[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 129 (Wednesday, September 18, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S10870]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  ENTHRONEMENT OF ARCHBISHOP SPYRIDON

 Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, a new chapter commences in the 
life of the Greek Orthodox Church of America this Saturday with the 
enthronement in New York of new Archbishop Spyridon at the Holy Trinity 
Cathedral in New York City. Archbishop Spyridon, the first American-
born hierarch to hold this position, assumes this important 
responsibility at a time when the Orthodox Church in America faces 
great challenges and opportunities. All Americans of Greek Orthodox 
faith have great hope that this new spiritual leader will continue the 
Greek Orthodox Church's positive role in the religious life of our 
country.
  In pursuing this mission, the new Archbishop will build on a firm 
foundation established by his predecessors--Archbishop Iakovos, who did 
so much to advance Orthodoxy in the Americas, Archbishop Michael, and 
the late Patriarch Athenagoras, who led the church during its early and 
difficult period in America.
  Archbishop Spyridon was born in Warren, OH, the son of Clara and the 
late Dr. Constantine Papageorge, and spent most of his youth in Tarpon 
Springs, FL where, as a teenager, he divided his summers between 
Florida and the Island of Rhodes, the home of his father. The 
Archbishop graduated high school in Tarpon Springs and then enrolled in 
the Theological School of Halki near Istanbul, Turkey, where he was 
graduated with honors. He pursued graduate studies in Switzerland and 
Germany and is fluent in English, French, Greek, German, and Italian. 
He eventually was assigned to the permanent delegation of the 
Ecumenical Patriarchate to the World Council of Churches in Geneva, 
Switzerland, and later served as Secretary of the Orthodox Center of 
the Ecumenical Patriarchate located in Chambesy, Switzerland. In 1976 
he was assigned to duties as Dean of the Greek Orthodox community of 
St. Andrew's in Rome and later assumed added responsibilities as 
Orthodox Executive Secretary of the International Joint Commission for 
Theological Dialogue Between the Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches. 
He was elected a Bishop on November 5, 1985; and in 1991 he became the 
first person ever elevated to Metropolitan of Venice, Italy.
  The new Archbishop's responsibility includes serving as the direct 
representative in the United States of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in 
Istanbul, the spiritual center of world Orthodox Christianity. His 
personal and ecclesiastical experience combine a rich grounding in 
Orthodox spirituality, a meaningful involvement in interfaith-
ecumenical activities, and an understanding of the American tradition 
of religious freedom and separation of church and state.
  I join with Orthodox throughout our country and all Americans of good 
faith who wish His Eminence a long life, a productive ministry, and the 
strength and wisdom to meet the many challenges which await 
him.

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