Four years have passed since the enthronement of Archbishop of America Elpidophoros, a day full of emotion and hope for the future of the largest province of our Ecumenical Patriarchate, i.e. the Archdiocese of America.

As the Archbishop himself said in a post on social media, “Four years have passed since your loving and generous and warm and gracious welcome as your Archbishop.” “My heart,” he continued, “is overflowing with gratitude for each of my brothers and sisters in the Church of America, for all of you are my first thought in the morning and my last prayer at night.”

Archbishop Elpidophoros admired the Archdiocese of America from his childhood and from his years of ministry at Fanari and he arrived in the United States ready and confident to serve the Church and our Ecumenical Patriarchate, honoring the ground he treads and the rich history of, determined to face the unique challenges that exist. “I am here to listen to you, to talk and to work with you”, he had characteristically emphasized in his enthronement speech in 2019. In fact, as he had mentioned, “my prayer and my ambition is to stand before you and beside you, to lead by example and exhortation and serve you with devotion and self-sacrifice. Let us move forward together”, he had underlined, “as the body of Christ and as a body of believers, as a united Archdiocese and Church and as the great and adored province of our respected and precious Ecumenical Patriarchate”.

Listening to the advice of the experts and in cooperation with them, the Archbishop vigorously proceeded to manage and resolve issues central to the life and course of the Church, such as the stabilization of the Hellenic College and the School of Theology of the Holy Cross, in Boston, the strengthening of the pension clergy and laity program and the completion of the construction of the Holy Church of Saint Nicholas, the national pilgrimage of the United States of America, at Ground Zero in New York, the opening of which was celebrated by the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, on November 2, 2021.

Under the leadership of the Archbishop, the Provincial Synod of the Church of America effectively dealt with the unprecedented coronavirus pandemic, issuing clear instructions in a timely manner, aimed at supporting the spiritual, physical, functional and emotional health of communities. In addition, the Archdiocese of America distributed as relief aid, during this period, the amount of 700 thousand euros to all those affected by the pandemic. At the same time, Archbishop Elpidophoros served the fight for human rights and the defense of justice and reconciliation by participating with the current mayor of New York, Eric Adams, in the march for the deceased Briona Taylor in 2020 and in his demonstrations Black Lives Matter movement.

At the same time, he spoke openly about the brutal invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and collected, in cooperation with reliable partners such as international Orthodox Christian charities, more than one million dollars in humanitarian aid for our affected brothers in Ukraine. It also raised over $1 million in short-term and long-term relief aid for victims of the 2021 Euboia wildfires.

With an eye towards the future and with the same ethos of cooperation, unity and open dialogue with the members of the Provincial Synod, the clergy, the lay collaborators and all the faithful, Archbishop Elpidophoros faithfully following the directions and instructions of the Ecumenical of the Patriarchate, is working on the revised Constitution of the Archdiocese for its course in the second centenary of its life in the United States of America.

Archbishop Elpidophoros was yesterday in Portland, Oregon, where he was welcomed by Metropolitan Gerasimos of San Francisco, Bishop Phokaias Ioannis and a number of clergy and laity with a banner reading “Axios”.