[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 147 (Wednesday, September 20, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1811]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                       TRIBUTE TO BISHOP MAXIMOS

                                 ______


                         HON. WILLIAM J. COYNE

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, September 20, 1995
  Mr. COYNE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to one of my 
constituents--a man who is one of the most respected religious leaders 
in southwestern Pennsylvania. His name is Bishop Maximos, and he is the 
head of the Greek Orthodox diocese of Pittsburgh.
  On September 28, the communicants of the Greek Orthodox diocese of 
Pittsburgh will honor their spiritual leader, Bishop Maximos, for his 
16 years of service to the diocese. A banquet, which will also 
celebrate 16 years of diocesan life, is scheduled to be held at St. 
Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral, Oakland. The Pittsburgh diocese 
consists of 50 parishes in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia.
  Through his ecumenical efforts, Bishop Maximos has been able to forge 
strong ties between his denomination and that of the other major 
Christian denominations in southwestern Pennsylvania. One of his fellow 
bishops of the Christian associates of southwestern Pennsylvania, which 
includes bishops of the Roman Catholic, Episcopal, and Methodist 
churches, remarked that Bishop Maximos is loved and respected among his 
peers and many consider him to be one of the finest Christian 
theologians in the United States.
  Bishop Maximos, was born on the Island of Chios, Greece, on March 5, 
1935. His Grace graduated from the Orthodox Theological School of Halki 
of the ecumenical patriarchate of Constantinople, in what is now modern 
day Istanbul, Turkey. His Grace received graduate degrees from the 
Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium. He represented the ecumenical 
patriarchate as observer-delegate to the third and fourth sessions of 
Vatican Council II.
  Arriving in the United States on December 18, 1966, His Grace was 
appointed professor of dogmatic theology at the Holy Cross School of 
Theology in Brookline, MA, where he served for 14 consecutive years. On 
November 5, 1978, he was elected third vice president of the National 
Council of Churches of Christ in the United States. He served in that 
capacity for a triennium.
  On April 27, 1979, in St. Nicholas Cathedral, he was enthroned as the 
first bishop of the Pittsburgh diocese by His Eminence Archbishop 
Iakovos. Since that time, Bishop Maximos has served the communicants of 
the diocese with wisdom and dedication, and he has made many valuable 
contributions to the community of faith in the region. I want to extend 
my congratulations and thanks to Bishop Maximos and the diocese of 
Pittsburgh on this happy occasion.


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