Its mission is to educate individuals for life and service in the Orthodox Christian community. This includes men preparing for the priesthood of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (with which it is religiously affiliated)[3] and other Orthodox Christian entities, as well educating men and women for leadership roles in the church or within secular society. HCHC includes a graduate school of theology (seminary) for clerical training and education, and several undergraduate and certificate programs in business, education, literature, and other secular professions.[10]
History
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (October 2025)
Archbishop Athenagoras of America soon after his enthronement became convinced that a seminary was needed in America to prepare American born man for the priesthood. At the 1936 Clergy-Laity Congress, he announced that the school would open next year in Pomfret, Connecticut, on an estate owned by the Archdiocese, bought for a song during the Great Depression.[11] The establishment of the seminary in Pomfret was a bold experiment, fraught with difficulties. Demetrios Michaelides, who entered the Holy Cross in the 1937, remembered: "The first year was very hard. We were isolated. Being the first class of the start of the seminary was a challenge. The school had very little money, which was a hardship for all. There was not much money for food or books or other supplies. People from Boston and Worcester would bring food for us."[12]
In 1966, Holy Cross expanded its undergraduate division into a full four-year liberal arts college named Hellenic College, which opened in 1968.[13]
Organization and administration
Demetrios S. Katos is the current president of HCHC.[5] The institution is also administered by a Board of Trustees.[14] The chairman of the institution's Board of Trustees is Archbishop Elpidophoros of America.[4]
In the spring of 2019, the college was warned by the state of Massachusetts and its accreditor of financial problems.[18] This led to college announcing measures to ameliorate financial difficulties, and the resignation of the institution's then president, Christopher Metropulos.[19] By late 2019 and early 2020, Hellenic College Holy Cross was put on probation by the NECHE, and considered at risk of losing its accreditation.[20][21] The college was removed from probation in March 2021, with the NECHE finding progress in relevant areas.[22][23]
Enrollment and faculty
In the fall of 2023, HCHC had 64 undergraduate students enrolled, and 135 graduate students enrolled.[7]
At that time, HCHC had 15 full-time faculty and 18 working part-time, with 3 assistants also employed.[6]
Campus
Archbishop Iakovos Library, Hellenic College
Hellenic College Holy Cross is located on a 52-acre (21ha) campus in Brookline, Massachusetts, just outside Boston.[8] The campus is located on the former Weld estate.[24] It is notable for having been the longtime practice site of the Boston Celtics.[25]
The Semester of Faith program allows undergraduate students from outside HCHC to continue working towards a bachelor's degree while studying at Hellenic College for a semester.[27]
In 2025, HCHC and the Boston College Woods College of Advancing Studies, started a program in which students can complete the core curriculum at HCHC, and then transfer to Woods College to receive one of six career focused majors.[28]
HCHC administers summer programs for those who do not study full time at the college. One, called CrossRoad is a ten-day, vocational exploration program for Orthodox Christian high school graduates and rising seniors. Two sessions are held on campus each summer.[29] The Pappas Patristic Institute is a seminar based program that focuses on readings in the Church Fathers. This program is geared towards undergraduate and graduate students.[30]
Greek Orthodox Theological Review
Starting in 1954, the faculty of the institution have published The Greek Orthodox Theological Review, a journal publishing scholarly works related to Orthodox Christianity, particularly Greek Orthodoxy.[31]
1 2 "Hellenic College Holy Cross | Our President". www.hchc.edu. Retrieved October 17, 2025. Katos was elected by the Trustees of HCHC, and approved by the Chairman, His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America
↑ "Weld Family". Jamaica Plain Historical Society (published April 14, 2005). September 2019 [1991-02-XX]. Archived from the original on February 9, 2022. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
↑ February 2025, University Communications |. "New academic partnership". Boston College. Retrieved October 17, 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
↑ "CrossRoad". CrossRoad Institute. Retrieved June 10, 2024.
↑ "Summer Programs". Hellenic College Holy Cross. Archived from the original on January 8, 2022. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
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