His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros

Remarks at Dinner with the Saint Sophia Parish Council & Foundation

March 26, 2022

Saint Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral

Los Angeles, California

Beloved Brother Metropolitan Gerasimos,

Your Graces, Bishop Spyridon and Bishop Ioannis

Dear Friend, Protopresbyter John Bakos,

Cathedral Parish Council President, Dr. Anna Yallourakis

Cathedral Foundation President, Mr. Constantine Boukidis

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ:

I am delighted to be with you this evening, for this first step in my pastoral journey through your wonderful State of California and Metropolis. I am especially pleased to commence here in the City of Angels, with you, the faithful of the historic and magnificent Cathedral of Saint Sophia, one of the most exceptional communities of Greek Orthodox Christians in the United States.

Your commitment to not only preserving the legacy of this Cathedral, but making it relevant to its immediate environs, has been a model to every Parish in America.

Twenty-five years ago, His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew presided over an Ecumenical Service at your Cathedral, and spent time in the ingenious Byzantine-Latino Quarter of Los Angeles, which has been so lovingly cultivated and nourished by Father John.

At that time, His All Holiness said the following:

“Our own Saint Sophia Cathedral, which is privileged to share in the multi-ethnic and multi-cultural interaction of the area, has been working and praying for a number of years now, with an active local citizenry. We bless and celebrate this exciting partnership and hard work in what has been officially designated by the City as, the BYZANTINE-LATINO QUARTER OF LOS ANGELES.  We recognize the power at work here, a power so great that the dreams it nourishes, can only be limited by the measure of our inner faith, and the boundaries of our imagination.  It is our spiritual foundation that defines us, and our love that moves us.”[1]

Those words were true a quarter of a century ago, and they are true today. Now, we are at the Centenary of our Archdiocese of America as the premier Eparchy of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in the Diaspora. You had your own Centennial Anniversary as a community fourteen years ago, but our mission to be that foundation grounded in the Spirit, which is moved by love, is more urgent than ever.

That is why I am so happy to be with you this weekend. Because this community excels in ways that demonstrate what it means to be the Church of Jesus Christ in the Twenty-first Century. As we commence our next one hundred years as an Archdiocese, it is vital that we find and explore new ways of being in the world, even as we are not of the world. [2]

You have provided a multilevel paradigm for inner and outer synergies of community building, of edifying the Ἐκκλησία, the Body of Christ in the world. I am especially impressed by how your Foundation and Council function as a team – true yokefellows in the Lord, who are pulling together to advance the apostolate of Saint Sophia. [3]

As this Centennial Year of our Archdiocese goes forward, I pray that our National Church will take many lessons from Saint Sophia, because the evidence of your success and spiritual prosperity is quite abundant.

Thank you for you welcome to Los Angeles and for your Abrahamic hospitality.

You have gifted me with the best foot forward for my sojourn here in California.

May the Lord bless us all!

 

 

 

 

[1] Cf. John 17: 15-16.

[1] Cf. Philippians 4:3.