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[ July 1997 ]

An Open Letter
to Archbishop Spyridon
and the People of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America

Your Eminence,

We, the undersigned students of Hellenic College and Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, wish it to be known that we pledge our unequivocal support and obedience to you in all your dealings with our School. We acknowledge that your recent actions are not motivated by any single issue but by a long history of administrative problems. Those of us who witnessed the academic stagnation, administrative inefficiency and abuse, as well as political infighting this past year, know that these actions were long overdue. Our beloved School could not have continued along that course for another year.

We are deeply saddened by the actions of a few members of our community in fabricating and disseminating falsehoods which have distorted your motives by linking them to a single, alleged episode in the life of the School. These people have manipulated the media into becoming their unwitting accomplices in order to further their own personal agendas.

We wish to be heard because we are tired of being spoken for. We wish to be heard lest our silence be construed as an approval of your detractors. We wish to be heard because in the balance hangs our future and the future of the entire Greek Orthodox Church in America. We are a Church with a 2,000 year old history, founded by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and the Apostles, we did not become what we are today by appeasing every dissident or accommodating every trend that came along during those 2,000 years.

We pray that God give you the strength to remain steadfast, just as Saint Mark of Ephesus remained steadfast in the face of so-called learned people. We are confident that when the complete truth is known, these difficulties will pass and we will embark upon a new millennium with great hope for the future of Orthodoxy in America.

As your spiritual children, we look to you to guide and protect us from those who would harm our spiritual mother, the Church. We trust that the Holy Spirit will guide you and bless you with discernment in undertaking your task as our spiritual father.

Εις πολλά έτη, Δέσποτα!

John C. Katsoulis
Demetrios E. Tonias, P.E.
Michael G. Monos
Kyriakidis Vasileios
Anastasopoulos Theodoros
Timothy Robinson
Andrew Tsikitas
Daryle Lamoureux
J. Michael Diavatis
Zisis Nterekas
Paul W. Keriotis
Gus Liadis
Timothy Krantz
Earl Cantos, Jr.
Carol Cantos
Evan C. Lambrou

[ ALITHEIA-ΑΛΗΘΕΙΑ | www.alitheia.org/EV-HC.HTM  -  July {_}, 1997 ]