NEW YORK – His Beatitude Metropolitan Epiphanios of Kiev and All Ukraine was honored as the 2019 recipient of the Athenagoras Human Rights Award. The Award was presented by the Order of Saint Andrew, Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, at the organization’s annual banquet on October 19 at the New York Hilton Hotel.
Archon Michael Psaros gave the welcoming remarks at the event and introduced the speakers. The first greeting was given by Archon Ekdikos John Halecky Jr., and the event was co-ordinated by Archon Ekdikos John Zavitsanos.
In his speech, the National Commander of the Order of Saint Andrew the Apostle, Dr. Anthony J. Limberakis, referred to the issue of religious freedom in the shadow of the major ecclesiastical theme raised by the proclamation of the Autocephaly of the Ukrainian Church.
His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in his message noted that “the Ecumenical Patriarchate also considered that there was a moral obligation and responsibility to give autocephaly to the sacred and historical Church of Ukraine.”
“The Church operates under the rule of freedom, love and unity,” said Patriarch Bartholomew, and expressed the belief that “Ukraine’s freedom and independence followed canonically and lawfully the direction of the faithful and its communities, which have every right to a Church that responds to their ecclesiastical and cultural roots.”
His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America attended the annual dinner for the first time as head of the Greek Orthodox Church in America and emphasized that “the occasion is in honor of Metropolitan Epiphanios, especially important to him, as he stands for the particular spiritual significance of the Ukrainian Church and Kiev as an Orthodox spiritual center.”
Archbishop Elpidophoros, continued, addressing Metropolitan Epiphanios: “The restoration of most of the Orthodox Christians in Ukraine and the subsequent founding of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which came out of its own internal processes, which you have chosen to lead, and the Autocephaly received from the Ecumenical Patriarchate is an achievement. For that, you deserve our congratulations and we declare you, Axios (Worthy).”
In his speech, Metropolitan Epiphanios noted that he accepted the award as a representative of millions of Ukrainian Orthodox, in Ukraine and the Diaspora.
“If this Prize were exclusively for me, I would hesitate to accept it, as I do not consider myself worthy to be among these prominent people and organizations who have been honored over the last thirty years. However, I will accept it with gratitude, not as a personal reward for myself, but as the fruit of the work of hundreds of thousands – or even millions – of Orthodox Ukrainians, both in our country and in the Diaspora,” said Metropolitan Epiphanios, who spoke in his native language.
During the event, Archon Skevophylax Constantine Caras announced the names of the new members of the Order, who were recognized and applauded by the audience.
Also present at the event were His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios, formerly of America, Rep. Carolyn Maloney, Consul General of Greece in New York Konstantinos Koutras, Consul of Greece Lana Zochiou, Consul General of the Republic of Cyprus Alexis Phedonos-Vadet, Permanent Representative of Greece to the UN Ambassador Maria Theofili and her counterpart from the Republic of Cyprus Ambassador Andreas Mavroyiannis, Metropolitan Alexios of Atlanta, and New York State Assemblymember Nicole Malliotakis, among many others.
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