New Greek Archbishop of America: Elpidophoros of Bursa

 — May 15, 201915 mai 2019

Axios, Church! Receive this news from the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. On Saturday May 11 2019, “the Holy and Sacred Synod, continuing its work, proceeded to fill the vacated seat of the Archdiocese of America following the voluntary resignation of its shepherd, His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios Geron of America.

Therefore, following the suggestion, permission and exhortation of His-All Holiness, the holy synodical members upon invocation of the Holy Spirit, duly casted their votes and unanimously elected as Archbishop of America His Eminence Metropolitan Elpidophoros of Bursa, Abbot of the Holy Monastery of the Holy Trinity in Halki and Professor of the Theological School of the Aristoteleian University of Thessaloniki.”

Read below the Archpastoral message of His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros to the Faithful of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. The wider body of Christ adds our prayers for all Greek Orthodox Christians during this season of transition, and with gratitude for the prior ecumenical leadership of Archbishop Demetrios.

My Beloved Faithful of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America:

Χριστὀς Ἀνέστη! Christ is Risen! He is truly risen!

Even though I am, as the Apostle Paul once said, “absent in the body” from you, I am very much with you in heart, in mind, and in spirit (cf. I Cor. 5:3). I wanted to take this moment to communicate with you through this marvelous tool of social media, to express how much I desire to embrace all of you as spiritual children, and to manifest to you the love with which God has graced my heart for the precious flock of the Holy Archdiocese of America.

In the coming days and weeks, we will all be learning about one another. I have already received and continue to receive warm greetings and messages of congratulations from across America, and I am heartened by them all. You will be learning about me, but what I want all of you to know most importantly, is that that I am coming to America not only to be your Archbishop, but I am coming to be your spiritual friend and brother, your servant in the Lord, your co-worker in Christ, and your fellow steward of all the gifts of God that have been bestowed upon the Greek Orthodox Faithful of America. Together we will bring the Holy Archdiocese of America to the greater understanding that we are the Body of Christ, and each of us a precious member.

To you and to all our Orthodox Christian Brethren across America, I bring the blessing of His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. I am coming to you as your brother in Christ. And, on June 22nd at my Enthronement, I look forward to embracing our ecumenical and interfaith friends as well, and the whole pluralistic American society that values freedom of conscience and religious liberty with such intensity.

Let this be a time of hope and positive expectation for us all. We have much to accomplish together, and by God’s grace and with His strength, we must surely be victorious.

Χριστὀς Ἀνέστη! Ἀληθῶς Ἀνέστη!

In the Risen Lord,

Archbishop Elpidophoros of America

Posted: May 15, 2019 • Permanent link: ecumenism.net/?p=10553
Categories: News • In this article: bishops, Greek Orthodox, Orthodox, USA Transmis : 15 mai 2019 • Lien permanente : ecumenism.net/?p=10553
Catégorie : News • Dans cet article : bishops, Greek Orthodox, Orthodox, USA