wfn.org | [GOAA] Metropolitan Anthony of San Francisco Dies

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GREEK ORTHODOX ARCHDIOCESE OF AMERICA
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Email: communications@goarch.org

   For Immediate Release
   December 25, 2004

   Contact:
   Nikki Stephanopoulos, Cell: 917.903.1255
   Marissa P. Costidis, Cell: 732.522.1637

   GREEK ORTHODOX METROPOLITAN ANTHONY OF
   SAN FRANCISCO DIES FOLLOWING SHORT ILLNESS

   New York, NY - His Eminence Metropolitan Anthony, spiritual leader of the
   Greek Orthodox Metropolis of San Francisco, died today, December 25,
   2004, following a short illness.  Metropolitan Anthony was diagnosed with
   Burkitt's lymphoma, a rare form of cancer, in November. He was 69 years
   old.

   In announcing the passing of Metropolitan Anthony of San Francisco, His
   Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of America, Primate of the Greek Orthodox
   Church in America, deeply moved, issued the following statement:

      "Today, at the evening of Christmas day, a very prominent and beloved
      Hierarch of our Church in America, Metropolitan Anthony of San
      Francisco, was called by Jesus Christ our Lord to leave this
      perishable world, and meet Him, and be forever with Him in the company
      of the saints and the righteous.	His life epitomizes the statement by
      St. Paul the Apostle, 'If we live we live to the Lord, and if we die
      we die to the Lord' (Rom. 14:8).

      Deeply saddened by the sudden separation, we are comforted by the
      certainty that our beloved brother is with God, leaving behind a
      precious legacy of a total dedication to Christ and His Church, an
      amazing episcopal work, a remarkably strong love for the people, a
      burning passion for Orthodoxy, and a joy for multidimensional
      ministry.  We are sure that now the Holy Metropolis of San Francisco
      has a permanent, strong ambassador to God in the person of her
      departed Hierarch and we fervently pray for the repose of his soul
      among the great saints and pastors of the triumphant Church in
      heaven."

   According to Father Paul Schroeder,	Chancellor of the Metropolis of San
   Francisco, a Trisagion (Prayer) Service will be held at the Annunciation
   Cathedral, San Francisco on Tuesday, December 28 and the Divine Liturgy
   and the funeral service will take place on Wednesday, December 29 at the
   Ascension Cathedral, Oakland, CA.

   Archbishop Demetrios will preside over the Divine Liturgy and funeral
   service at the Cathedral. In both services, members of the Holy Eparchial
   Synod will concelebrate with the Archbishop, assisted by clergy of the
   Metropolis.

   Metropolitan Anthony was enthroned as the first bishop of the
   newly-created Diocese of San Francisco on June 7, 1979.  He served as the
   Bishop and later Metropolitan of San Francisco for over twenty-five
   years, overseeing the western states of California, Arizona, Nevada,
   Oregon, Washington, Alaska, and Hawaii.

   Metropolitan Anthony was born March 2, 1935 in the village of Avgeniki on
   the island of Crete, Greece, the third of six children, growing up during
   the brutally difficult years of
   the Nazi occupation.  He attended the ecclesiastical school of Chania,
   Crete; following graduation he entered the internationally renowned Halki
   Theological School of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople,
   receiving his degree in Orthodox Theology in 1960. He was ordained a
   deacon on July 27, 1958, and a priest on September 29, 1960.

   After his ordination to the priesthood, he came to the United States to
   pursue graduate studies and serve the Church in this country.  While
   serving as a parish priest, he earned a Masters of Divinity at Yale
   University and pursued doctoral studies in Contemporary Church History at
   the University of Chicago, and in Russian and Balkan History at the
   University of Wisconsin.  In 1974, he was appointed Dean of the St.
   George Cathedral in Montreal, Canada, where he remained until his
   elevation to the episcopacy on May 21, 1978.  As titular Bishop of
   Amissos, he served the Eighth Archdiocesan District in Denver, Colorado,
   until his election as Bishop of San Francisco in 1979.

   During  that  time,	he  was  responsible  for  a tremendous expansion of
   ministries  and programs, an unparalleled period of vitality and renewal.
   His	tenure	saw the founding of over twenty new parishes and missions in
   the	Metropolis  of	San Francisco, as well as the establishment of three
   monasteries.   He  was  the	founder  of  St.  Nicholas  Ranch, the Greek
   Orthodox  Conference  and  Retreat  Center  located	in the Sierra Nevada
   foothills.	He was also the driving force behind the construction of the
   Monastery of the Theotokos the Life-Giving Spring on the premises of  St.
   Nicholas Ranch.

   Metropolitan  Anthony  of  San  Francisco developed the annual Metropolis
   Folk  Dance	Festival into the largest exhibition of authentic Greek folk
   dance,  costume,  and  music  in the world.	Together with the Metropolis
   Philoptochos, he created the Bishop Anthony Student Aid Endowment Fund, a
   multi-million   dollar   scholarship   account   providing	funding  for
   seminarians	and  students from the Metropolis to attend Hellenic College
   and Holy Cross School of Theology in Brookline, Massachusetts.  He served
   as  a  member  of the Holy Eparchial Synod of the Archdiocese of America.
   He proved a source of inspiration for countless thousands, not only Greek
   Orthodox faithful, but also religious and civic figures who recognized in
   him a great leader and a true man of faith.

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