NEW YORK – The Holy Eparchial Synod of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America convened for their regular fall meeting, October 15-16, for the first time under the presidency of His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America.
Metropolitan Nicholas of Detroit was absent from the meeting, where the Synod discussed and made decisions on several important issues. As was reported in an official announcement of the Archdiocese, the Synod:
“1) Decided on the reorganization of the Synodal Committees as follows:
- A) Committee on Canonical Matters presided by His Eminence Metropolitan Methodios of Boston.
- B) Committee on Liturgical Texts presided by His Eminence Metropolitan Methodios of Boston.
C)Committee on Ecclesiastical Music presided by His Eminence Metropolitan Evangelos of New Jersey.
- D) Committee on Holy Monasteries presided by His Eminence Metropolitan Alexios of Atlanta.
- E) Committee on Inter-Orthodox Relations presided by His Eminence Savas of Pittsburgh.
- F) Committee on Ecumenical Dialogue presided by His Eminence Methodios of Boston.
- G) Committee on Clergy Benefits presided by His Eminence Isaiah of Denver.
2) Deliberated on clergy disciplinary matters in the second degree and decided to extend a formal request to the Ecumenical Patriarchate to laicize three clergymen.
3) Examined the petitions of three clergymen who have requested to enter into holy matrimony in the second instance and decided to formally extend a request to the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
4) Instituted a special Synodal Committee presided by His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America to organize and oversee the celebration of the 200-year anniversary of the Greek Revolution in 1821.
5) Established a special Synodal Committee presided by His Grace Bishop Apostolos of Medeia to organize and oversee the festivities for the centennial anniversary of the inception of the Sacred Archdiocese of America in 1922.
6) Following a proposal of the Archbishop for the purpose of electing an Auxiliary Bishop, formulated a three-person (triprosopon) candidacy list of clergy eligible for the elevation to the holy episcopacy based on the approved list of eligible candidates ratified by the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
7) Was given an update by His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America regarding the progress of the reconstruction of the Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine at the World Trade Center.
8) Was informed of the resignations of George Tsandikos and Cathy Bouffides-Walsh and the subsequent appointments of John Catsimatidis and Theodore Bozonelis for the Archdiocesan Council positions of Vice Chairman and Secretary, respectively.
9) Was informed of the appointment of Rev. Fr. Andreas Vithoulkas as the new Chancellor of the Holy Archdiocese.
10) Was informed of the appointment of Rev. Fr. Nicolas Kazarian as the new Ecumenical Officer.
11) Was informed by the Rev. Fr. Earl Cantos on the significance of the new youth protection protocols and procedures.
12) Was informed by the Rev. Fr. James Paris regarding the condition of the clergy pension plan.
13) Decided that on the Sunday of Orthodoxy, every Metropolis of the Archdiocese will hold an Archieratical Concelebration with the local hierarchs of all Orthodox jurisdictions.
14) Decided to encourage the participation of as many choirs as possible for the Christmas-themed concert to be held in conjunction with the representatives of the Oriental Orthodox Churches in Tenafly, New Jersey, on December 8, 2019.
15) Gladly accepted the recommendation of the Executive Committee of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America to convene their next meeting in Washington, D.C., May 2-5, 2020. And, finally,
16) Decided on the more frequent assembly of the Holy Eparchial Synod and designated the schedule and locations for the upcoming meetings.
From the Office of the Chief-Secretary of the Holy Eparchial Synod.”
The National Herald has learned that the atmosphere during this first Synodic meeting under Archbishop Elpidophoros was generally good, except for the first day when two hierarchs, Metropolitan Methodios of Boston and Evangelos of New Jersey, in the beginning exhibited behavior towards the Archbishop that ranged from icy to hostile – but eventually they calmed down.
The reason for their unbecoming behavior was the fact that the Archdiocese renovated the Synodic Room, which was only actually used twice a year for the Synodic meetings, converting it into an apartment so that Archbishop Elpidophoros can live at Archdiocesan headquarters in in a dignified manner. Methodios and Evangelos argued that it is insulting to the statute of the Holy Synod to transform the Synodic Room into an apartment. Archbishop Elpidophoros, schooled them, however, by pointing out that the Statute of the Synod is one thing and the place, the room, is another. It should be noted here that since his arrival in New York in June Archbishop Elpidophoros has lived in a small apartment at the Archdiocese since the house of the late Archbishop Iakovos, which was situated in a most prominent area of Rye, NY, at the entrance of the Country Club, and which was designated for the Archbishop of America, was sold by former Archbishop Demetrios and his administration with the consensus of the members of the Eparchial Synod, most of whom continue to be Synodic members today, and with the approval of the Archdiocesan Council. The house was sold for $3.0 million dollars when the Real Estate Market was at its lowest point. Eight hundred thousand dollars was used for repairs to the roof of the Archdiocese and the remainder, $2.2 million, is nowhere to be found. No accountability was ever given for how it was used and to the best of the knowledge of TNH no mention of its was made in any financial report at Clergy Laity Congresses.
One of the above mentioned hierarchs, specifically Methodios, lives in a fine house belonging to the Metropolis in the Chestnut Hill area of Boston with all expenses paid by the Metropolis. Evangelos has chosen to live in his own apartment in New York; his Metropolis Headquarters in Westfield New Jersey is a prominent well-furnished building and it also has living facilities.
Fr. Nicholas Kastanas whom Metropolitan Methodios ousted from the St. Athanasios parish in Arlington, MA almost two and one half years ago and placed in liturgical suspension, has filed for ‘ekliton’ (supreme final appeal) to Archbishop Elpidophoros as the First Ecclesiastical Authority of our Church in America. It is emphasized here that the continuation of the suspension of Fr. Kastanas is against the Canon Law of the Church.
It became known from the reports given to the Synod that the contributions of the Metropolis of Boston are the lowest among all the Metropolises for all of its obligations to the Archdiocese, including the monthly contributions of the parishes and its contributions to the pension fund of the clergy – and its Philoptochos didn’t even send a representative to a recent meeting of the National Philoptochos of the Archdiocese.
Metropolitan Nathanael informed the Synod of the recent decision of the local Clergy Laity Congress of the Metropolis of Chicago to sell the existing Headquarters of the Metropolis, which was established decades ago and in which the late Metropolitan Iakovos lived all the years he was Metropolitan of Chicago.
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