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THE GREEK (EASTERN)
ORTHODOX CHURCH
What's in our name?
Our name, or rather, our names tell a great deal about us. Many names
have been used throughout the centuries to describe our Church and its
some 300 million adherents. "Greek, "Eastern', "Orthodox', "One, Holy,
Catholic and Apostolic" are all appropriate designations of the Church.
Our Church is called the "Greek Church" because Greek was the first
language of the ancient Christian Church from which our Faith was
transmitted. The New Testament was written in Greek and the early
writings of Christ's followers were in the Greek language. The word
"Greek" is not used to describe just the Orthodox Christian peoples of
Greece and other Greek speaking people. Rather, it is used to describe
the Christians who originated from the Greek speaking early Christian
Church and which used Greek thought to find appropriate expressions of
the Orthodox Faith. "Orthodox" is also used to describe our Church. The
word "Orthodox" is derived from two short Greek words, orthos, meaning
correct, and doxa, meaning belief or glory. Thus, we used the word
"Orthodox'' to indicate our conviction that we believe and worship God
correctly. We emphasize Apostolic tradition, continuity and
conservatism over a 2,000 year history.
Our Church is also spoken of as the "Eastern Church" to distinguish it
from the Churches of the West. "Eastern" is used to indicate that in
the first millennium the influence of our Church was concentrated in
the eastern part of the Christian world and to show that a very large
number of our membership is of other than Greek national origin. Thus,
Orthodox Christians throughout the world use various ethnic or national
titles: "Greek", "Russian", "Serbian", "Romanian", "Ukrainian",
"Bulgarian", "Antiochian", "Albanian", "Carpatho-Russian", or more
inclusively, as "Eastern Orthodox".
In the Nicene Creed of faith our Church is described as the "One, Holy
Catholic and Apostolic Church": "One" because there can only be one
true Church with one head Who is Christ. "Holy" because the church
seeks to sanctify and transfigure its members through the Sacraments.
"Catholic" because the Church is universal and has members in all parts
of the world. The word "Catholic" comes from a Greek word katholikos
(kath-oh-lee-KOHS) which means world-wide or universal. '"Apostolic"
because its teachings are based on the foundations laid by the Apostles
from whom our Church derives its teachings and authority without break
or change.
Each of these titles is limiting in some respects, since they define
Christians belonging to particular historical or regional Churches of
the Orthodox communion. Orthodox Christianity is not limited to the
East, however, either in terms of its own self-definition or in
geographical location. There are many Orthodox Christians who live in
the West, and are rapidly becoming integrally related to its spiritual,
intellectual and cultural life.
Our origins and development: to know us is to understand our history.
Christianity originated in Palestine, spread rapidly throughout the
Mediterranean, and by the end of the fourth century was recognized as
the official religion of the late Roman or Byzantine Empire. Seen in
the context of its historical milieu, it was a unified religious
movement, although diverse in many respects. It was extremely vital and
dynamic in its historic development.
Orthodox Catholic Christianity remained essentially undivided. Its five
major administrative centers were located in Rome, Constantinople
(present-day Istanbul), Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem. The
articulation of Christian doctrine and order was achieved through the
great Ecumenical Councils, the first of which was convened in AD 325.
At these Councils, all leaders and centers of Christianity were
represented and shared in the deliberations.
The first great schism or separation took place in the fifth and sixth
centuries, chiefly over the understanding of the person of Christ.
Certain ancient and venerable Eastern Churches are quite similar to the
Orthodox Church in ethos, lifestyle, and worship. They are of two
types, one called the Nestorian or Assyrian Church of the East, and the
other much larger grouping called Pre-Chalcedonian because of its
non-acceptance of the Council of Chalcedon (AD 451). The
non-Chalcedonian Churches include the Coptic Church of Egypt, the
Ethiopian Church, the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Church of St.
Thomas in India, and the Jacobite Syrian Church of Antioch. Altogether
they claim approximately 22 million faithful.
The Christian religion was the principal influence in the Byzantine
Empire, shaping its culture, laws, art, architecture and intellectual
life. The harmony between the civic and ecclesiastical spheres, Emperor
and Church, was rarely broken so as to present a truly unified
Christian Empire, a Christian ecumene. This symphonic relationship of
faith and culture is a distinctive legacy of the Orthodox Church which
was later transmitted to the slavic peoples of Eastern Europe and
Russia.
After the seventh Ecumenical Council in AD 787, the basic unity of
faith and ecclesiastical life between East and West began to
disintegrate, due to a variety of theological, jurisdictional, cultural
and political differences. This eventually led to the Great Schism
between East and West of AD 1054. This unfortunate division was
aggravated to the point of a complete break in communication between
the Orthodox and the Roman Catholic Church. Centuries later the
protests against Rome in Western Europe gave rise to the Protestant
Reformation. In our day the non-Chalcedonian Oriental Churches, the
Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church and the many Protestant
Churches and groups comprise the wide spectrum of Christendom.
After the Great Schism Orthodox Christianity continued to develop apart
from Western Christianity. Tenaciously conservative, relying on its
dynamic concept of Tradition, it preserves the classical forms of
Christian life and dogma to this very day. It is very much a "popular"
Church, closely identified with the national life and aspirations of
its people. In traditional Orthodox lands it is difficult to separate
religious and secular life, since they are one in the minds of the
people. Orthodoxy has absorbed, and in some cases even shaped, the
cultural traditions of many nations, chiefly in the Near East, the
Balkans and Greece, Eastern Europe and Russia. It is, for many of these
nations, the national religion. In other lands, of course, it is a tiny
minority group. In fact, large numbers of Orthodox Christians have
lived in officially atheistic or secularized socialist republics and
witnessed to their faith under conditions of active persecution and
intolerance. Many became true martyrs for the faith.
The Orthodox Church today
The Orthodox Church today is a communion of self governing Churches,
each administratively independent of the other, but united by a common
faith and spirituality. Their underlying unity is based on identity of
doctrines, sacramental life and worship, which distinguishes Orthodox
Christianity. All recognize the spiritual preeminence of the Ecumenical
Patriarch of Constantinople who is acknowledged as primus inter pares,
first among equals. All share full communion with one another. The
living tradition of the Church and the principles of concord and
harmony are expressed through the common mind of the universal
episcopate as the need arises. In all other matters, the internal life
of each independent Church is administered by the bishops of that
particular Church. Following the ancient principle of the one people of
God in each place and the universal priesthood of all believers, the
laity share equally in the responsibility for the preservation and
propagation of the Christian faith and Church.
In addition to the four ancient Patriarchates of Constantinople,
Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem with their several geographic and
ecclesiastical subdivisions, there are also many independent or
autocephalous Orthodox Christian Churches. These include the Churches
of Russia, Romania, Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece, Georgia, Cyprus,
Czechoslovakia, Poland, Finland, Albania and Sinai. Smaller autonomous
Orthodox Churches and missions can be found on every continent
throughout the world.
THE GREEK ORTHODOX
ARCHDIOCESE OF AMERICA
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America
Beginnings
Before the establishment of an Archdiocese in the Western Hemisphere
there were numerous communities of Greek Orthodox Christians. The first
Greek Orthodox community in the Americas was founded in 1864 in New
Orleans,LA by a small colony of Greek merchants. History also records
that on June 26,1768 the first Greek colonists landed at
St.Augustine,FL, the oldest city in America. Today, the “Avero House”
where these colonists worshipped has been fully restored and houses the
St. Photios National Shrine, dedicated to all our ancestors who came to
these shores as immigrants. It was not until just before the turn of
the century that the first permanent community was founded in New York
City in 1892, today’s Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity and
See of the Archbishop of America.
The establishment of Greek Orthodoxy in America began in the beginning
of this century, coinciding with the acceleration of immigration from
Greece.The pioneering of Greek Orthodoxy in America continued at an
intensified rate throughout the first decades of the 20th Century,and
by 1920 sixty percent of the present-day communities and their houses
of worship were firmly founded.
The first Greek Orthodox parishes in North America were under the
jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople which had
over the centuries assumed responsibility for the diaspora communities
and assigned to them their priests. In 1908, however, this jurisdiction
was temporarily transferred to the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece.
This arrangement was maintained until 1918, and during this period the
communities remained without the necessary organization and without a
responsible and authorized religious leader they so greatly needed.
Leadership
In the 80 years of the life of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese there
have been six archbishops: Archbishop Alexander (1922-1930); Archbishop
Athenagoras (1931-1948); Archbishop Michael (1948-1958); Archbishop
Iakovos (1959-1996),Archbishop Spyridon (1996-1999) and Archbishop
Demetrios who was enthroned as Archbishop on September 18,1999.
Metropolitan of Athens Meletios Metaxakis arrived in America on October
20, 1918, an soon established the Synodical Council setting the pattern
for centralized Church administration.
In effect, this was the first step towards the establishment of the
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America, which was
incorporated in 1921, and officially recognized by the State of New
York in 1922.
When Meletios was elected Ecumenical Patriarch Meletios IV in
January,1922, one of his first official decrees on March 1st of that
year was to restore the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Greek
Orthodox Archdiocese to the Ecumenical Patriarchate. This was
formalized on May 11, 1922 when Patriarch Meletios declared the Church
of America as an Archdiocese appointing the Rt. Rev. Alexander Titular
Bishop of Rodostolon , as his Patriarchal Exarch here.
Regrettably, from 1922 to 1930 turbulent political events in Greece
divided the Greeks in America, and the division also manifested itself
here ecclesiastically. Fortunately, the necessity for religious unison
and concord was quickly realized by the Greeks in this country, and
this need was also understood by Ecumenical Patriarch Photios ll.
Following a study of the situation of the Archdiocese, the Ecumenical
Patriarch appointed Metropolitan Athenagoras of Corfu as Archbishop of
North and South America on August 30, 1930. Archbishop Athenagoras
arrived in New York on February 24, 1931 and began a long tenure which
did not end until he was elected Ecumenical Patriarch on November
1,1948.
Archbishop Athenagoras used all of his powers of peacemaking and
persuasion to bring harmony to the disunited communities. He
centralized the Archdiocese, expanded the work of Clergy-Laity
Congresses, established many new communities, founded St. Basil Academy
and Teacher Training School in Garrison,NY, founded Holy Cross School
of Theology in Pomfret, Connecticut, and in November 1931 during the
Fourth Archdiocesan Clergy-Laity Congress established the Ladies
Philoptochos Society, the official philanthropic organization of the
Greek Orthodox Church in America.
Archbishop Michael continued the programs of his predecessor and
brought the Church through its tender years. He founded St. Michael’s
Home for the Aged in Yonkers,NY. A brilliant scholar and linguist, he
founded the Greek Orthodox Youth of America (GOYA); he promoted
vigorously the campaign for national recognition of Eastern Orthodoxy
as a major faith in America; he created the Office of Information and
Public Relations; he brought about the acceptance of the Regulations
and Uniform By-Laws of the Archdiocese; he gained membership of the
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese in the National Council of the Churches of
Christ in the U.S.A. His efforts for widespread recognition of the
Church were appropriately acknowledged when he was invited to deliver
the invocation at the Presidential inauguration of Dwight D. Eisenhower
in January,1957, the first Orthodox Christian cleric to be so honored.
Archbishop Iakovos who was enthroned on April 1, 1959 ushered in the
dawn of a new era for Greek Orthodox in America as the Archbishop was
the first to be selected from the ranks of the American clergy. Dean of
all religious leaders in the United States when he retired on July 30,
1996, Archbishop Iakovos’ 37 years of service were distinguished by his
leadership in furthering religious unity, revitalizing Christian
worship and championing human and civil rights. The Archbishop was
co-president of the World Council of Churches; established dialogues
with Roman Catholics, Anglicans,Lutherans, Southern Baptist and Black
Church leaders; and in a successful effort to promote closer ties among
several Orthodox jurisdictions and improve relations between them and
other denominations, the Archbishop founded in 1960 the Standing
Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas. He was the
recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Jimmy
Carter and was captured on the cover of LIFE magazine on March 26,1965,
walking hand in hand with Dr. Martin Luther King in Selma, Alabama.
During his tenure organizations were expanded and new departments were
added including Church and Society, Youth Ministry, Communications and
Leadership 100, a major gift program of the National Endowment of the
Archdiocese. He guided the reorganization of Holy Cross Greek Orthodox
School of Theology in Brookline,MA and brought to fruition Hellenic
College in 1968.
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese
of America
Transition
On July 30, 1996, following the retirement of Archbishop Iakovos, the
Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate established three new
metropolitanates, Toronto, Buenos Aires and Mexico,each having specific
areas of jurisdiction. The Holy Synod, by unanimous decision, also
elected Metropolitan Spyridon of Italy as Archbishop of America.
Archbishop Spyridon was enthroned on September 21, 1996 as the first
American-born elected as Archbishop of America. He served for three
years before submitting his resignation to the Ecumenical Patriarch who
announced on August 19th, 1999 that Archbishop Spyridon was appointed
to the Metropolis of Chaldea.
Today
Archbishop Demetrios, the former Metropolitan Demetrios of Vresthena
(Greece) was unanimously elected the new Archbishop of America on
August 19, 1999 and was enthroned on September 18. In the time
following his enthronement, His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios has
labored together with the Hierarchs, Clergy and Laity of the Greek
Orthodox Archdiocese in an intense effort to strengthen conditions of
unity and peace and to advance administrative and ecclesiastical
stability of the work of the Church in America. In the aftermath of the
events of September 11th and with a desire to address the needs and
challenges of our modern world, His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios has
spoken repeatedly and emphatically about the vital mission of the Greek
Orthodox community to offer the Orthodox faith in its full, genuine and
loving form to contemporary America.
Father Robert G. Stephanopoulos is Dean of the
Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity and Adjunct Professor of
Eastern Christian Thought at St. John's University. He authored the
Guidelines for Orthodox Christians in Ecumenical Relations, has served
as Ecumenical Officer of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese. A graduate of
Holy Cross School of Theology, he studied at the University of Athens
School of Theology and received his Ph.D. in Ecumenics. Missions and
Religions from Boston University.
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