Dear Brother Archons and Friends of the Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate,
Χριστός Ανέστη! Christ Is Risen!
Maria joins me and the entire Archon Family in congratulating Father Alex, our beloved Spiritual Advisor, for receiving a much-deserved Honorary Doctorate degree from his alma mater Hellenic College / Holy Cross School of Theology at the 83rd commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 17, 2025.
We salute Father Alex and his Presbytera Xanthi for an extraordinary ministry of profound diakonia to the worldwide Spiritual Center of Orthodoxy, the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople and the oikoumene at large.
Please go to timestamp 1:44:36 to view the Father Alex presentation and his inspirational acceptance remarks in this video. Truly, both the content and delivery of his priestly reflections are uplifting!
As we Archons are fully aware, Father Alex has served the Church, the nation (both in the United States and in our Πατρίδα) and the world at large for over five decades. His devotion to our Lord and Savior, his selfless and passionate execution of the key leadership roles he has been given, including as Vicar General of the Archdiocese, Archon Spiritual Advisor, advisor to Leadership 100, the FAITH Endowment, and the Hellenic Initiative, as well as serving as the Church’s liaison with public figures and institutions, has suffused everything he has done.
Father Alex’s service as Spiritual Advisor of the Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate has been indispensable. He was instrumental in the creation of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew Foundation, a watershed initiative of the Archons to ensure that the Ecumenical Patriarch can perform his worldwide spiritual mission in perpetuity. Father Alex and Presbytera Xanthi also received the Athenagoras Human Rights Award in 2018.
Through it all, from presidents to royalty to landscapers and parishioners, he is simply and affectionately known as Father Alex. He played an indispensable role in the creation and resurrection of the Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine at Ground Zero, the establishment of the Dormition Church in the Hamptons, and the Camp David Interfaith Chapel. Father Alex was also instrumental in the restoration of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. His work has justly earned international plaudits, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, bestowed by President Joe Biden in 2022.
As a brother PK (priest’s kid), I take special pride in every honor bestowed upon Father Alex, and continue to be delighted that he to receives national and international recognition for his tireless labor for God and His Church. Among the Archons, we have known for decades what a treasure Father Alex is, and it is gratifying that the whole world knows, as well.
We congratulate His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America; HCHC President Dr. Demetrios Katos; Mrs. Helen Carlos, who also received an Honorary Doctorate; the Board of Trustees; and graduating students and seminarians.
AXIOI! AXIOI! AXIOI!
In the service of the Great Church of Christ,
Anthony J. Limberakis, MD
Archon Megas Aktouarios
National Commander
