Archbishop Elpidophoros, in Phoenix, Arizona, outlines plans for a Greek university and a possible new cathedral

Archbishop Elpidophoros of America laid out a long-term vision for the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America during a question-and-answer session at the 35th Annual Conference of the Archbishop Iakovos Leadership 100 Fund in Phoenix, Arizona. Speaking to Greek American leaders and philanthropists after his archpastoral address, he outlined two major goals for the next chapter of the Church’s life in America: transforming Hellenic College Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Brookline, Massachusetts, into a full university, and possibly relocating the Archdiocesan Cathedral to St. Bartholomew’s Church on Park Avenue in Manhattan.

Asked by Paulette Poulos, Executive Director of Leadership 100, about his principal visions for the Church, the Archbishop named the theological school as his foremost priority. He noted that the school is approaching its 90th anniversary and that its endowment remains smaller than the $38 million that Leadership 100 alone has granted it over 42 years. “This school is the number one priority of our Church,” he said. “We explored the idea to grow the Hellenic College Holy Cross to a university. Why not?”

To illustrate the point, the Archbishop cited the University of Balamand in Lebanon, founded in 1988 by Patriarch Ignatius IV of Antioch. He said the institution began as a seminary in a monastery in the Koura District of northern Lebanon, a rural area near the Syrian border rather than a wealthy capital, and has since grown into a university with some 15,000 students. Comparing the Boston school, he said, “we have a school for 90 years located at the educational Athens of the world, in Boston.” He added, “Let’s try to create the first Greek university in the United States,” and said the project would require careful long-term planning and the full dedication of the community, not only its leadership.

Drawing a line from the work of his predecessor, Archbishop Iakovos, the Archbishop argued that the time had come for the next major step. Archbishop Iakovos walked alongside the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma, Alabama, in 1965, and the Archbishop said that act placed the Greek Orthodox Church at the center of American public life. “He took an immigrant church and put it in the center of the American political, economic life,” he said. “Everybody now knows, after Iakovos, who the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America is.”

The Archbishop also mentioned the possibility, with the timing left open, of acquiring St. Bartholomew’s Church, the Byzantine-style Episcopal church at 325 Park Avenue between 50th and 51st Streets in Midtown Manhattan, and making it the new cathedral of the Archdiocese. He noted that the church is designated a National Historic Landmark and features richly Byzantine-inspired architecture. “In Manhattan, there are two monuments that are the monuments of Manhattan,” he said. “One is St. Patrick’s Cathedral. And the other monument in Manhattan is St. Bartholomew’s Church on Park Avenue. I think it’s time for us to move to St. Bartholomew’s.”

As outlined by the Archbishop, the plan would consolidate the Archdiocese’s institutional infrastructure. The community house adjacent to St. Bartholomew’s could become the national headquarters of the Church, and Leadership 100, which currently pays rent for its offices, could relocate there. He said the National Philoptochos Society and the Order of Saint Andrew the Apostle, Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, could also be housed there. Of the two Archdiocese-owned buildings on East 79th Street, one could be sold to help finance the acquisition, while the building containing the chapel could remain as the Archbishop’s residence. The current Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity on East 74th Street could be repurposed to expand the Cathedral School, which the Archbishop described as struggling for space. He pointed to growing demand for church-run parochial schools in Manhattan as a reason to give the school room to grow. “Symbols matter in this country and in every country,” he said. “This will make our Church one of the mainstream churches in the United States, respected and accepted by everyone.”

The proposal drew an immediate response from the floor. Anita Kartalopoulos, First Vice President of the National Philoptochos Society, said the organization had anticipated such a moment. She recalled that in 2012, at the Clergy-Laity Congress, the National Philoptochos decided to buy a building in New York City, and that $85,000 was raised from the floor in 30 minutes. “Part of that decision was that if the day comes that the entire Archdiocese is together, Philoptochos would be part of that vision,” she said. “Philoptochos thinks ahead. We’ll be there with you.” Archbishop Elpidophoros responded: “I cannot tell you how much I love Philoptochos, and we all love Philoptochos. They are silent, effective, hardworking, and they deliver. They are never in deficit.” The generosity shown in that moment reflects the practical care for others the society has long supported (Hebrews 13:16).

The session opened with a question about the widely noted influx of converts to the Orthodox faith. Archbishop Elpidophoros confirmed that the phenomenon is real, widespread, and shared by all Orthodox jurisdictions in the United States. He attributed it to the depth of the Orthodox liturgical tradition. Recalling the conversion of the Slavic peoples, he said that envoys of King Vladimir, after attending a liturgy in Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, a service they could not understand because it was in Greek, declared, “This is the place where God dwells.”

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