Greek Orthodox Christians established communities and worshipped in North America from the early settlers in 1768 near St. Augustine, FL (St. Photios Shrine) and in 1864 near New Orleans, LA. The first Greek Orthodox parishes in North America were under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, which had over the centuries assumed responsibility for the diaspora communities and assigned to them their priests.

As the Greek Orthodox needs grew in North America, the needs for synodal leadership and organization were deteremined. The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America was incorporated in 1921. In 1996, the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate established three new metropolitanates, Toronto, Buenos Aires and Mexico, each having specific areas of jurisdiction. The Holy Synod's new metropolitantates also resulted in the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.

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His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros (Lambriniadis) of America was born in 1967 in Bakirköy, Istanbul. He studied at the Department of Pastoral Theology at the Theological School of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, graduating in 1991. In 1993, he completed postgraduate studies at the Philosophical School of the University of Bonn in Germany, submitting a dissertation entitled: “The Brothers Nicholas and John Mesarites.” He was ordained to the Diaconate in 1994 at the Patriarchal Cathedral and appointed Kodikographos (Scrivener) of the Holy and Sacred Synod.

In 1995, he was appointed Deputy Secretary of the Holy and Sacred Synod. From 1996-1997 he studied at the Theological School of St. John the Damascene in Balamand, Lebanon, where he advanced his knowledge of the Arabic language. In 2001, he presented a doctoral dissertation at the Theological School of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki under the title: “Severus of Antioch and the Council of Chalcedon” and was proclaimed a Doctor of Theology. In 2004, he was invited to Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Boston, where he taught as Visiting Professor for a semester.

In March 2005, at the proposal of His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, he was elevated by the Holy and Sacred Synod to the position of Chief Secretary and ordained to the priesthood by the Ecumenical Patriarch in the Patriarchal Cathedral. In 2009, he submitted two dissertations to the Theological School of Thessaloniki and was unanimously elected Assistant Professor of Symbolics, Inter-Orthodox Relations, and the Ecumenical Movement. The dissertations are entitled: “The Synaxes of the Hierarchy of the Ecumenical Throne (1951-2004)” and “Luther’s Ninety-five Theses: Historical and Theological Aspects. Text - Translation - Commentary.”

In March 2011, he was elected Metropolitan of Bursa and in August of the same year was appointed Abbot of the Holy Patriarchal and Stavropegial Monastery of the Holy Trinity on the island of Halki. He has served as Orthodox Secretary of the Joint International Commission for the Theological Dialogue between the Orthodox Church and the Lutheran World Federation and member of the Patriarchal delegations to the General Assemblies of the Conference of European Churches and the World Council of Churches. He was the Secretary of the Pan-Orthodox Synods in Sofia (1998), Istanbul (2005), Geneva (2006), and Istanbul (2008). He has been a member of the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches since 1996.

To download hi-res copies of the official portraits of His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros please follow this link. Please note that the original size of these photos is appropriate for 11"x14" printing.