Athenagoras Award bestowed on Archbishop Demetrios
Archbishop Demetrios of America joined a prestigious group of internationally renown personalities, such as Jimmy Carter and Mikhail Gorbachev, by receiving this year’s Athenagoras Human Rights Award, the highest distinction of the Order of St. Andrew the Apostle, at their Annual Banquet held recently in New York. National Vice Commander Nicholas J. Bouras presented the award to his Eminence, while the more than 600 participants exclaimed “Axios!”
Deputy Secretary of State John D. Negroponte, Ambassadors Alexandros Mallias and Andreas Kakouris of Greece and Cyprus respectively, members of the Order of Archons, and National Commander Anthony Limberakis were among the official guests who addressed the event and praised the Archbishop’s ministry. His Eminence “exemplifies the very elements that constitute the Athenagoras Human Rights Award – humanity, humility, holiness, compassion and leadership,” Dr. Limberakis stated. Metropolitan Nicholas of Amissos represented SCOBA (Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in America,) while some of the warmest remarks were offered by Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the Roman Catholic Archbishop Emeritus of Washington DC and a friend of the Archbishop’s. “You don’t know how lucky you are to have Archbishop Demetrios as your spiritual leader,” he pointed.
Anthony Trakatellis, member and former Vice President of the European Parliament and the Archbishop’s brother, also addressed the event, offering a more human rendering to his biography. Congressman Zack Space was the toastmaster.
At the end of ceremony the class of 2007 of the candidates for In vesture in the Order was presented.
The Athenagoras Human Rights Award was established in 1986 by the National Council of the Order of St. Andrew and is presented every year at the Annual Banquet to a person or organization which has consistently exemplified by action, purpose and dedication concern for the basic human rights and religious freedom of all people. The Award was named after one the great Church leaders of the 20th Century, the late Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Athenagoras I, who had also served as Archbishop of North and South America from 1931 to 1948.
This year also marks the 40th anniversary of the Archbishop Demetrios’ elevation to the Episcopacy, with special recognitions and honors by U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and a special tribute by President George W. Bush at the White House. “Your presence sooths my soul,” President Bush stated in saluting the occasion.
Archbishop Demetrios of America was born in Thessaloniki, Greece, and upon graduation from high school, he enrolled at the University of Athens School of Theology. He was ordained deacon in 1960, a priest in 1964 and three years later as titular Bishop of Vresthena, assisting the Archbishop of Athens.
From 1965 to 1971, on scholarship from Harvard graduate School of Arts and Sciences, he studied New Testament and Christian Origins and was awarded a PhD “with distinction”. Today he is considered an international authority on the Scriptures and in 1977 he earned a ThD in Theology from the University of Athens.
From 1983 to 1993 he served as the Distinguished Professor of Biblical Studies and Christian Origins at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Brookline, MA. He also taught at Harvard Divinity School as a Visiting Professor of New Testament during the academic years of 1984 to 1985 and from 1988 to 1989. A prolific writer, he is the author of six major books.
He was elected Archbishop of America on August 19, 1999, by the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. His leadership of compassion and service was repeatedly demonstrated, especially after the September 11 terrorist attack in New York.
