Leadership 100 shares in the joy of all the faithful in the announcement by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of the election of Metropolitan Elpidophoros of Bursa as the new Archbishop of America to succeed our beloved Archbishop Demetrios. Please read as follows:

ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHATE

Announcement of May 11, 2019

Today, Saturday May 11, 2019, the Holy and Sacred Synod, continuing its work, proceeded to fill the vacated seat of the Archdiocese of America following the voluntary resignation of its shepherd, His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios Geron of America.
Therefore, following the suggestion, permission and exhortation of His-All Holiness, the holy synodical members upon invocation of the Holy Spirit, duly casted their votes and unanimously elected as Archbishop of America His Eminence Metropolitan Elpidophoros of Bursa, Abbot of the Holy Monastery of the Holy Trinity in Halki and Professor of the Theological School of the Aristoteleian University of Thessaloniki.

From the Secretariat of the Holy and Sacred Synod

Archbishop-elect Elpidophoros

As faithful Greek Orthodox, the members of Leadership 100 welcome our new Archbishop as our spiritual leader and as a supporting organization of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, pledge our full support and cooperation in advancing the goals, National Ministries and institutions of our beloved Church in America.

Argyris Vassiliou
Chairman

Archbishop-elect Elpidophoros

Archbishop-elect Elpidophoros was born in 1967 in Bakirköy, Istanbul.  He studied at the Department of Pastoral Theology, Theological School of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, from which he graduated in 1991.  In 1993, he finished his postgraduate studies at the Philosophical School of the University of Bonn, Germany. He was ordained a Deacon in 1994 at the Patriarchal Cathedral and was appointed as the Codecographer of the Holy and Sacred Synod.  In 1995, he was appointed Deputy Secretary of the Holy and Sacred Synod. From 1996-1997 he studied at the Theological School of St. John the Damascene in Balamand, Lebanon, where he improved his knowledge of the Arabic language.  In 2001, the Theological School of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki proclaimed him a Doctor of Theology.  In 2004, he was invited to Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Boston, where he taught as a visiting professor for one semester.

In March 2005, at the proposal of His All-Holiness, he was promoted by the Holy and Sacred Synod to the position of Chief Secretary and was ordained to the priesthood by the Ecumenical Patriarch in the Patriarchal Cathedral. In 2009, he was unanimously elected Assistant Professor of Symbolics, Inter-Orthodox Relations and the Ecumenical Movement at the Theological School of Thessaloniki. In March 2011, he was elected Metropolitan of Bursa and in August of the same year was appointed Abbot of the Holy Patriarchal and Stavropegial Monastery of the Holy Trinity on the island of Halki.  He has served as the Orthodox Secretary of the Joint International Commission for the Theological Dialogue between the Orthodox Church and the Lutheran World Federation and as a member of the Patriarchal delegations to the General Assemblies of the Conference of European Churches and the World Council of Churches. He was the Secretary of the Pan-Orthodox Synods in Sofia (1998), Istanbul (2005), Geneva (2006), and Istanbul (2008). He has been a member of the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches since 1996.