Metropolitan Alexios, who is serving as a member of the Holy and Great Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, speaks to Pemptousia about the Holy and Great Synod

June 6, NEW YORK – The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America has received the text of an important announcement from the Ecumenical Patriarchate about the Holy and Great Synod of the Orthodox Church, which is presented below. His Eminence Metropolitan Alexios attended this extraordinary session.

With Byzantine grandeur and splendor and with the presence of representatives of the Orthodox Patriarchates and Autocephalous Churches, His Eminence Metropolitan Panteleimon of Veroia (working and planning since 1994) consecrated the ancient Church of the Holy Apostles Peter & Paul on Sunday, June 5. This Church is a gem with its unique frescoes of many different periods spanning 400 years. His Eminence Metropolitan Alexios, representing His All-Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew, presided over the Vespers on Saturday, June 4, with Metropolitan Panteleimon earlier having transferred the sacred relics to be enshrined in the Holy Altar during the Consecration that took place on Sunday.

A website, www.orthodoxcouncil.org, provides background information on the Holy and Great Council, which will meet in Crete June 16-27

Metropolitan Alexios Shares News about Mt. Athos, the Metropolis of Atlanta, & the Holy and Great Council

Thanks to our host parish - St Demetrios in Daytona Beach - for a fantastic Oratorical Festival. Congrats to our finalists!!

Metropolitan Alexios, joined by clergy and the DRC staff, welcomed 350 faithful at our annual Pascha Picnic on Bright Saturday.

Metropolitan Alexios Spends Holy Week & Pascha on Mt. Athos

With the blessings of Metropolitan Alexios of Atlanta and Fr. Nathanael Symeonides, Director, Inter-Orthodox, Ecumenical, Interfaith and Church-World Relations, Fr. George Tsahakis served as Fr. Nathanael's proxy at this Steering Committee Meeting of Christian Churches Together (CCT), May 2-3, 2016. Topics discussed and acted upon included the upcoming 2017 Annual Convocation, the persecution of Christians in the Middle East, the potential role of CCT in promoting anti-pornography and human/sex trafficking ministries and other activities.

Pope Francis, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece, have met on the Greek island of Lesvos to demonstrate their profound concern for the tragic situation of the numerous refugees, migrants and asylum seekers who have come to Europe fleeing from situations of conflict and, in many cases, daily threats to their survival.

With our brothers, Pope Francis and Archbishop Ieronymos, we are here today to express our solidarity and support for the Greek people, who have welcomed and cared for you. And we are here to remind you that – even when people turn away from us – nevertheless “God is our refuge and strength; God is our help in hardship. Therefore, we shall not be afraid” (Ps 45: 2-3).