The Order of Saint Andrew the Apostle, Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, has had a remarkable impact over the last 24 years upon the ability of the Holy Mother Church of Constantinople to fulfill its sacred mission in perpetuity: its direct and indirect support of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in that span has amounted to a staggering $53.28 million.

 

According to a detailed report requested by National Commander Limberakis who wished to quantify the Order's diakonia, and prepared by the Order’s Assistant Treasurer, Archon Andreas Comodromos, CPA, the Order has donated a staggering $33,280,000 in various initiatives benefiting the Ecumenical Patriarchate which includes the full gamut of the Archons' domestic and international religious freedom programming (documentation available upon request). This inspiring show of love and devotion to the Holy Center of our Orthodox Faith has manifested itself in a wide variety of different forms, direct donations and funds collected at the Order’s annual Athenagoras Human Rights Award Banquets and Archon Weekends.

The Order’s dedicated generosity toward the Ecumenical Patriarchate has also been on abundant display at its Religious Freedom Missions to Turkey, the nations holding the presidency of the European Union, and the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France, as well as at meetings of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Warsaw, Poland; the three Archon International Religious Freedom Conferences, which were held at the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium; Berlin, Germany; and Washington, D.C., respectively.

 

Nor does the support end there. The Order of Saint Andrew the Apostle assumed significant expense involved in the Holy and Great Council of Crete in 2016, as well as of the Apostolic Visitations to the United States by His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.

 

In addition to all this, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew Foundation, a watershed initiative of the Order of Saint Andrew, has raised $20 million for the Ecumenical Patriarchate since its founding in 2019. The mission of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew Foundation is to grant economic independence to the Ecumenical Patriarchate so that it may fulfill its apostolic mission in perpetuity. Founding Members of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew Foundation have committed to ensuring the financial foundation of the Holy Mother Church the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople by pledging $100,000 over 10 years.

 

These direct and indirect forms of support come to the stunning grand total of $53,280,000 from 2002–2021 donated by the Order of Saint Andrew the Apostle for the benefit of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

Dr. Anthony J. Limberakis, National Commander of the Order, stated: “‘Glory to God for all things,’ in the words of St. John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople. I am extremely humbled and grateful to God for this extraordinary outpouring of generosity by the Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. This massive display of support is vivid testimony to the Archons’ keen awareness of the importance of the Holy Mother Church to our Holy Faith; we all give thanks to the Lord Jesus and His All-Holy Mother that they have blessed us with the ability to come to the aid of God’s Church in this way.”

 

For further information about the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew Foundation, see bartholomew.foundation. For further information about the Order of Saint Andrew the Apostle, Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, see archons.org.