New York, NY - The Academy of Athens, the preeminent intellectual institution of Greece, will hold a special session for the official induction of His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of America "as an abroad-residing member of the Academy of Athens in the Discipline of Theology in the areas of Ethics and Political Sciences."

The members of the Academy will welcome Archbishop Demetrios in a ceremony to be held Friday November 14, 2003 at 7:00 pm. Many distinguished hierarchs, politicians, academicians and other intellectuals are expected to attend the event.

Professor Gregorios Skalkeas, president of the Academy of Athens, will offer the official welcome greeting, and His Eminence Metropolitan Ioannis of Pergamos, who is also a member of the Academy, will address the assembly. Archbishop Demetrios of America will speak on the topic "I Sought Your Face (Psalm 27:8): Biblical Variations on the Theme of the Quest for God."

The unanimous election of Archbishop Demetrios to the Academy of Athens was held during the November 28, 2002 plenary session of the Academy of Athens and was ratified by a Presidential Decree of the President of the Hellenic Republic, which was published in the official Government Gazette (no. 29) of February 12, 2003.