We recently wrote about the reorganization that is taking place in the Phanar and how complicated things will be between the two Elder Metropolitans: Emmanuel of Chalcedon and Dimitrios of Princes’ Islands.
It remains to be seen whether the Ecumenical Patriarch’s Phanariot experiment will be successful, by having two fanatically countervailing forces in his court.
Now that a good deal of time has passed, I estimate that we can “measure” the other three major choices he made.
We are talking about the three Archbishops: Elpidophoros of America, Nikitas of Thyateira and Great Britain, and Makarios of Australia. There is no doubt that, out of the three aforementioned, it is Archbishop Elpidophoros who has produced very impressive results in a very short time.
He had to deal with three big problems that appeared to be unresolved, however, he swiped them away in a very short time, even during the pandemic.
First and foremost, it is the issue of rescuing the Hellenic College Holy Cross in Boston, which is now getting a new momentum as a School.
A second problem that he managed to solve once and for all was the Clergy Employees’ Pension Plan of the Archdiocese of America, where a $ 65 million hole was found. Last week, this huge problem has been resolved.
(I wonder if it would be a good idea to tell Elpidophoros to advise Kyriakos Mitsotakis on the insurance system of Greece…).
A third problem that is about to be resolved is the completion of Saint Nicholas Orthodox Church and National Shrine in Ground Zero, which the Ecumenical Patriarch himself will probably visit in the fall as part of his visit to the USA.
Elpidophoros managed to complete the three Sisyphean tasks with quick moves. It seems that you do not need a lot.
As long as the leader inspires trust, finds support from key people and places them in the right position by combining their skills, this is what it takes to find the solution. Simple maths.
Nikitas is having a hard time, Makarios is doing better
Apart from a substantial bringing together of the Orthodox flock that is regarded normal since a new hierarch, Archbishop Nikitas, is at the helm of the local Church, there is nothing new to be noted in the Archdiocese of Thyateira.
There is an approach that focuses more on theory than on substance. The Greek Cypriot Orthodox community in Great Britain has demands and is waiting for more initiatives to come.
On the contrary, the Archbishop of Australia has overcome the teething troubles and is now making moves with prudence.
The Greek Orthodox community in Australia acknowledges the new Archbishop’s ambitious efforts and he seems to become increasingly familiar with his new duties by taking on a more creative role than his predecessor.
From the column of Greek edition orthodoxtimes.gr, Melchizedek
