NEW YORK - The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America is pleased to announce the awarding of scholarships for the 2009-10 academic year from three scholarship programs administered by the Chancellor's Office of the Archdiocese. In spite of the current economic conditions, these scholarship funds managed to award scholarships to a variety of students from all over the United States.
The "George and Naouma Gioles Scholarship Fund" awarded scholarships to the following students: John Buscemi (Glenview, Ill.), Matthew Hyps (Seminole, Fla.), Eleftheria Lekkas (Oradell, NJ), Spyridon Mitches (Garrison, NY), Jeffrey Pedersen (Sandy, Utah), Kelly Sklavounas (North Canton, Ohio), and Peter Stultz (Grand Rapids, Mich.). This Fund was established in 1997 with a generous gift from Marian Gioles in memory of her beloved parents, to honor their commitment to their Orthodox Faith, their love of their Hellenic heritage, and their desire to help youth who are orphaned or in need. Scholarships are awarded annually to Greek Orthodox students committed to serious study in degree-earning, undergraduate programs at accredited colleges or universities in the United States, with at least one award reserved for a student pursuing a degree in journalism. This year, the journalism award went to John Buscemi from Glenview, Ill.
The "Katina John Malta Scholarship Fund" awarded scholarships to the following students: Charles Blougouras (Rochester, NH), John Buscemi (Glenview, Ill.), Eleni Cade (Des Moines, Iowa), Milan Devetak (Las Vegas, Nev.), Eleftheria Lekkas (Oradell, NJ), Spyridon Mitches (Garrison, NY), Jeffrey Pedersen (Sandy, Utah), Elizabeth Pettygrove (Pomona, Calif.), Alyssa Marie Robidoux (Natick, Mass.), Kelly Sklavounas (North Canton, Ohio), and Peter Stultz (Grand Rapids, Mich.). This Scholarship Fund was established in 2002 by Peter and Elli Paleologos through a generous gift from the estate of Katina John Malta, in recognition of the love she had for the Church and to honor her desire to help others, especially children and youth of the Orthodox Christian Faith. The scholarship is open to students from all jurisdictions of the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in America (SCOBA), reflecting the pan-Orthodox nature of this scholarship program. This year, in addition to recipients from the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, one of the recipients, Milan Devetak, is from the Serbian Orthodox Church and one student, Elizabeth Pettygrove, is from the Antiochian Orthodox Church.
The final set of scholarships, awarded from the "Paleologos Graduate Scholarship Fund", marks the third year that awards were granted from this new scholarship fund, established in 2007 by Peter and Elli Paleologos. This fund assists students enrolled in graduate studies leading to advanced degrees in academic fields other than theology. Like the Malta Scholarships, this award is open to all students of SCOBA-affiliated churches. This year, Elli Paleologos awarded six scholarships in memory of her late husband Peter, co-founder of this scholarship, who passed away in late May 2009. The recipients of the 2009-2010 Paleologos Graduate Scholarships are: Angela Glaros (Urbana, Ill.), Meredith Hutchinson (Bethlehem, Pa.), Christiana Limniatis (Albany, NY), Constandinos Tsourakis (New York, NY) and Stephanie Varvitsiotes (Danville, Calif.) all from the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, and Lillian Kishek (W. Bloomfield, Mich.) from the Antiochian Orthodox Church.
The Archdiocese and the Scholarship Committees offer congratul For the rest of this News Release, visit the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America website
Ecumenical Patriarch's Message for the Day of the Protection of the Environment
August 31, 2009
The present crisis offers an opportunity for us to deal with the problems in a different way, because the methods that created these problems cannot provide their best solution. We need to bring love into all our dealings, the love that inspires courage and compassion. Human progress is not just the accumulation of wealth and the thoughtless consumption of the earth's resources.
Prot. No. 862
† B A R T H O L O M E W
BY THE MERCY OF GOD ARCHBISHOP
OF CONSTANTINOPLE, NEW ROME AND
ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH
TO THE PLENITUDE OF THE CHURCH
GRACE AND
PEACE
FROM THE CREATOR OF THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE
OUR LORD, GOD AND SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST
***
As we come again to the changing of the Church year, we reflect once more on the state of God's creation. We think about the past and repent for all that we have done or failed to do for the earth's care; we look to the future and pray for wisdom to guide us in all that we think or do.
These last twelve months have been a time of great uncertainty for the whole world. The financial systems that so many people trusted to bring them the good things of life, have brought instead fear, uncertainty and poverty. Our globalised economy has meant that everyone - even the poorest who are far removed from the dealings of big business - has been affected.
The present crisis offers an opportunity for us to deal with the problems in a different way, because the methods that created these problems cannot provide their best solution. We need to bring love into all our dealings, the love that inspires courage and compassion. Human progress is not just the accumulation of wealth and the thoughtless consumption of the earth's resources. The way that the present crisis has been dealt with has revealed the values of the few who are shaping the destiny of our society; of those who can find vast sums of money to support the financial system that has betrayed them, but are not willing to allot even the least portion of that money to remedy the piteous state the creation has been reduced to because of these very values, or for feeding the hungry of the world, or for securing safe drinking water for the thirsty, who are also victims of those values. On the face of every hungry child is written a question for us, and we must not turn away to avoid the answer. Why has this happened? Is it a problem of human inability or of human will?
We have rendered the Market the centre of our interest, our activities and, finally, of our life, forgetting that this choice of ours will affect the lives of future generations, limiting the number of their choices that would probably be more oriented towards the well-being of man as well as the creation. Our human economy, which has made us consumers, is failing. The divine economy, which has made us in the image of the loving Creator, calls us to love and care for all creation. The image we have of ourselves is reflected in the way we treat the creation. If we believe that we are no more than consumers, then we shall seek fulfilment in consuming the whole earth; but if we believe we are made in the image of God, we shall act with care and compassion, striving to become what we are created to be.
Let us pray for God's blessing on the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December, so that the industrially developed countries may co-operate with developing countries in reducing harmful polluting emissions, that there may exist the will to raise and manage wisely the funds required for the necessary measures, and that all may work together to ensure that our children enjoy the goods of the earth that we leave behind for them. There must be justice and love in all aspects of econ For the rest of this News Release, visit the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America website
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