccer with a tattered ball, in between cars in the overcrowded parking lot. I am still trying to find out who owns the field, and if it is possible to somehow turn it into a park; and I hope one day, with the Lord’s blessing, to bring this project as a special request to my prayer partners in America and ask for your help to make this world a better place, especially for our children. Until then, please look around your own neighborhoods and see how you might transform your “eyesores” and “garbage dumps” into the Kingdom of God. Pamela Barksdale is a 1989 graduate of Holy Cross School of Theology and a long-time missionary.

METROPOLIS YOUTH CAMP NEWS

SEPTEMBER 2010

Metropolis of Denver Summer Camp Challenges Youth by Arianna Ranahosseini

DENVER – Have you committed your life to Jesus Christ? Will you walk with Him? These are questions Deacon Zaharas and Fr. Evan Armatas are challenging some 175 campers with at Camp Emmanuel, the Metropolis of Denver summer camp. Fr. Zaharas has been the youth director for the Metropolis of Denver since 2000 and Fr. Armatas has been the program director for Camp Emmanuel for seven years and is the priest at St. Spyridon’s Church in Loveland, Colo. The week-long camp for middle and high school youth took place June 20-26 at the Manzano Mountain Retreat Center outside of Albuquerque, N.M. Campers came from Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah and Wyoming. “I love going to Camp Emmanuel because of the fellowship and learning to be a better Christian,” said Gregory Hill, 16, from Denver. “In the three years that I’ve gone, I’ve learned so much about the faith, about myself, and how to live in Christ.” Walking with Christ The theme of camp this year was “Walking With Christ,” and was part of series that began in 2008, with the theme “Considering Christ,” followed by “Commit to Christ” in 2009. “Starting probably four years ago, I made the conscious decision to challenge the cultural and sort of unintentional faith of our youth,” Fr. Armatas said. That decision was sparked after Fr. Armatas was the keynote speaker at the

National Altar Boys Retreat. “I had asked them if they had made a serious commitment to Jesus Christ and no one raised their hand, and that was scary,” he said. Now, that question is an underlying theme into the approach of the program. Armatas said the more spiritual camp activities have been layering each year to include Paraklesis services, multiple divine liturgies and increased spiritual conversation time throughout camp, such as talks about the saints, in addition to scheduled sessions. “We’ve slowly been ratcheting it up to the point that we’ve made it [Camp Emmanuel] more of a spiritual odyssey and experience as opposed to a camp experi-

ence,” Fr. Armatas said. Life at Camp Emmanuel Each day campers participated in Orthros and Vespers services and two Orthodox Life sessions as a cabin, led by clergy from around the Metropolis. Cabins were given saints’ names and icons to represent through the week, including St. Mary of Egypt, St. Nicholas, St. Paraskevi and St. Spyridon. Metropolitan Isaiah of Denver joined the campers on June – and led the senior GOYANs in an evening Paraklesis service under the stars and Divine Liturgy for all the campers Thursday. “All aspects fall into that theme, ‘Walking with Christ,’” Fr. Zaharas said. “Now that you’ve considered and committed, what does the day-to-day doing of being an Orthodox Christian look like?” Other activities included confession, campfires, outdoor recreation, mess day, and games such as “Minute to Win It” and an “Amazing Race.” “Camp Emmanuel is a wonderful way to meet other kids that are from the same background as you,” said Alex Argyres, 17 from Albuquerque, N.M. “It is a way to find people in this crazy world who you can relate to and build lifelong friendships with. It is comforting to know that with everything that goes on in our lives, it is possible to take just one week and get away from everything to focus on our faith. It gives me such rejuvenation and prepares me to get through the tough times ahead.” Growing leaps and bounds Currently, Camp Emmanuel can accommodate 175 campers; however the program has grown so much, that this year it had 50 kids on the waiting list. Frs. Zaharas and Armatas are in the process of expand-

ing to more than one week of camp to accommodate more kids. “We are seriously considering going to a second week, with a long-term goal of a summer-long camping program,” Fr. Armatas said. For the first time this year, as a part of the registration process, campers were asked to write a one to two-page essay reflecting on what it means to them to be an Orthodox Christian. “Asking the kids to do an essay ahead of time got everyone kind of in the right mindset,” Fr. Zaharas said. “It made them stop to think about their faith and why they’re attending the camp. “For those who it was their first experience [at Camp Emmanuel], it allowed them to understand it wasn’t just a YMCA-type camp. It’s not horseback riding and archery, it’s about exploring your relationship with Christ.” Back for more The staff, all volunteers, is made up of parents, adults and college students. The majority of the camp’s junior staff members were previously campers. “Camp Emmanuel gave a sobering look into my life as an Orthodox Christian, while also giving me the tools I needed for my future,” said Jenny Stasinopoulos, 21, from Tulsa, Okla. “I just hope to be able to influence the youth of the Church in the same way.” Fr. Armatas said, “That tells us we’ve done something right that they want to make camp a part of their life even after they’re campers. “We’re asking them to consider, commit and to walk with Christ and next year, it’s going to be another variant of the same thing. It’s not going to stop. We’re just going to keep pounding home on the message in a world where many Protestant kids have been asked the question and have made the decision [to commit to Christ]; most Orthodox kids haven’t for some reason. The camping ministry has been a part of the Metropolis of Denver since the 1970s, but in 1998, campers voted on the name “Camp Emmanuel.” Since then, Camp Emmanuel has been held in Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico. Registration for Camp Emmanuel will begin in the spring. For more information, visit www.Denver.goarch.org. Arianna is special correspondent for the Observer from the Denver area and is a fourth-year journalism student at the University of Denver, editor in chief of her school newspaper and editor of the (Orthodox Campus Fellowship newsletter, and has created websites for the Metropolis of Denver and Denver Metropolis Philoptochos.

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SEPTEMBER 2010

METROPOLIS YOUTH CAMP NEWS

Metropolis of San Francisco Summer Camp: ‘Claim Your Faith’ by Kristen Bruskas

DUNLAP, Calif. -- Summer Camp 2010 at St. Nicholas Ranch and Retreat Center attracted more than 300 youth from the Metropolis of San Francisco, including Arizona, California, Hawaii and Nevada. This year’s theme, “Claim Your Faith,” encouraged campers to actively live their faith in all aspects of their lives. This year’s Summer Camp was expanded to four one-week sessions, with the fourth week exclusively for high school campers. Metropolitan Gerasimos visited the Ranch, leading the campers in prayer, and participating in various activities. “Every time I am surrounded by our youth, I am uplifted by their love for Christ and the Church,” said the Metropolitan. “Their honesty and genuineness remind us that we must all become like children to enter into the Kingdom of God. The summer camp experience provided by St. Nicholas Ranch is truly a blessing for everyone who attends, and I look forward to seeing the continued growth and progress of the ministry.” Each day began with a morning Orthros service, followed by many exciting activities including: archery, canoeing, theater, arts and crafts, aquatics, nature and athletics. Campers and staff gathered for Vespers every night, and then enjoyed a variety of evening activities including campfires, an ice cream social, star gazing, a luau, and skit night. Every Thursday evening was designated “Night with God” where campers participated in a more contemplative evening of prayer and confession in preparation for Divine Liturgy on Friday morning at the Monastery of the Theotokos the Life Giving Spring. A highlight of each session was the Olympic games that included such events as synchronized swimming, relay races, water balloon toss, and a scavenger hunt. Following an exhausting but exhilarating

Metropolitan Gerasimos is surrounded by campers and staﬀ during Session 3 of Summer Camp.

day of competition and fun, the winning teams were honored at an awards ceremony in the evening. The Summer Camp director, Michael A. Pappas, also serves as the year-round director of St. Nicholas Ranch and Retreat Center. Michael was assisted by coprogram coordinators Yianni Smyrni from

Roseville, Calif., who is attending Holy Cross School of Theology; and Michelle Hawe, director of Youth and Young Adult Ministries at St. Anna Church in Roseville. Camp counselors included students from Hellenic College/Holy Cross School of Theology, and young adults from California, Arizona, Illinois and New York.

Seminarians and Hellenic College students on staff at Summer Camp from the Metropolis of San Francisco included: Ron Burkhard, George Demos, Sam Johnson, Nicole Smyrni, Mihai State, Demetrios Wilson, and Linda Wilson. Seminarians also led the chanting for the daily worship services.

IOCC Responds to Recent Wildfires in Russia

Greek Week Camp in Boca Raton BOCA RATON, Fla. -- St. Mark Church held its 10th annual summer Greek Week Camp that attracted 152 young people of the parish. Children ranged in age from 4 to 14 years. Goyans helped as counselors. The kids participated in learning Greek dance, arts and crafts, sports, water rides, viewed an exhibition from the Miami Heat Extreme Team at the church and took part in spiritual talks.

BALTIMORE – International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC), in consultation with the Orthodox Church in America, responded to the Russian people with its partners in the Russian Orthodox Church to provide humanitarian aid during the heat wave in July and August. Constantine M. Triantafilou, IOCC executive director, expressed his concern at the situation, stating, “We pray for those who have died. Our thoughts and prayers go out to those mourning the loss of loved ones. We are also steadfast in our prayers for all who have been affected by the wildfires.” More than 50 people died in the wildfires across Russia, and more than 2,000 homes have been destroyed. The blazes and drought also have cost Russia one-third of its wheat crop, prompting the government to ban wheat exports through the end of the year in a move that has sent world grain prices to new highs. The government promised subsidies to farmers and warned traders that it would closely monitor prices to protect domestic consumers. To donate, visit www.iocc.org, call toll free at 1-877-803-IOCC (4622), or mail a check or money order payable to IOCC, P.O. Box 630225, Baltimore, Md. 21263-0225.

METROPOLIS YOUTH CAMP NEWS

SEPTEMBER 2010

Memories of Chicago’s Fanari Camp Experience by Eleni Artemas

Most kids look forward to the start of summer. They are excited about the new freedom, relaxation, and time with friends. Most of my friends look forward to the beginning of summer because it means Fanari, the Metropolis of Chicago summer camp. Fanari is more than just lounging around with friends. It is going through a journey and an experience with people you have built a strong relationship with. This year, 378 young people and more than 65 staff and 14 clergy attended the camp. In sixth grade, I went to Fanari not knowing what to expect. In that first week, I had already met best friends that I continue to hang out with. I came to camp with two friends from church, and left with an entire family of girls I felt close to. We shared information about our personal lives, compared our schools and friends, laughed over embarrassing stories, and talked about our spiritual concerns. Knowing that we all share the same religion and beliefs automatically brought us closer together and helped us understand our faith better. Before participating in the sacrament of confession, which takes place at Fanari usually on Wednesday, we had the opportunity to ask questions to the priests about confession. Then, my friends and I would go back into our rooms at night, sit in a circle, and quietly write down a personal list of sins to bring to confession

with us the following day. While sitting in our room in silence, I felt a huge connection with my friends. I was able to build on my faith while relating with my friends. Fanari became my spiritual support group. Each evening brings a different activity. Greek dancing, Olympic Games, and the musical lyric challenge brought excitement and funny memories. It gave us the chance to interact with other age groups and become closer with our own grade. This year, the girls in my grade marched into the Olympic Games dressed in camouflage, while the guys ran out of the forest dressed in camouflage. As we united in the middle and jumped and chanted in one huge clump, our grade felt like a family. The energy we had helped us become extremely close after this one experience, and created a memory none of us will ever forget. The activity campers look forward to the most is skit night, which takes a lot of preparation. But even if it takes us eight hours to plan one skit, the emotions and memories last a lifetime. Whether it is making fun of our counselors, rewriting a song, or just mocking ourselves, one cannot help but look back and have a tear in their eye. Even today, something might spark a memory of one of the skits, bringing a lump to the throat. Like most camps, the crafts, sports, swimming, campfires, sing-a-longs, and roommates are something to truly treasure. But like a lighthouse off the dark coast, Fanari’s Orthodox spiritual

connections will shine on. For more information about Fanari Camp and other similar programs of the Metropolis and Archdiocese please contact Chris Avramopoulos, the director of Youth and Young Adult Ministries for the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Chicago at 312-337-4130 or

gochicgaoyouth@aol.com and visit the Metropolis website at www.chicago. goarch.org Eleni Artemas is the daughter of long-time Observer contributor Fr. Angelo Artemas, pastor of Sts Peter & Paul Church in Glenview, Ill.

Hundreds of Children Experience Camp St. Paul

Fr. Villas leads children in a song during a session of the camp.

D. Panagos Photo

LITCHFIELD, Conn. -Summer Camp St. Paul, a program of the Direct Archdiocesan District Youth Ministry, drew more than 300 JOY and GOYA children in three sessions between June 28 and July 18.. Fr. Elias Villas, camp director, noted that Archbishop Demetrios provided the vision and blessing for the establishment of the camp on Lake Bantam in the Berkshire Hills near Litchfield. Camp St. Paul is a Christ–centered environment where youth grow in the Christian faith, and make life long friendships. Children prayed together, sang around the campfire, and played on the athletic field. They discussed scripture, theology and major social issues in their daily sessions, expressed their creativity in arts and crafts, and took part in recreational activities. Archbishop Demetrios, Bishop Andonios of Phasiane and National Philoptochos President Aphrodite Skeadas visited the camp and interacted with the children.

SEPTEMBER 2010

The Church of the Home and the Liturgy after the Liturgy

Family Connections

by IOCC Staff

Michelle looked like any one of the many volunteers who had come down to offer a week of their time in building homes for those impacted by Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana. But, she seemed a little too comfortable in the July Louisiana heat as she effortlessly bounded up and down the ladder hoisting construction materials to the roof of St. Tammany Parish with members of the International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) volunteer team. In fact, she was not a member of the volunteer team, but became its inspiration that week. Michelle is a 43-year-old single mother with two young sons who experienced the wrath of Hurricane Katrina. Her voice broke as she thought aloud about the reality of owning a home. “The idea of having my own home for personal security, for personal investment, for my two growing sons – plus one that is affordable and can withstand a Category 5 hurricane – is something I never thought possible.” Michelle was there, inspiring and working with the volunteer team, putting in the 80 hours of sweat equity as a requisite for owning her own home. Michelle, and thousands like her throughout the world, whose lives have been torn apart by man-made and natural disasters depend on our philanthropy and on charitable organizations such as IOCC. The tenets of our faith embodied in our liturgical worship form the foundation of Church life and the “church of the home”—kat’ oikon ekklesia—and challenge us to live out our Orthodox Christian faith in the “liturgy after the liturgy.” Our participation in, and support of works of charity, is a natural extension of the liturgy of the church of the home and

taking that liturgy to the streets. Living the Liturgy after the Liturgy St. John Chrysostom writes, “Do you wish to honor the body of Christ? Then do not disdain him when you see him in rags. After having honored Him in the church with silken vestments, do not leave Him to die of cold outside for lack of clothing. For it is the same Jesus who says ‘this is my body’ and who says, ‘I was hungry and you did not feed me.” The beauty and glory of our worship, which inspired the Kievan emissaries after they visited Aghia Sophia and convinced St. Vladimir to adopt Orthodoxy as the religion of his empire, is not confined only to glorious edifices, transcendent icons, or angelically chanted Byzantine Liturgies, but is also manifest through the glorious ministry—diakonia—to the “least of our brethren” who are hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, and imprisoned. The grace of God transmitted to us through the Holy Sacraments of the Church, and lived out sacramentally in our families in the church of the home, extends beyond our homes through the incarnation of our Lord’s admonition to care for those in need as if we were ministering to Christ Himself. The movement in the liturgy after the liturgy is from the Holy Altars of our churches to the altars of our church of the home, to the altar who is our hurting brother and sister. Love of God and Love of Neighbor As we endeavor to create and maintain the church of the home, the Church has given us many aids. We have our daily rhythms of prayer, Bible reading, readings about the saints, feasts, and fasts. We have our icon corners and the smell of incense that permeates our homes. And, we might have liturgical music playing from our stereos. But the most important hallmark of our Christian faith, and the foundation of our

church of the home, is love. It is by love that our Christianity is visible to the world. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus clearly demonstrates the preeminence of love when He instructs: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37-39) The love to which Christ refers is an active love. It is not some romantic notion, but a Divine movement from God to the world. The Love poured out by He who is Love is extended to all, and we respond to it by being God’s hands of service and the pencils being used to write His love letters. The Rev. Dr. Emmanuel Clapsis, professor of Dogmatics and former dean at Holy Cross School of Theology says: “Our unity and communion with God is...sustained, nourished, and actualized in history by three distinct but equally important and inseparable sacramental ways: hearing and proclaiming God’s Word; the celebration of the Holy Eucharist; and a life of active compassion and care towards the poor and the needy.” Making God Real in our Church of the Home One of our biggest struggles in creating and nurturing Christian families is to take all we learn in our faith and make it real. Our children most often don’t do what we say; They do what they see. Children can help by giving alms to support victims of disasters with money they save. As a family we can volunteer at the local soup kitchen or nursing home and create birthday cards for kids living in shelters. We can also attend fun events like 5K walks that support acts of charity and help change peoples’ lives. IOCC gives us additional opportunities to model Christian virtues in our homes. Our families can join together in making school kits for kids in other parts of the world who can’t afford basic supplies like pencils and paper. We can read the IOCC’s My Orthodox Prayer Journal nightly with our children to educate them about the plight of other children throughout the world. Our families can even volunteer in places like the Gulf Coast in helping to rebuild homes. (See Resources and Activities for Families.) Too often God can seem distant. The troubles of the world depicted on our television screens can seem unreal – like

a video game. We might feel bad, or pity for the scenes depicted, but it doesn’t touch our personal lives. Participation in works of charity makes it real. As we read in I John 3:18: “Let us not love in word or speech but in deed and in truth.” These words of our Lord come alive when we translate our Orthodoxy (correct belief) into Orthopraxy (correct action). Our challenge as Orthodox Christian families is to live out our faith in a way that transforms the world. When we do that we will hear these welcoming words from our Lord: “Come you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry.., I was thirsty.., I was a stranger.., I was naked.., I was sick.., I was in prison…” (Matthew 25:34-36) and you ministered unto me. Founded in 1992, International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) is the official humanitarian aid agency of the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA). In the spirit of Christ’s love, IOCC offers emergency relief and development programs to those in need worldwide, without discrimination, and strengthens the capacity of the Orthodox Church to so respond. It has implemented over $330 million in relief and development programs in 33 countries around the world. For more information about the work of IOCC please visit www.iocc.org or call 1-877-803-IOCC.

Resources and Activities for Families: Kits for Kids In many places around the world, families struggle to provide a basic education for their children. By putting together a school kit with simple supplies, your family can give a child the tools needed to do well in school, such as new pencils, an eraser, crayons, etc. IOCC then assures that the kits are delivered to children in need. For more information on how to assemble these kits, visit www.iocc.org/schoolkits. 2010 IOCC’s Children’s Prayer Journal Has Been Released! The 2010 IOCC Prayer Journal is a free resource designed to help your children (ages 7-12) learn to pray and care for others in need. This year’s Prayer Journal includes exciting new features on “humanitarian heroes” – Olympians Evan Lysacek, Nadia Comaneci and Tatyana McFadden – and their efforts to help others. To learn more, visit www.iocc. org/prayerjournal. Project Mexico Since 1988, Project Mexico has been involving young people and families in the alleviation of suffering by building homes for Mexico’s poor. Hundreds of homes have been built for needy families with the help of nearly 10,000 volunteers. In 1996 their outreach expanded through the opening of St. Innocent Orthodox Orphanage in Tijuana. For more information call 619-426-4610 or visit www.projectmexico.org.

Table Top Prayer Guide: Volume II Prayer joins us with God and is the first and most essential step in connecting our families tothe Church. The second volume of this guide once again provides families with a collection of Orthodox prayers and meditations for daily use. It can be used for both personal and family prayer time. Stand it on your kitchen table or another place where your family gathers regularly. This volume also contains several beautiful prayers written by Archbishop Demetrios when he was a deacon in the 1960s.To order a copy,visit Orthodox Marketplace at www.orthodoxmarketplace.com

SEPTEMBER 2010

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Collector wants established and old Greek (American) paintings. Please call Tina at (718) 278-6368 or send photos to tinathegreek@hotmail.com

GUIDELINES FOR SUBMITTING PHOTOGRAPHS 1) Conventional photographs: We accept Color or Black & White photos, printed on photographic paper. Photographs should be sharp and clear. Pictures printed on color printers, either Inkjet or Laser and photocopies or clippings of previously published photos are NOT accepted. 2) Digital photographs: We accept digital pictures if they conform to the following specifications: • Minimum resolution 1600 pixels wide x 1200 pixels high (approx. 2 mega pixels, digital cameras should be set to high resolution, high quality. If you scan a standard photograph -usually 4x6”- use a minimum of 300 dpi. We discourage scanning your own photos, send the actual photo.) • File format JPEG or TIFF (JPEGs are smaller files and easier to e-mail, TIFFs are better quality) • Color mode RGB, color depth minimum 8-bit. • Image files placed within any word-processing file or any other application are not accepted. • Digital pictures can be submitted by e-mail, DVD/ CD-ROM, (Disks can not be returned). • E-mail to: observer@goarch.org • lefteris@goarch. org. In the subject line write only the word “photos”

VERY IMPORTANT: Attach the image files and do not include them in the body of the e-mail or they will not be usable.

3) Please include information about the photo(s); place, time and event as well as the names of all persons shown, left to right.

SEPTEMBER 2010

Five Ways to Take God to School with You! 1) Make sure you have your Orthodox Prayer Book with you. A prayer book is helpful when you need a specific prayer or when you just can’t think of the words to say! And… you can have it with you at all times! 2) Carry around a small version of your favorite icon. It could be your patron saint or a saint who you really admire. Keep it in your bag or in your locker. 3) Pray before meals. Simply make the sign of the cross at lunchtime and say thanks to God for the food! 4) Do the right thing. If you can avoid gossip, treat others with respect, and help others in need, your own actions will bring God to your school. Showing your faith through your actions is a witness to your faith. 5) Talk about your faith. If people ask you what you believe, do not be afraid to talk about Orthodox Christianity. If you are not sure how to answer people’s questions about Orthodoxy, be willing to get the answers from your priest. Making Ecclesiastical New Year’s Resolutions: Summer is over. Many of us are now back to school, work, and to our usual daily routine. On Sept. 1, we embarked on yet another ecclesiastical year. Since it will be a new ecclesiastical year, we can make some goals for renewing our commitment to Christ and to the Church. In what ways can we renew this commitment? Commit to attending Church: With a busy schedule, it is easy to pass up going to church on Sundays. However, we must commit to attending on Sundays and other days throughout the year. It is through Church that we receive the Holy Sacraments, we hear the Holy Gospel and special prayers, and we are part of a spe-

cial community of faithful. CHALLENGE: Gather a group of your peers and commit to going to Church together. Commit to increasing prayer life: A necessary part of building a relationship with Christ is building communication. Most commonly, we communicate through our prayers. An ecclesiastical New Year’s resolution can be to increase our prayer life. Prayers can offer up thanksgiving to God for the blessings He has given. Prayers can also be essential when we are struggling with difficult issues and concerns. CHALLENGE: Pick three times a day when you will stop to say a small prayer. Commit that to your every day schedule! Commit to offering your time and talents for Christ and His Church: We have each been given talents and gifts. Some people are talented in music, some are talented at organizing things, others have a talent for planning activities. In this new ecclesiastical year, let us commit to offering more of our time and talents to glorify God. How about being a leader in the youth group or singing in the choir? CHALLENGE: Make a list of things that you are great at. Choose one and brainstorm ways that you can use your talent to help others and the Church. Commit to studying and learning more about Christ: In order for us to be the best ambassadors for Christ, we must know as much as we can about Jesus Christ. So we can strengthen our commitment to Christ by studying the Holy Scriptures, learning about the Holy Traditions of the Orthodox Church, studying the lives of the saints, and much more! CHALLENGE: Pick up your Orthodox Study Bible. Read a passage every night. Write down anything you don’t understand and ask your priest the next time you see him.

OCF – Getting College Students Connected The mission of the Orthodox Christian Fellowship (OCF) is to support fellowships on college campuses, whose members experience and witness to the Orthodox Christian Church through community life, prayer, service to others and study of the Faith. The national headquarters, located in Indianapolis, supports 300 local university chapters across the U.S. and Canada. In addition, they provide a va-

riety of thoughtful and innovative programming, including regional training, annual conferences, and domestic and international service learning projects. It is back-to-school time for college students, so don’t forget to visit www. ocf.net. The website offers resources, a list of chapters, and information about events throughout the U.S. Get connected TODAY!

2010-2011 Ecclesiastical PLANNER – “Come and See” Available NOW! The Department of Youth and Young Adult Ministries has announced that the 2010-2011 Ecclesiastical Planner is available for order! Use The Planner to keep track of all your schedules. Keep a daily focus on Christ with Scriptural readings, fast days, prayers, saints of the day, and inspiration from the Fathers. The Planner follows the Ecclesiastical (church) year beginning in September and ending in August. Spiral bound and digital versions are available. To order, visit www.orthodoxmarketplace. com or call the Department of Religious Education at (800) 566-1088.

The Veneration of the Life-Bearing Cross (September 14th) “Lord, save Your people and bless Your inheritance, granting our rulers to prevail over adversaries, and protecting Your commonwealth by Your Cross.” Apolytikion of the Feast of the Holy Cross. It is hard for us to imagine the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made for us… Jesus Christ, of His own free will, was lifted upon the cross for all mankind. On September 14th, we celebrate the finding of the True Cross by St. Helen. On www.goarch.org, we read that St. Helen, the mother of the Emperor Constantine, had the statue of Aphrodite destroyed which revealed the Tomb of our Lord, and three crosses. Of these, it was believed that one must be that of our Lord, the other two of the thieves crucified with Him; but St. Helen was at a loss which one might be the Wood of our salvation. At the inspiration of St. Macarius, a woman who was close to death was brought to touch the crosses. As soon she came near to the Cross of our Lord, she was made perfectly whole. Consequently, the precious Cross was lifted on high by Archbishop Macarius of Jerusalem. As he stood on the ambo, the people saw it and cried out, “Lord have mercy.” As Christians, we see the sign of the cross every day. We see crosses in our iconography, in our churches, we cross ourselves during prayers and Divine Liturgy, and we even wear them around our necks. The Holy Cross is a very recognizable and

important symbol of the Christian faith. Unfortunately, the sign of the cross is taken for granted. Here are a few of questions to consider: 1) When the True Cross was lifted on high, the people cried out “Lord have mercy.” What does the Holy Cross mean to you? What do you think when you see the Cross around your neck or in Church? 2) We know that Jesus Christ sacrificed Himself upon the Cross for us. How can we honor the sacrifice Jesus Christ made for us on the Cross?

FOR PARENTS AND YOUTH WORKERS Don’t forget to stock up your youth ministry library with exceptional resources from the Department of Youth and Young Adult Ministries. You will find materials for all different ages. Visit www.orthodoxmarketplace.com or call the Department of Religious Education at 1-800-566-1088. Would you like to receive weekly youth worker tips and other great information?

Then join the Youth Worker Pulse – the weekly email listserv from the Department of Youth and Young Adult Ministries. Visit www.youth.goarch.org to join today! We’re on FACEBOOK. Visit www. facebook.com and search for the National GOYA and National Young Adult Ministries pages. Check the pages out and “LIKE” them to get news and updates!

SEPTEMBER 2010

A highlight of the visit: Campers pose for their group photo in front of the Parthenon.

Ionian Village: A Life-Changing Summer for Ionian Village Participants by Fr. Jason Roll

For 40 years, Ionian Village has had a reputation of bringing its participants closer to Christ, allowing them to analyze their lives and how they live it. In most instances, lives are changed forever. Campers and staff members refer to their experiences at Ionian Village as the “greatest summer of their lives,” and this summer was no exception. If you followed the daily blog on the Ionian Village website, you would have read that second time camper Eleni from Long Beach, Calif., commented that she would attend Ionian Village every summer if she could. This was Eleni’s last year of eligibility to attend as a camper as she has graduated from high school and is starting college in the fall. However, she truly feels her experiences at Ionian Village have shaped her; “The lessons I have learned not only guide me on my spiritual journey, but also educate my heart.” Sophia from Chicago states “IV has changed me in so many ways. I am definitely not the person I was the first day of camp. Through my IV experience I feel as if I have gained more respect for Orthodoxy, for other people and especially for myself. I’ve come home with a completely new attitude.” John from New York adds “Since my summer at I.V, I am taking my faith more seriously, I want to get more involved in my church and I’m really going to try to work on becoming a better Orthodox Christian.” It is not hard to understand why one’s experiences at Ionian Village are

so life changing. For 20 days, campers are invited to disconnect from the busy life that they know and to open their eyes, minds and hearts and live the beauty of Orthodoxy. They are immersed in the Greek culture, in Orthodoxy and are surrounded by the pure and unconditional love of the staff and counselors. We pray together daily, we laugh together during skits and cheer each other on during evening activities such as “Junk-Yard Wars” where cabins are challenged to build a vehicle out of “junk” to then race against the other cabins. Our excursions outside of camp include day-trips to Ancient Olympia, Patras and Kefalonia to name a few, visiting historical sites as well as venerating the relics of our Orthodox saints. One of the more moving trips this summer was to the island of Zakynthos to venerate the relics of St. Dionysios. Staff member Jaclyn Limberakis has visited the church a number of times both as a camper and as a staff member. She describes this summer’s visit as overwhelming and beautiful. “In the seven times that I have come to this church, I have never seen anything like this. Campers were crying, holding arm and arm with one another, on their knees praying.” John, a camper from New York adds, “When I was in the church of St. Dionysios what I felt was so intense. When I venerated his body I could not help but cry because everything kind of hit me at once. I felt so close to God- I could feel God’s presence. It was amazing!” In celebration of Ionian Village’s 40 th year a few small changes were

made to the program. First was the addition of a candlelit midnight Divine Liturgy in the Amphitheater. Campers, staff and clergy described it as one of the most magical, blessed and beautiful liturgies they’ve ever been a part of. Another addition was a visit to a local water park called “Aqua Splash.” Campers had a great time cooling off from the hot summer day and relaxing with their new friends. Ionian Village was yet again the recipient of many blessings this year. With more than 300 participants in attendance, campers and staff members departed

from Greece with a greater appreciation for their faith and culture, new life-long friends and their hearts filled with “IV Agape.” To learn more about the Ionian Village program and the Summer 2010 experience view the photos and blog at www.ionianvillage.org Fr. Jason Roll is the director of Ionian Village with over 19 years of camp and youth ministry experience. He holds a business degree from Oregon State University and a Master of Divinity from Holy Cross School of Theology.

Three campers light their candles for an evening service at the chapel.