OCF leaders, HCHC students pursue Orthodox unity A roundtable discussion involving national leaders and students convened in Brookline, MA, on the evening of Nov. 5.

orthodoxobserver.org/eastern-orie...

Abp. Elpidophoros looks to future on Eastern-Oriental Orthodox dialogue Archbishop Elpidophoros offered a hopeful outlook on future dialogue between the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Churches.

orthodoxobserver.org/archbishop-e...

Department of Information Technology promotes cybersecurity essentials The Department of Internet Technology issued a set of guidelines promoting cybersecurity for parishes and faithful.

The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America prioritizes the cybersecurity of our communities and parishioners. Here are four essential actions you, our fellow parishioners, and parishes can take to enhance security ⬇️

orthodoxobserver.org/department-o...

Fr. Spiro was a featured speaker at the U.S. Attorney General’s Human Trafficking Summit, a gathering of national leaders dedicated to eradicating human trafficking across the country.

Read about the summit here: www.goarch.org/-/fr.-peter-...

📸 FREEDOM Ministry

This past week, His Eminence visited Chios, a Greek island facing intense wildfires. There he spoke to residents, officials, and the firefighters.

Read about the visit here: www.goarch.org/-/archbishop...

📸 OO/Dimitrios Panagos

On August 24, parishes across the Archdiocese will celebrate College Student Sunday, a day to offer prayers for our college students and work to ensure that they each have a spiritual home away from home.

Read about it: goarch.org/-/css-25

📸 courtesy of OCF

The OCPM urges Orthodox Christians not to see incarceration as a distant, abstract policy concern, but as a pastoral and spiritual reality already present in our parishes.

Read the full article here: www.goarch.org/-/-you-are-n...

📸courtesy of the OCPM

From Camp Saint Paul to the streets of Hamilton Heights, New York, this week’s generosity and stewardship extended far beyond campgrounds.

Read about the week at the camp here: www.goarch.org/-/camp-saint...

📸 courtesy of Fr. Elias Villis

We’ve highlighted the events that will be open to the public during Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew’s U.S. visit in September.

Refer to them here: www.goarch.org/-/ep-public-...

📸 by OO/Brittainy Newman

Today, on the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, we are reminded that millions are enslaved in our time. Scripture exhorts us: “Speak out for those who cannot speak” (Proverbs 31:8). As Orthodox Christians, we cannot remain silent.

Join us: freedom.goarch.org
#EndTrafficking #FaithInAction

On July 20, 2025, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew condemned an Israeli attack on a church in Gaza.

Read His All-Holiness’s statement here: www.goarch.org/-/ecumenical...

📸 OO/Brittainy Newman

Now that the IOCC’s repairs are completed, 212 students and staff in Uganda are back to school.

Read the full article, including an update on the IOCC’s other projects in the region here: goarch.org/-/after-iocc-r…

📸 courtesy of International Orthodox Christian Charities

On July 8, His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew met over 80 children from Ukraine. His All-Holiness addressed them with compassionate words.

Read the @OrderStAndrew’s statement about the moment here: goarch.org/-/ecumenical-p…

📸 courtesy of Archons

Archbishop Elpidophoros met with a delegation from the Greek Orthodox Community of Antioch who expressed profound gratitude for the GOA’s support of earthquake survivors in Turkey.

Read about the meeting here: goarch.org/-/antiochian-d…

“The day and memory are bitter.” His Eminence @elpidophoros.goarch.org issued an encyclical on the Day of Remembrance of the Hagia Sophia.

Read the full message here: www.goarch.org/-/hagia-soph...

📸 by OO/Brittainy Newman

The pilgrims spent the day in the ancient city of Nicaea. Follow them as they walk in the footsteps of the First Ecumenical Council’s attendees, including Emperor Constantine the Great:

www.goarch.org/-/pilgrims-r...

📸 OO/Brittainy Newman

Today’s emotional pinnacle for the New Rome pilgrims was a visit to the Hagia Sophia—once the Great Church of Christendom, now transformed into a mosque.

Read about the history and the pilgrims’ experience here: goarch.org/-/hagia-sophia…

📸 OO/Brittainy Newman

Yesterday, Archbishop Elpidophoros of America presided over from the Patriarchal throne, which His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew noted as a particular joy.

Read about the pilgrims’ first day in Istanbul here: www.goarch.org/-/he-patriar...

📸: OO/Brittainy Newman

Before departing the city, the pilgrims in Rome made one last stop at the only Greek Orthodox Church in Rome.

Read about the moment here: goarch.org/-/pilgrims-vis…

📸 by OO/Brittainy Newman

The Leadership 100 Fund, whose mission is to advance Orthodoxy and Hellenism in the U.S., has appointed Penny Panayiota Deligiannis as their new executive director, effective February 2026.

Read the full release here: goarch.org/-/leadership-1…

📸 courtesy of Deligiannis

The “From Rome to New Rome” pilgrimage began their last full day in the Eternal City at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore.

Read about the end of the pilgrimage to here: goarch.org/-/faithful-par…

📸 by OO/Brittainy Newman

Following a private morning audience with Pope Leo XIV at Castel Gandolfo, the “From Rome to New Rome” pilgrims continued their journey at the monastery of Grottaferrata.

Read about it here: goarch.org/-/following-a-…
📸 by OO/Brittainy Newman

In the words of Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras, "May this meeting be the dawn of that blessed and luminous day in which future generations, communing from the same chalice, may partake of the Holy Body and precious Blood of our Savior, and in love, peace, and unity, praise and glorify Him.”

Archbishop Elpidophoros, Cardinal Tobin, and fifty pilgrims shared a private audience this morning with His Holiness Pope Leo XIV at the Papal Palace of Castel Gandolfo.

Full article here: goarch.org/-/papal-audi...

Photos by Orthodox Observer/Brittainy Newman

The joint pilgrimage “From Rome to New Rome” spent its first full day in the Eternal City, visiting the Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano, the catacombs of San Sebastián, and St. Peter’s Basilica.

Read the full article here: goarch.org/-/faithful-par…
📸 by OO/Brittainy Newman

Today, a group of fifty Greek Orthodox, Byzantine Catholics, and Roman Catholics arrived in Rome, where they begin a joint pilgrimage entitled “Rome to New Rome.”

Read about the first day of the pilgrimage here: goarch.org/-/arrival-in-r…

📸 by Orthodox Observer/Brittainy Newman

“Following in the footsteps of giants: Archbishop Elpidophoros continues the ecumenical legacy of his predecessors.” Read about the history of @goarch.org’s joint pilgrimage below. 

📸 by Orthodox Observer/Brittainy Newman & ✍️ Ben Malian

goarch.org/-/following-in…

From the Slavic Orthodox Vicariate: His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros celebrated the opening of a new church in Hot Springs, Arkansas, named after the Mother of God “Life-Giving Spring.”

📸 courtesy of the Slavic Orthodox Vicariate

full article here: goarch.org/-/archbishop-e…

His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros is pictured surrounded by children in front of church steps, holding a bouquet of flowers.

His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros at St Markella Greek Orthodox Church in Wantagh, NY, July 13 to preside over a Divine Liturgy, the Sunday of the Holy Fathers of the Fourth Ecumenical Synod in Chalcedon.

Photo by Orthodox Observer/Dimitrios Panagos

goarch.org/-/archbishop-e…

I am heartbroken by the tragic shooting that occurred today at Richmond Road Baptist Church in Lexington, Kentucky. May our Lord, the Prince of Peace, comfort the grieving, strengthen the injured, and guide us all towards a world where no church, no house of worship, is ever touched by fear.