The Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, under the presidency of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, today, Wednesday, July 22, 2026, elected Metropolitan Apostolos of New Jersey as the new Archbishop of Canada.
The election took place at the Patriarchal Church of Saint George in the Phanar, where the members of the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate convened in session.
BIOGRAPHY
Metropolitan Apostolos of New Jersey (born Evangelos) was born in Rhodes to Ioannis and Stergia Koufalakis. He completed his general education at the Patmias Ecclesiastical School. In 1993, he was tonsured a monk at the Holy Monastery of Panagia Paramythia in Rhodes, receiving the name Apostolos. In the same year, he was ordained Deacon by the late Metropolitan Apostolos of Rhodes and, in 1996, Priest by the same Hierarch.
He studied theology at the School of Theology of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, from which he graduated in 2000. The following year, with the permission and blessing of his spiritual father, he traveled to the United States of America for further theological studies, while simultaneously serving communities of the Holy Metropolis of Boston.
In 2004, he received the degree of Master of Sacred Theology from the School of Theology of Boston University and was appointed by the then Archbishop of America, Archbishop Demetrios, as Priest-in-Charge of the historic Community of the Holy Cathedral of Saint Demetrios and Saint Catherine in Astoria, where he served with dedication and carried out a rich spiritual ministry.
In 2009, he assumed the directorship of the Cultural Center of the Holy Archdiocese in Astoria. In 2011, he was appointed Protosyncellus of the Metropolitan of San Francisco, Metropolitan Gerasimos.
In 2014, the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate unanimously elected him Bishop of Medeia, as Auxiliary Bishop to the then Archbishop of America, Archbishop Demetrios, who ordained him to the episcopacy on December 20 of the same year.
In 2018, he was appointed Chief Secretary of the Eparchial Synod of the Holy Archdiocese of America. In 2021, he was appointed by Archbishop Elpidophoros of America as Patriarchal Commissioner of the then-vacant Holy Metropolis of New Jersey, with responsibility for its liturgical and pastoral needs.
Following the favorable recommendation of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, he was unanimously elected by the Holy and Sacred Synod as Metropolitan of New Jersey on July 24, 2023.
