First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton to Attend Enthronement

GOARCH - September 18, 1999
OFFICIAL NEWS

First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton to Attend Enthronement
of New Greek Orthodox Archbishop of America Demetrios on Sept 18, 1999

New York, NY - First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton will attend the Enthronement Service of the new Greek Orthodox Archbishop of America, His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios on Saturday, September 18th at the Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity (319 East 74th Street) beginning with a procession at 10:30 a.m. and the Enthronement Ceremony from 11:00 to Noon.

Mrs. Clinton will also attend the Enthronement Lunch at 1:00 p.m. at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel and officially welcome His Eminence on behalf of the President. In 1995, Mrs. Clinton traveled to Istanbul with her daughter Chelsea where they had a private audience with His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Barholomew I, and in 1997 she hosted a reception at the White House for the Patriarch during his first official visit to the United States.
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On August 19th, 1996, His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Barholomew convened a meeting of the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate which unanimously elected His Eminence Metropolitan Demetrios of Vresthena (Greece) as Archbishop of America to succeed Archbishop Spyridon who resigned on August 18th, 1999.

A noted spiritual leader and scholar, Archbishop Demetrios has spent more than 20 years in the United States, first as a student and then as a professor at Harvard and Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Brookline, MA.

Representing His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I and the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate as Presiding Hierarch will be His Eminence Archbishop Iakovos, Former Primate of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America.

Also participating will be His Eminence Metropolitan Dimitrios of Sebasteia of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and His Eminence Metropolitan Maximos of Serres of the Church of Greece.

On Sunday, September 19th His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios will celebrate his first Divine Liturgy as Archbishop of America with the Holy Synod of the Archdiocese at Holy Trinity Cathedral beginning at 9:30 a.m. Joining Archbishop Demetrios will be His Eminence Metropolitan Iakovos, Presiding Hierarch of the Diocese of Chicago; His Eminence Metropolitan Anthony, Presiding Hierarch of the Diocese of San Francisco; His Eminence Metropolitan Maximos, Presiding Hierarch of the Diocese of Pittsburgh; His Eminence Metropolitan Methodios , Presiding Hierarch of the Diocese of Boston;. His Eminence Metropolitan Isaiah, Presiding Hierarch of the Diocese of Denver; His Grace Bishop Alexios of Atlanta; His Grace Bishop George of New Jersey and His Grace Bishop Nicholas of Detroit.

Elected Archbishop of America on August 19,1999, by the Holy and Sacred Synod, His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios will be the spiritual leader of 1.5 million Greek Orthodox Christians in America and is the sixth archbishop of America since the establishment of the Archdiocese in 1922.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew is the spiritual leader of more than 250 million Orthodox Christians worldwide and the Ecumenical Patriarchate has direct jurisdiction over the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America which is composed of over 500 parishes. Orthodoxy traces its roots to the Holy Apostles and has been present in the Western Hemisphere since the 18th Century.

Dignitaries expected to attend and participate in the Enthronement events include: Governor Pataki, Senators Paul Sarbanes and Charles Schumer, Representatives Benjamin Gilman, Carolyn Maloney and Michael Bilirakis. Thalia Assuras, CBS News Anchor/Correspondent and John Metaxas, CNN Financial News Anchor/Correspondent will also be participating.

Foreign dignitaries attending include: President Glafkos Clerides of the Republic of Cyprus; Deputy Foreign Minister of Greece Gregorios Niotis; Ambassador Stylianos Valsamas-Rallis, Director of Religious Affairs for the Foreign Ministry of Greece; the Ambassador of Greece to the United States, Alexandros Philon; and several members of the Greek Parliament and members of the Greek media.

The Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of America (SCOBA) will lead the religious leaders including: William Cardinal Keeler of Baltimore, Archbishop Renato Martino, Rev. Dr. Joan Campbell, General Secretary of the National Council of Churches; Prof. J. Bryan Hehir, Dean of Harvard Divinity School; President of Temple University, Dr. Peter Liacouras; and President of Drexel University, Dr. Constantine Papadakis.

The Enthronement Ceremonies will begin with a procession from First Avenue and 74th Street led by more than 200 clergy, religious and civic leaders, Holy Cross Seminarians and Faculty, parochial and afternoon school children and leaders of Archdiocese affiliated organizations.

ARRIVAL

His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios will arrive by Olympic Airlines at 4:00 p.m., Thursday, September 16th at JFK Airport accompanied by His Eminence Metropolitan Maximos, Presiding Hierarch of the Diocese of Pittsburgh, and representing the Church of Greece, His Eminence Metropolitan Maximos of Serres. Included in the delegation will be members of the Archbishop's family including his mother, his brother, Dr. Andonios Trakatelis, a member of the European Parliament, and his family and other guests. They will be met at the airport by an official delegation of the Archdiocese led by His Grace Bishop George of New Jersey, Archiepiscopal Vicar and the Holy Synod of the Archdiocese.

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