Dear Brother Archons and Family and Friends of the Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate:

Let all people of good will rejoice in the birth of our Lord and Savior!

On Christmas day, our merciful and loving God gives us the greatest gift of all, Life Eternal, as we Glorify the Lord of lords and King of kings (1 Timothy 6:15-16). And we in turn present one another with gifts to celebrate this ineffable gift, let us call to mind some of the countless gifts and superabundant blessings He has bestowed upon us during the eventful and productive year of 2024.

Above all, on this Christmas day we are grateful to our Lord and His All-Holy Mother for the continuing gift of our worldwide spiritual father, His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, who is now in the thirty-fourth year of his extraordinary global ministry as Ecumenical Patriarch, the longest ever in the history of Christianity. His profound, prophetic and pastoral voice has been a gift to the Holy Orthodox Church and to the world at large for nearly three and a half decades now; let us give thanks unto the Lord for being blessed to witness and participate in his historic diakonia.

We also give thanks to the Lord for the gift He has bestowed upon us in the five years of the sacred ministry of His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros as Archbishop of America and Exarch of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, as he has worked so tirelessly to enhance the ministries of the Archdiocese of America, and to strengthen the faith of Orthodox Christians all over the nation.

Almighty God, in His immeasurable love for all human beings, has also given us the gift of the spiritual guidance of the venerable Metropolitans of the Holy Eparchial Synod, and of the wisdom of our beloved Spiritual Advisor, the Rev. Protopresbyter Father Alexander Karloutsos, as well as that of all our beloved parish priests under the jurisdiction of the Holy Mother Church. We thank God for their presvyteras and families that sustain them as they provide pastoral care for the growth and continued health of God’s Holy Church in America.

I wish to express my profound appreciation for the gifts you have given to the Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate this year: all the time each and every one of you has devoted, the talents you have offered, and the treasure you have lovingly and sacrificially given in order to protect the future of faith and support the Sacred See of Constantinople. The devotion that you and your families have to our Holy Mother Church is a tremendous gift to the Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Church in this nation and around the world.

Looking back on this busy year’s events, we see so very many gifts which our loving God bestowed upon us. To considerable acclaim, we held our Fourth International Religious Freedom Conference in Athens. The very first Global Summit of Archons from America, Greece, Europe, Canada and Australia, in accordance with the guidance of His All-Holiness, was likewise a notable success. We honored the outstandingly courageous Russian dissident Yulia Navalnaya with the Athenagoras Human Rights Award. We raised awareness of the global ministry, as well as the plight, of His All-Holiness with the inaugural National Archon Sunday and the inception of the Archon Sprout Program.

As we enter the New Year 2025, we face the challenges that it is certain to bring with hope and trust in the Lord, and above all with renewed determination to do all that we can to defend and strengthen God’s Holy Church and the sacred Center of our Orthodox Faith. Let us each take a moment to recommit ourselves prayerfully to protecting the future of faith, consonant with our Patriarchal offikia in support of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, whose guiding light shines brilliantly from the Phanar under the spiritual leadership of His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.

Maria and I and our children and grandchildren wish our brother Archons and their beloved families, as well as all who value our global ministry to support and defend the Ecumenical Patriarchate, a most joyous and deeply blessed Christmas.

Yours in the joyous and resolute defense of our Holy Mother Church,