By A. Antzoulatos
The Department of Inter-Orthodox, Ecumenical, and Interfaith Relations is one of the most public-facing ministries of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.
Working creatively within the Orthodox tradition, the Department cultivates relationships between the Archdiocese-at-large, the Archbishop, and individual Archdiocesan departments and other faith-based organizations and faith groups, academic institutions, and NGOs for the progress of shared goals and values.
The Department works closely with the Office of the Archbishop to organize critical meetings between Archbishop Elpidophoros of America and interfaith leaders. In May 2022, for example, the Archbishop met with King Abdullah II of Jordan, whose government maintains custodianship of the Holy Sites in Jerusalem; and earlier in March, he met with Melissa Rogers, the Executive Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, in Washington, DC. When Archbishop Elpidophoros leads interfaith prayer services, the Ecumenical Department similarly coordinates the participation of interfaith leaders and organizations.
All in all, the Department has a lot under its belt; it’s charged with engaging both the local and global, the practical and the theoretical of Orthodox theology and tradition. As the Rev. Protopresbyter Nicolas Kazarian, Director of the Department, put it, “[Our] Department draws upon the Church’s spirit of outreach from within to engage with the world…in an ethos of dialogue and solidarity.”
Read more about the Department’s collaborative partnerships with the Assembly of Bishops, the United Nations, museums, and other cultural and academic institutions, as well as its ongoing work on creation care and racial reconciliation — just visit http://www.goarch.org/…/orthodox-ethos-of-dialogue…
Source: Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
