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Father Nicholas C. Papadopoulos - Papedo
Fr. Nicholas Chris Papedo was born July 14, 1949 to Chris and Tulla Papadopoulos-Papedo at St. Anthony's Hospital in
Denver, Colorado. He and his twin brother, Peter, are the youngest of six children. Fr. Nicholas attended the local
Denver schools: Steck Elementary, Hill Junior High and George Washington High School (GW).
Encouraged by his parents, he pursued leadership activities such as student government president (1963-1964), Assumption
Cathedral GOYA president (1963-64), Varsity football, and Co-Captain (along with his brother, Peter) of the wrestling team.
He also found time to sing tenor in both the Senior and Acappella choirs (Madrigal Singers) in high school and to graduate
with honors.
Fr. Papedo began college at the University of Colorado in Boulder and was pleased to continue singing in Warren Imig's
Dean's Choir (now the noted Silver and Gold Choir). He finished his undergraduate studies at the University of San Francisco
and graduated with honors with a B.A. in Psychology in 1973. While working to complete his degree, he also completed a
management training course with Victoria Station Restaurants. He managed restaurants in San Francisco, CA, Portland, OR,
Phoenix, AZ, Houston, TX and Schaumburg, IL.
On November 11, 1979, Fr. Nicholas married Lois (nee` Good) at the Assumption Cathedral in Denver. They moved to Boston,
Massachusetts and with her support, he completed his Masters in Divinity at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology.
Fr. Nicholas graduated and was ordained to the Holy Diaconate on January 22, 1984 and to the Holy Priesthood on June 9, 1984,
both at the Assumption Cathedral.
His first assignment (1984-1987) was as the assistant priest in his hometown Cathedral parish, the Assumption of the Theotokos,
with Fr. George Neofotistos as Proestamenos. When Fr. George was transferred to St. Basil's Academy, Fr. Nicholas served as
interim Dean of the Assumption Cathedral.
In 1987, Fr. Nicholas was assigned as Proestamenos of Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Boulder, Colorado. Bishop Kallistos awarded
Fr. Nicholas with the Offikion of Pnevmatikos (Father Confessor). While serving there, he was asked by the acting Chancellor of
the Diocese of Denver, Fr. Nicholas Triantafilou, to simultaneously serve as the Denver Diocesan Youth Director, which he did
from 1992-1994. During his time of service, Fr. Nicholas sponsored the OCF college chapters at the University of Colorado in
Boulder, Co. and Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado. Because of his love for singing, Fr. Nicholas also took
weekly private voice lessons with Dr. Nicholas Laurienti, director of the Assumption Cathedral choir, from 1987'1992.
In 1994, after ten years of service in the priesthood, Metropolitan Isaiah of Denver awarded Fr. Nicholas with the Offikion of
Oikonomos.
In 2000 Fr. Nicholas helped the Boulder community relocate and build its current church building. Fr. Nicholas and Presvytera
Lois also decided to build their family and adopted two children from the Hogar Rafael Ayau Orthodox Orphanage in Guatemala.
Christos Nicholas Papedo, their son, was born February 4, 1998 and was adopted January 25, 2000. Glendy Damaris Papedo, their
daughter, was born April 6, 1998 and adopted December 6, 2001.
After serving Sts. Peter and Paul for fourteen years, Fr. Nicholas accepted the position of Dean of the Holy Trinity Cathedral
in Phoenix, Arizona, and served there until March of 2002, when he was transferred back to the Metropolis of Denver and was
assigned to serve the community of St. Dionysios of Zakynthos in Overland Park, KS. On Sunday, December 17, 2006, His Eminence,
Metropolitan Isaiah of Denver bestowed the Offikion of Protopresbyter (Arch Priest) on Fr. Nicholas. As an original member of
the Greater Kansas City Orthodox Christian Brotherhood, Fr. Nicholas served as its chairperson from June of 2010 through May of 2011.
Fr. Nicholas continues to serve in the ministry of Christ our Lord, at the parish of St. Dionysios.
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His All Holiness, the Ecumencial Patriarch Bartholomew I
His All Holiness, BARTHOLOMEW, Archbishop of Constantinople, New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch is the 270th successor of the 2,000
year-old local Christian Church founded by St. Andrew. As a citizen of Turkey, Patriarch Bartholomew's personal experience provides
him a unique perspective on the continuing dialogue among the Christian, Islamic and Jewish worlds. He works to advance reconciliation
among Catholic, Muslim and Orthodox communities, such as in former Yugoslavia, and is supportive of peace building measures to diffuse
global conflict in the region.
As Archbishop of Constantinople and New Rome, Patriarch Bartholomew occupies the First Throne of the Orthodox Christian Church and
presides in a fraternal spirit among all the Orthodox Primates. The Ecumenical Patriarch has the historical and theological
responsibility to initiate and coordinate actions among the Churches of Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, Russia, Serbia, Romania,
Bulgaria, Georgia, Cyprus, Greece, Poland, Albania, The Czech Land and Slovakia, Finland, Estonia, and numerous archdioceses in the
old and new worlds. This includes the convening of councils or meetings, facilitating inter-church and inter-faith dialogues and
serving as the primary expresser of Church unity as a whole. As Ecumenical Patriarch he transcends every national and ethnic group
on a global level and today is the spiritual leader of approximately 250 million faithful world-wide.
The Greek Orthodox Church of America was founded as an Archdiocese of the Ecumenical Throne in 1922. As such, the Archdiocese of
America is an eparchy of the Ecumenical Patriarch. The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese is blessed to have as its Primate ad Patriarchal,
His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios, who was elected Archbishop in 1999 by the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
read more...
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His Eminence, Archbishop Demetrios of America
Archbishop Demetrios of America was born Demetrios Trakatellis in Thessaloniki, Greece on February 1, 1928. In 1950 he graduated with
distinction from the University of Athens School of Theology. In 1960 he was ordained a deacon, and in 1964 a priest.
He was elected Bishop of Vresthena in 1967, an auxiliary bishop to the Archbishop of Athens with the primary responsibility for the
theological education of the clergy. 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 Ph.D. "with distinction" in 1972. After receiving this degree, he returned to
his ecclesiastical position in the Archdiocese of Athens and undertook responsibilities for the theological education of the clergy,
ministry among the youth, and other duties related to theological conferences in Greece and abroad.
In 1968, he was elected Metropolitan of Attika and Megaris, but he did not accept the post for reasons related to the canonical order
of the Church and to the political conditions in Greece at that time.
Later, in 1977, he earned a second doctorate, namely a Th.D. 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,
Massachusetts. Serving as a faculty member for more than a decade, he taught many of America's Greek Orthodox clergy. He also taught
at Harvard Divinity School as Visiting Professor of New Testament during the academic years of 1984 to 1985 and from 1988 to 1989.
On August 20, 1991 the Sacred Synod of the Church of Greece elevated the then Bishop Demetrios of Vresthena to a Titular Metropolitan
of Vresthena with the simultaneous elevation of the Diocese of Vresthena to the rank of the Metropolis. After several years in the
United States, he returned to Greece in 1993 to pursue full-time scholarly writing and research. At the same time, he resumed his
responsibilities at the Archdiocese of Athens.
Elected Archbishop of America on August 19, 1999 by the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, Archbishop Demetrios was
enthroned on September 18, 1999 at the Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in New York City. He leads a church of more than one
and a half million Greek Orthodox Christians in the United States. read more...
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