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On June 16, His Eminence Metropolitan Tarasios of Buenos Aires spoke
at Acton University at DeVos Place in Grand Rapids, Michigan. His
remarks touched on a wide range of subjects including the upcoming
Orthodox Christian council in Crete, which begins on June 19, Catholic-Orthodox relations, and other topics. The American-born bishop serves in the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.
AUDIO: Metropolitan Tarasios, a bishop of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, talks about preparations for the Holy and Great Council of Orthodox Churches, which begins June 19 in Chania, Crete. Notably, the Antiochian Orthodox Church and Russian Orthodox Church, have declined to attend. Who's in, who's out, and why?
According to his official biography,
Met. Tarasios was born Peter (Panayiotis) C. Anton in Gary, Indiana, in
1956 to Peter and Angela Anton. The family moved to San Antonio, Texas,
in 1960, and young Peter grew up in the Church of St. Sophia in San
Antonio. He studied at Hellenic College and Holy Cross Greek Orthodox
School of Theology, as well as Trinity University in San Antonio, the
University of Notre Dame in Indiana (M.A. in Theology 1983), the
Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome, and the Pontifical School of
Paleography and Archives at the Vatican.
He served as a lay assistant at St. Nicholas’ church in St. Louis,
Missouri, beginning in 1980, and eight years later became administrative
assistant in the Diocese of Atlanta.
Tarasios of Buenos Aires
In
1990, Peter became the first American to serve at the Patriarchal court
in Constantinople, when he was ordained to the diaconate by
Metropolitan Bartholemew of Chalcedon. He advanced through the ranks of
the patriarchate, eventually being appointed as Grand Archdeacon of the
Patriarchate. In this role he oversaw the operation of the Patriarchal
Church of St. George (the seat of the Ecumenical Patriarch), as well as
various functions of the Archdiocese of Constantinople. He supervised
the production of the first English language guidebook to the
Patriarchal church.
He was ordained to the priesthood on May 27, 2001, in Prokopi, and to
the episcopate on June 3 in Constantinople. He was enthroned in Buenos
Aires on July 14, 2001.
Metropolitan Tarasios speaks English, Greek, Spanish, Italian, and French, and has some reading knowledge of Portuguese.
Since taking up his post, His Eminence has relocated and reorganized
the administrative offices and other departments of the Archdiocese,
initiated programs and activities involving social action, missions, and
Christian philanthropy, organized events focusing on the youth with the
hope of bringing them closer to the Orthodox Church, sponsored six
candidates for ordination to the priesthood, and established close ties
with the inter-religious communities primarily of Buenos Aires but also
throughout the South American continent.
Presently Metropolitan Tarasios is in the process of establishing a
permanent and solid economic foundation based on the principle of
Christian Stewardship. Future plans include developing a Department of
Religious Education, a Department of Communication, a Sister Parish
Program, and establishing an Orthodox Spiritual and Hellenic Cultural
Center in their existing facilities.
