Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America | |
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Abbreviation | GOArch |
Type | Eastern Orthodox |
Structure | Eparchy |
Ecumenical Patriarch and Archbishop of Constantinople–New Rome | Bartholomew I of Constantinople |
Primate | Archbishop of America Elpidophoros [1] |
Chancellor | Archimandrite Nektarios Papazafiropoulos |
Vicar General | Fr. Alex Karloutsos |
Parishes | 560 [2] |
Language | Greek, English |
Headquarters | New York City |
Territory | United States |
Recognition | Orthodox |
Members | 476,900 total Adherents, 107,400 regular (weekly) attendees [3] |
Official website | www |
Archbishop of America | |
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Archbishopric | |
Eastern Orthodox | |
Incumbent: Elpidophoros since 22 June 2019 [1] | |
Style | His Eminence |
Location | |
Country | United States |
Residence | New York City |
This article forms part of the series | ||||||
Eastern Orthodox Christianity in North America | ||||||
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History | ||||||
People | ||||||
Jurisdictions (list) | ||||||
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Monasteries | ||||||
List of monasteries in the United States | ||||||
Seminaries | ||||||
Organizations | ||||||
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The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (GOArch), headquartered in New York City, is an eparchy of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. Its current primate is Archbishop Elpidophoros of America. [1] [4]
On May 11, 2019, the church's Holy and Sacred Synod unanimously elected Metropolitan Elpidophoros of Bursa as the new archbishop of America following the voluntary resignation of Archbishop Demetrios. [4] In addition to serving as Metropolitan of Bursa, Elpidophoros has also served as Abbot of the Holy Monastery of the Holy Trinity in Halki and Professor of the Theological School of the Aristoteleian University of Thessaloniki. [4] Metropolitan Methodios of Boston served as the locum tenens until Elpidophoros was enthroned on June 22, 2019. [5] [1]
As of 2019 [update] Archbishop Elpidophros serves the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. He serves as:
Episcopal details include:
The mission of the archdiocese is to proclaim the Gospel of Christ, to teach and spread the Orthodox Christian faith, to energize, cultivate, and guide the life of the Church in the United States of America according to the Orthodox Christian faith and tradition.
The Greek Orthodox Church in America considers that it sanctifies the faithful through divine worship, especially the Holy Eucharist and other sacraments, building the spiritual and ethical life of the faithful in accordance with the Holy Scriptures, Sacred Tradition, the doctrines and canons of the Ecumenical and local Councils, the canons of the Holy Apostles and the Fathers of the Church and of all other Councils recognized by the Orthodox Church.
The archdiocese states that it serves as a beacon, carrier, and witness of the message of Christ to all persons who live in the United States of America, through divine worship, preaching, teaching, and living of the Orthodox Christian faith. [8]
Before the establishment of a Greek Archdiocese in the Western Hemisphere there were numerous communities of Greek Orthodox Christians. [9] On June 26, 1768, the first Greek colonists landed at St. Augustine, Florida, the oldest city in America. [10] The first Greek Orthodox community in the Americas was founded in 1864, in New Orleans, Louisiana, by a small colony of Greek merchants. [11] [12] The first permanent community was founded in New York City in 1892, [9] today's Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity and the See of the Archbishop of America. The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America was incorporated in 1921 [13] and officially recognized by the State of New York in 1922.
In 1908, the Church of Greece received authority over the Greek Orthodox congregation of America, [9] but in 1922 Patriarch Meletius IV of Constantinople transferred the archdiocese back to the jurisdiction of the Church of Constantinople. [13] In 1996, the archdiocese was split by the Ecumenical Patriarchate, into four separate archdioceses: those of America (the USA), Canada, Central America, and South America.
The Holy Eparchial Synod of the archdiocese is composed of:
The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America is composed of an archdiocesan district (New York City) and eight metropolises (formerly dioceses): New Jersey, Chicago, Atlanta, Detroit, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Boston and Denver. [14] It is governed by the archbishop and the Eparchial Synod of Metropolitans. The synod is headed by the archbishop (as the first among equals) and comprises the metropolitans who oversee the ministry and operations of their respective metropolises. It has all the authority and responsibility which the Church canons provide for a provincial synod. [15]
There are more than 500 parishes, 800 priests and approximately 440,000 to 2 million faithful in the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, depending on the source of reports and the counting method being used. [16] The number of parishes in the Greek Archdiocese rose by about 9% in the decade from 1990 to 2000, and membership growth has largely been in terms of existing members having children. [17] Membership is concentrated in the Northeastern United States. The states with the highest rates of adherence are Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and New York. [18]
The archdiocese receives within its ranks and under its spiritual aegis and pastoral care Orthodox Christians, who either as individuals or as organized groups in the Metropolises and Parishes have voluntarily come to it and which acknowledge the ecclesiastical and canonical jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. [19]
Additionally, one seminary is operated by the Greek Archdiocese, Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Brookline, Massachusetts, which educates not only Greek Archdiocese seminarians but also those from other jurisdictions, as well.
The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America was a member of SCOBA and is a member of its successor organization, the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America.
The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese comprises some 525 parishes and 20 monasteries across the United States of America. [20] [3]
(This is the actual hierarchical seniority order and formal listing of the bishops.)
The Office of the Chancellor is concerned with the well-being of the clergy, their ongoing assignments and reassignments, their continuing education, and the benefits provided to them by the Church. Recent chancellor of the Archdiocese Bishop Andonios of Phasiane submitted his letter of resignation in May 2019. [26]
Information about different institutions throughout the United States which are part of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.
The Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity provides regular divine worship, counseling, Christian education, human services and cultural programs for people in the New York City area.
Hellenic College and Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology together constitute a Greek Orthodox Christian institution of higher learning providing undergraduate and graduate education. Located on a 52-acre (21 ha) campus in Brookline, Massachusetts, Hellenic College and Holy Cross seek to educate leaders, priests, lay persons, men and women.
The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly known simply as the Orthodox Church is a communion composed of up to seventeen separate autocephalous (self-governing) hierarchical churches that profess Eastern Orthodoxy and recognise each other as canonical (regular) Eastern Orthodox Christian churches.
The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople is one of the fifteen to seventeen autocephalous churches that together compose the Eastern Orthodox Church. It is headed by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.
Hellenic College Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology (HCHC) is an Orthodox Christian liberal arts college and seminary in Brookline, Massachusetts. 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 and other Orthodox Christian entities, as well as 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. The institution was founded in 1937 as Holy Cross Theological School in Pomfret, Connecticut, but was moved to Brookline, Massachusetts in 1947.
Archbishop Demetrios is a former elder archbishop of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America and Exarch of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. He resigned from this position in 2019.
The Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain is an archdiocese of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople in the Eastern Orthodox Church. The incumbent archeparch is Nikitas Loulias. Its jurisdiction covers those Orthodox Christians living in Great Britain, the Republic of Ireland, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands. The adherents are largely of Cypriot Greek descent, mainland Greek migrants and their descendants, and more recently native British converts along with a few Poles, Belarusians, and Ukrainians. The episcopal seat is the Cathedral of Holy Wisdom which is situated in the city of London.
The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia is the Australian archdiocese of the Greek Orthodox Church, part of the wider communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. The archdiocese is a jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. As of 2023, there were over 130 parishes and eight monasteries in the seven diocesan districts of the archdiocese in Australia.
Metropolitan Iakovos of Chicago was Metropolitan of Chicago under the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople until his death on June 2, 2017.
Eastern Orthodoxy in North America represents adherents, religious communities, institutions and organizations of Eastern Orthodox Christianity in North America, including the United States, Canada, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. Estimates of the number of Eastern Orthodox adherents in North America vary considerably depending on methodology and generally fall in range from 3 million to 6 million.
The timeline of Eastern Orthodoxy in North America represents a timeline of the historical development of religious communities, institutions and organizations of Eastern Orthodox Christianity in North America.
The Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Boston is an ecclesiastical territory or metropolis of the Greek Orthodox Church in the New England region of the United States. It is led by a metropolitan bishop and is part of the Archdiocese of America which itself is under the control of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. On December 20, 2002, the territory was elevated from diocese to metropolis status, although its leader had been elevated to the role of metropolitan six years earlier in November 1997. The Annunciation Cathedral in the City of Boston serves as the head church, with metropolitan offices located in Brookline, Massachusetts alongside Hellenic College and Holy Cross. Metropolitan Methodios has led the territory since his enthronement as Bishop of Boston on April 8, 1984, following his election to that post by the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Phanar, Constantinople, Turkey. In early October 2020 Metropolitan Methodios was suspended by the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate until Christmas for reasons undisclosed.
Metropolitan Methodios is a metropolitan bishop and spiritual leader of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Boston. The Metropolis includes all of the U.S. states of Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont, as well as the Connecticut towns of Danielson, New London and Norwich. The Metropolis, which has its offices in Brookline, Massachusetts, consists of 63 parishes which minister to the needs of approximately 230,000 Greek Orthodox Christians.
The Metropolis of Chicago is a metropolis of the Greek Orthodox Church, part of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, in the North-Central Midwest, United States, with its see city of Chicago. The mother church of the Metropolis is Annunciation Cathedral in Chicago.
The Greek Orthodox Metropolis of San Francisco is an ecclesiastical territory or metropolis of the Greek Orthodox Church in the Pacific region of the United States, encompassing the states of Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington. It is part of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America and is led by a metropolitan bishop who serves as the priest of the mother church, Annunciation Cathedral in the City of San Francisco. Right Reverend Metropolitan Gerasimos was enthroned as the Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Bishop of San Francisco on April 2, 2005, following his election to that post by the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Phanar, Constantinople, Turkey.
Metropolitan Gerasimos of San Francisco is a Greek Eastern Orthodox prelate who became the Metropolitan of San Francisco in the Greek Orthodox Church in 2005.
Metropolitan Savas (Zembillas) of Pittsburgh is the spiritual leader of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Pittsburgh which includes all of Ohio and most of Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The Metropolis consists of 53 parishes and six monastic communities which minister to the needs of thousands of Greek Orthodox faithful. The Metropolis offices are in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Bishop Demetrios is Proistamenos of the St Photios Greek Orthodox National Shrine in St. Augustine, Florida and the Synodal Liaison of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the USA to the Orthodox Christian Mission Center (OCMC), also headquartered in St Augustine.
Archbishop Nikitas (Lulias) of Thyateira and Great Britain is the Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Great Britain under the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, elected by the Sacred and Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate on 12 June 2019.
The Pan-Orthodox Council, officially referred to as the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church, was a synod of set representative bishops of the universally recognised autocephalous local churches of the Eastern Orthodox Church held in Kolymvari, Crete. The Council sat from 19 to 26 June 2016.
Elpidophoros of America is a bishop of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. Since 22 June 2019, he has served as the archbishop of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.
The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Canada, formerly known as the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Toronto (Canada), is an archdiocese of the Eastern Orthodox Church based in Canada. It is under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. The present Archbishop and Exarch of All Canada is Sotirios Athanassoulas. Its jurisdiction covers members of the Greek Orthodox community living in Canada. Archbishop Sotirios was born in Arta, Epirus in Greece. The headquarters of the archdiocese is in the East York district of Toronto.
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