In the city of St. Catharine’s, which neighbours Niagara Falls, the Clergy Laity Assembly of the Holy Archdiocese of Canada was held from Friday, June 28 to Wednesday, July 3, 2024, at the Holiday Inn Hotel, which is owned by the five Nitsopoulos brothers. This was the first Clergy Laity Assembly in five years because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
From the Greek Orthodox Communities, 117 representatives, including priests, participated in the Clergy-Laity Assembly. Ninety-two representatives participated from the Philoptochos Chapters, and 155 young men and women participated from MetYouth.
The Assemblies began and ended with Holy Services. Four Divine Liturgies were celebrated, led by Archbishop Sotirios, with three priests concelebrating in three of them; the fourth Divine Liturgy, which took place at the Church of St. Catherine’s, was led by Archbishop Sotirios, with the participation of Bishop Bartholomew of Kerama (Bishop Athenagoras of Patara was absent due to illness) along with 44 clergymen. The parish was filled with delegates from the Assemblies and devout Christians from the area.
The MetYouth Assembly was led by Fr. Timoleon Prattas and Fr. Nikodimos Kontogiorgakis.
Archbishop Sotirios presided over the sessions of the Philoptochos Sisterhood and the Communities, as always. Archbishop Sotirios has always believed that the Church is a family and should act with the spirit of a true Hellenic-Christian family. This spirit prevailed in all the Assemblies throughout their duration. The President of the Archdiocesan Council of Philoptochos Sisterhood is Zoe Veroutis.
An example of the wonderful cooperation and excellent spirit is the following: currently, the annual salary of priests begin at $62,000 and increase by $1,000 per year. In the Communities Assembly, Archbishop Sotirios proposed that due to the prevailing inflation, priests’ salaries should start at $65,000 or $68,000 and increase by $1,000 annually for up to 10 years. Vanikiotis, President of the Ottawa Community – the capital of Canada – took to the floor and proposed that Priests’ salaries in Communities should start at $68,000 annually. The proposal was seconded, discussed, and unanimously voted upon. This shows the spirit that prevailed.
There was also a meeting of the Ecumenical Patriarchate Archons in Canada with good participation and excellent success.
The theme of the year was: “Faith is the substance of things hoped for” (Heb. 1:11), and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew sent an inspired message which was read in both Greek and English.
Sincere appreciation and thanksgiving were expressed to the Greek Orthodox Community of St. Catherine who: a) arranged for a chapel to be set up in the hotel; organized three official meals-dinners with hundreds of attendees and covered all expenses .
All the sessions began and ended with prayer. At the end of the sessions (MetYouth, Philoptochos, and Communities), the polychronion of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew was always chanted.
Archbishop Sotirios expressed his thanks and gratitude to all the delegates. On behalf of all, he expressed gratitude to Ecumenical Patriarch for his inspired message. With much faith and humility, on behalf of all, he thanked and glorified the Triune God for His many blessings to all our Communities, the Orthodox Greeks of Canada, and our Assemblies.
