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The GreekAmerican - May 2, 1998
Greek Orthodox Church Elects New Archbishop
ATHENS, April 28 (AP, The GreekAmerican) - Greece's top
Orthodox clerics elected a prelate Tuesday considered forward-thinking
and able to lead the Church at a time of internal turmoil and shrinking
congregations. The new archbishop, Metropolitan Christodoulos, may also
help heal the rifts with the Roman Catholic Church and other Orthodox faiths
opened by his mercurial predecessor, Archbishop Serapheim, who died April
9 at age 84 and who led the Church for 24 years.
Christodoulos, 59, thanked the assembled clerics for entrusting the
Church "to those that are younger," and promised to bring about
"modernization, renewal, and meritocracy." Promising to use "the
trustworthy word of our Church help the average Greek deal with the problems
he is facing," he pledged to reorganize the Church to make it "more
dynamic."
"I want to assure you that we will make the necessary openings
to our people," said the black-robed Christodoulos, wearing a gold-and-purple
cape and holding his scepter of office.
Hundreds of priests and lay people waiting for 10 hours in front of
the marble and granite building in the city center chanted "axios,
axios" (worthy, worthy).
Metropolitan Christodoulos received 49 votes from the 76 senior clerics
gathered behind closed doors at Athens' main cathedral. He was elected
in a third round after the assembled metropolitans, or bishops, failed
to agree the first and second time around. He will be called upon to help
restore unity to a Church that has been snubbed by many younger people
as strong consumerism replaces the values of family and faith that traditionally
anchored Greek society. The Church itself is in disarray over allegations
of fiscal mismanagement and embezzlement. Clerics are also at odds with
the state over property rights for the Church's vast land holdings.
Fluent in English, German, French, Italian, and Russian, Christodoulos
has a law degree from Athens' Pandeios University, a theology degree from
Athens University, and doctorate in canonic law from the University of
Thessaloniki.
He was born Christodoulos Paraskevaidis in the northern province of
Xanthi in 1939. Ordained a deacon in 1961 and a priest in 1965, he was
elevated to metropolitan in 1974. Unlike Serapheim, Christodoulos is considered
broad minded and more attuned to the needs of youth facing increasing pressures
including rising unemployment, drug use, AIDS, and a dissolution of the
tight nuclear family. Broader problems include a formal separation of Church
from state and relations with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, spiritual
head of the world's 350 million Orthodox.
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Both the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I and Archbishop Spyridon
of America welcomed the results of the election. "We are particularly
close with the new archbishop, we are friends," said Patriarch Bartholomew,
stressing their "strong spiritual link."
In a written statement, Archbishop Spyridon expressed that he looks
"forward to a close personal relationship with the new archbishop,
and assure him of the prayers and heartfelt warm wishes of the Holy Eparchial
Synod, the devout clergy, and the faithful of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese
of America."
Although Greece is formally secular, the Orthodox faith is the constitutionally
recognized state religion. All of Greece's nearly 15,000 clerics are civil
servants, and efforts are under way to amend the constitution early next
century to officially sever those ties. More than 90% of Greece's 10.2
million people are baptized into the Church and at least 5 million more
live abroad.
[ EKKLISIA | www.ekklisia.org/eprs-5-2.htm - May 2, 1998 ]
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