AJC offers its warmest wishes to His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America, who begins his tenure as leader of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, the religious fountainhead of America’s Greek Orthodox faithful and the spiritual inspiration for Greek Americans. The Enthronement of Archbishop Elpidophoros was celebrated on Saturday at the Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in New York.

“AJC and the Jewish people join with the Hellenic-American community in celebrating this auspicious moment in the Archdiocese of America’s history,” AJC CEO David Harris said. “We look forward to working with Archbishop Elpidophoros to continue and build upon the decades-long special relationship that AJC and the Archdiocese have shared.”

AJC has a long history of deep-seated reciprocal relationships with the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, the Ecumenical Patriarchate, and Orthodox Christianity more broadly. AJC’s dialogue with Orthodox Christianity has been supported by its commitment to Hellenic-Jewish relations in the United States and globally in Greece, Cyprus, and beyond.

There have been many milestones in this mutual history in the U.S., but perhaps none more emotional and instructive than the aftermath of 9/11. Within days of the destruction of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, AJC reached out to financially support the Church rebuilding effort.

Archbishop Elpidophoros succeeds Archbishop Demetrios, recipient of AJC’s Isaiah Award for Interreligious Understanding.

SOURCE: AJC, 23.6.2019