Tag: Athenagoras Spyrou

Patriarch Athenagoras Clearly States How Autocephaly Must Be Granted

Editor's note: On Friday, Orthodox History published a 1970 letter by Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras in response to the Moscow Patriarchate's decision to grant autocephaly to the "Orthodox Church in America." After posting the letter, we received the following article by “Petrus Antiochenus.”   Today, the Ecumenical Patriarchate is on the...

1970 Letter from Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras on Autocephaly

Editor's note: In 1970, the Patriarchate of Moscow issued a Tomos of Autocephaly to its former archdiocese in North America, which was commonly known as the "Russian Metropolia" and is now the "Orthodox Church in America." Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras protested against this act in multiple letters to the leaders of the...

Plans for an English-speaking seminary & an Orthodox census in 1943

Back in the early 1940s, several of the Orthodox jurisdictions briefly came together to form an organization with the unwieldy name, "The Federated Orthodox Greek Catholic Primary Jurisdictions in America." That's ridiculous, so we'll just call it "the Federation." Anyway, the Federation was a precursor to SCOBA, which morphed into...

A Greek Monastery in North Carolina in 1931

In 1931, the Greek Archdiocese decided to establish a monastery in North Carolina. On October 10, 1931, a Chicago Greek newspaper, the Saloniki-Greek Press, reported this: The mixed council of the Greek Archdiocese for a long time has contemplated the feasibility of such an institution as the spiritual center for the...

Harry Truman’s Sacred Cow & Other Amazing Facts About Athenagoras

Archbishop Athenagoras Spyrou led the Greek Archdiocese of North and South America from 1930 until 1948. That year, he was elected Ecumenical Patriarch, a position he held for nearly a quarter century, until his death in 1972. Athenagoras is perhaps most famous (or, in some quarters, infamous) for his landmark...

This week in American Orthodox history (March 19-25)

March 25, 1886: The future Greek Archbishop and later Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras Spyrou was born. Athenagoras led the Greek Archdiocese from 1930 to 1948, when he was elected Patriarch of Constantinople. He served in that position for nearly a quarter-century, until his death in 1972. March 25, 1891: St. Alexis...

This week in American Orthodox history (February 20-26)

February 20, 1874: The future hieromartyr Vasily Martysz was born in Poland. He served in America -- first in Alaska, and then in Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New York, and Canada -- from 1901 to 1912. He died in 1945 and was canonized by the the Orthodox Church of Poland in 2003....

Bishop Joseph Zuk: A brief biographical overview

Joseph A. Zuk was the first Ukrainian Orthodox bishop in America, but little has been written about his life. I don't know a lot, but from the sources I've collected, we can piece together a brief biographical sketch. This isn't much, but I thought it might be worthwhile to get...

Who Will Replace Athenagoras?

Editor's note: In our continuing effort to learn more about Greek Archbishop Michael Konstantinides, we are publishing the following article by Ernest Villas, former director of the GOA Department of Religious Education. Mr. Villas died in 2006. This article is reprinted with permission from the Greek Archdiocese of America. In...

The Treasure of Archbishop Michael

Editor's note: In its nine decades of existence, the Greek Archdiocese has been served by only six primates -- Alexander, Athenagoras, Michael, Iakovos, Spyridon, and Demetrios. And 55 of those years are covered by just two men, Athenagoras and Iakovos. That pair looms large over American Orthodoxy, and an argument can...