wfn.org | GOAA Gorbachev to Receive Athenagoras Award October 22

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

GREEK ORTHODOX ARCHDIOCESE OF AMERICA
8-10 East 79th St. New York, NY 10021
Tel: (212) 570-3530 Fax: (212) 774-0215
Web: http://www.goarch.org
Email: communications@goarch.org

For Immediate Release
October 17, 2005

Contact: Nikki Stephanopoulos
Tel: (212) 570-3530 Fax (212) 774-0215
E-mail: Nikki@goarch.org

NOBEL PEACE PRIZE LAUREATE MIKHAIL GORBACHEV TO

RECEIVE ATHENAGORAS HUMANITARIAN AWARD OCTOBER 22

President Gorbachev to be Invested as Archon of the Ecumenical Patriarchate
Homeland Security Council Chair Frances Fragos Townsend to Speak at Reception
Former CIA Director George Tenet to be Master of Ceremonies at Banquet

New York, NY- Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Mikhail Gorbachev has accepted the
invitation of His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios, spiritual leader of the
Greek Orthodox Church in America, to be the recipient of the 2005
Athenagoras Human Rights Award. The Award will be presented on Saturday,
October 22, at the annual banquet of the Order of St. Andrew, an
organization of distinguished laymen of the Greek Orthodox Church who have
been granted the title of Archon by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of
Constantinople.

Established in 1986, the Athenagoras Award honors Patriarch Athenagoras who
served as Archbishop of the Americas for 18 years before being elected
Ecumenical Patriarch in 1948. He was universally acknowledged as a
visionary leader of Orthodoxy, numbering more than 250 million faithful
worldwide, who worked for peace among Churches and people throughout his
life. Previous recipients of the award include Archbishop Iakovos,
President Jimmy Carter, President George H.W. Bush, Archbishop Desmond
Tutu, Mother Teresa and Elie Wiesel.

Known chiefly for his contribution to tearing down of the Iron Curtain,
Mikhail Gorbachev was born in 1931 and ascended to power in Soviet
Russiaâ??s Communist Party throughout the 1960â??s and 70â??s. Following
the death of Konstantin Chernenko in 1985, Gorbachev was appointed General
Secretary despite being the youngest member of the politburo. He embarked
on a comprehensive program of political, economic and social liberalization
under the slogans of glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring).
The resulting shift in international affairs and thinking contributed to a
fundamental change in the international environment, to the ending the Cold
War and to eradicating the threat of a nuclear war.

In recognition of his outstanding services as a great reformer and world
political leader, Mikhail Gorbachev was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on
October 15, 1990. He continues to contribute to international affairs
through the Gorbachev Foundation, the first independent think-tank in
post-Soviet Russia which he created in 1992.

Dr. Anthony Limberakis, National Commander of the Order of St. Andrew, has
announced that President Mikhail Gorbachev, a baptized Russian Orthodox
Christian, who was instrumental in the adoption of legislation guaranteeing
religious liberty in the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, will
be invested Saturday evening as Archon Great Orator of the Ecumenical
Patriarchate by Archbishop Demetrios on behalf of His All Holiness
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.

Former Director of the CIA George Tenet will serve as Master of Ceremonies
of the banquet, and invited guests will include the Ambassadors of Greece
and Cyprus, the Consul General of Russia, and Archons, religious and
government leaders and Orthodox faithful from throughout the country.

Frances Fragos Townsend, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security
and Counterterrorism, will address the Order of St. Andrew Ladiesâ?? Tea
reception at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday afternoon at the New York Hilton.

INVESTITURE OF 41 NEW ARCHONS SUNDAY OCTOBER 23

His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios will preside at the Investiture of 41 new
Archons from throughout the United States following the Divine Liturgy on
Sunday, October 23 at the Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity.

Among those to be invested are George Tenet, Potomac, MD; Andrew Natsios,
Director of the US Agency for International Development, Silver Springs, MD
and Former Ambassador of the United States to Spain George Argyros, Newport
Beach, CA.  Those who will be invested as new Archons are the following:

Archdiocesan District

Thomas E. Constance, Sands Point, NY; John Emmanuel Couloucoundis, Darien,
CT; Nicholas Gavalas, Astoria, NY; Renos Georgiou, Bayside, NY; William
Kallinikos, Oceanside, NY; Andreas Konnari, New York, NY; C. Dean
Metropoulos, Greenwich, CT; Dennis Mehiel, Valhalla, NY; George Peter
Zimmar, Briarcliff, NY.

Metropolis of Atlanta

Nicholas J. Furris, Jacksonville,FL; Sam N. Kleto, Spiro C. Hondros, George
J. Miller and Constantine Vrettos, Charlotte, NC; Steve George Pappas, Palm
City, FL; George Chris Psetas, Port Richey, FL and Stephen James
Yallourakis, Kinsport, TN.

Metropolis of Boston

Spyros A. Gavris, Wellesley, MA; Christos S. Gregoriades, Canton, MA;
Emmanuel Mihailides, East Greenwich, RI.

Metropolis of Chicago

John Balourdos, Chicago, IL; Dimitris Bousis, Northbrook, IL; Nicholas
Karakas, Ladue, MO; Theodore Sepsis, Elmhurst, IL; Theodore J. Theophilos,
Hinsdale, IL.

Metropolis of Denver

Timothy John Joannides, Cheyenne, WY.

Metropolis of New Jersey
Nicholas Andrew Carras, Myersville, MD; Vassos Chysanthou, Toms River, NJ;
Nicholas Ioannou Karamatsoukas, Gladwyn, PA; George G. Makris, Alpine, NJ;
Jerrry Nicholas Renesis, Norvolk, VA.

Metropolis of Pittsburgh
John Basil Conomos, Pittsburgh, PA; John N. Economou, Akron, OH; John
Michael Manos, Lakewood, OH.

Metropolis of San Francisco
George Nicholas Flessas, Palm Desert, CA; John Gigounas, Tuburon, CA; Gary
M. Vrionis, Danville, CA.

UKRAINIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH

George Sviatoslave Lychk, River Forest, IL