Archbishop Elpidophoros of America, on Monday morning, October 2, 2023, presided over the meeting of the priests of the Direct Archdiocesan District that took place in the community of the Holy Trinity in Hixville, Long Island.
Bishop Athenagoras of Nazianzus, the Protosyncellus of the Direct Archdiocesan Region, Fr. Elias Villis, and the priests from the communities of the Region attended the first meeting of the new ecclesiastical year.
The Direct Archdiocesan District has more than sixty communities in the states of New York, Connecticut, the capital, Washington (District of Columbia), Maryland and the Bahamas, as well as two New York monastic communities.
The host community is one of the dynamic communities of Long Island and the priests had the opportunity to talk with its hierarchical supervisor, Fr. Theofanis Papantonis, and learn about its advanced educational, catechetical, cultural and charitable programs.
At the end of the meeting, Archbishop Elpidophoros of America answered the journalists’ questions about the meeting and the agenda of the meeting.
When he was asked about the agenda of the meeting, Archbishop Elpidophoros replied: “Once again we met with the fathers of the Direct Archdiocesan District. There was nothing extraordinary about the agenda. The extraordinary thing was the meeting with the fathers. I am always proud of my priests because all – both younger and older – are people with deep faith and full devotion to the Church. They work selflessly for our Church and serve the people of God.”
Archbishop Elpidophoros also pointed out: “I think not only I as the Archbishop, but also the Protosyncellus, Fr. Elias Villis and Fr. Theofanis Papantonis, priest and head of the hosting community are proud of our priests. I think that this is the secret of the success of our parishes.”
“I thanked them for their service, we examined various issues, and we listened to the reports of the committees. I blessed them and now I send them back to the service in their communities and in their parishes,” Elpidophoros concluded.
Watch the statements of Archbishop Elpidophoros in Greek below:
Source and photos: anamniseis.net