Before an appreciative audience on the evening of Friday, July 31, 2026, Dr. Anthony J. Limberakis, National Commander of the Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, received the AHEPA Archbishop Iakovos Humanitarian Award, which honors those who dedicate themselves to the betterment of human and civil rights and religious freedoms for people suffering under tyranny and oppression.
AHEPA, the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association, is the oldest and largest grassroots association of Hellenes and Philhellenes worldwide. AHEPA’s Supreme President, Archon Emmanuel Chris Kaitson, presented this prestigious award before a full house at the Grand Banquet of the AHEPA Supreme Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The Hon. B. Theodore Bozonelis, National Vice Commander of the Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, offered a thoughtful and informative introduction of Dr. Limberakis.
In his own remarks at the event, Dr. Limberakis stated: “To receive an award bearing the name of Archbishop Iakovos — here in Philadelphia, the cradle of American liberty — humbles me beyond words.” He recounted Archbishop Iakovos’ courageous stand with Dr. Martin Luther King for civil rights and human dignity, pointing out that while “hundreds of clergy answered Dr. King’s call to Selma,” Archbishop Iakovos “stood apart: he was the only head of an entire church in America who came and marched. His advisers begged him not to go; there were threats against his life. He went anyway. ‘I came,’ he said, ‘to show our willingness to continue this fight against prejudice, bias, and persecution.’”
Dr. Limberakis recounted that “eleven days later, that image — Martin Luther King and Archbishop Iakovos, side by side — appeared on the cover of Life magazine. A Greek immigrant who had known religious persecution firsthand in Imbros, showed all of America what moral courage looks like.”
Turning to the present day, Dr. Limberakis observed that “Just as Archbishop Iakovos, by his presence in Selma, proclaimed his support for human rights and the principle that all men are created equal, so the Archons raise the world’s awareness of persecution wherever it is found: the Turkish government’s treatment of the Ecumenical Patriarchate — our Mother Church denied legal personality, the Theological School of Halki shuttered since 1971; the Chinese Communist Party’s persecution of the Uyghur people; the slaughter of Christians in Nigeria; and the Taliban’s brutal subjugation of the women and girls of Afghanistan among so many injustices the Archons call out.”
Dr. Limberakis emphasized that “Religious freedom is not a Greek issue, nor a Christian one, nor even an American one. It is a human issue. Injustice anywhere is still a threat to justice everywhere. Archbishop Iakovos did not stand safely on the sidelines — he walked. And when history calls us — and it is calling now — May God grant that we too, have the courage, to walk.”
Read the entirety of Dr. Limberakis’ inspiring remarks HERE.
During the evening, AHEPA Past Supreme President Archon George G. Horiates, Esq., the evening’s superlative Master of Ceremonies, indicated to Dr. Limberakis that he and his beloved wife Lisa were becoming FOUNDERS of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew Foundation, joining current and just re-elected AHEPA Supreme President Chris Kaitson as FOUNDERS and numerous other AHEPANS from the United States and Canada.
Watch a Video Honoring Dr. Limberakis…
