April 11, 2005

Replete with sentiments of sincere grief, our Holy Great Mother Church of Christ announces that yesterday, April 10, His Eminence, the venerable former Archbishop Iakovos of America passed away in the Lord. He was 94 years old.

This man, who like an oak tree that offered its shade to the devout flock of the Greek Orthodox community in America, was born on Imvros, the island of the Aegean Sea from where many great men have come. He gained international recognition and became a vehicle through which the centuries-long tradition of the Orthodox spirit was expressed in the New World. It was in the New World where he sincerely and very fruitfully ministered to Orthodoxy and to the Nation in many capacities, a diakonia for which the Mother Church will remember him with great gratitude, praying that his memory be eternal.

This hierarch of blessed memory, Archbishop Iakovos, was a genuine bearer of the spirit of martyrdom of the Ecumenical Throne. He duly honored the Mother Church, which honored him. He devoted himself to the ministry of the Mother Church through his final days.

Archbishop Iakovos was the spiritual leader of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America for thirty-seven consecutive years, and through the authority of his personality by words and deeds he advanced the faith and culture of the Nation. He made sure that Orthodoxy was accorded her due respect every time he represented the Mother Church in meetings with religious and political persons, and he enjoyed the esteem and respect of all.

As a ship at dock, he retired in 1996, but he incessantly continued to occupy himself with honorable concerns and was always making efforts to promote the general welfare of matters pertaining to the Church and the Nation.

The blessed soul of our revered Elder and most precious member of our Ecumenical Patriarchate is already in the hands of the Lord. We fervently pray for the repose of his soul and for his worthiness to behold the face of the Great High Priest, our Lord Jesus Christ. We, also, express our condolences to the most devout flock of the Holy Archdiocese of America, which sincerely and deeply loved this Hierarch of blessed memory.

May the memory of our departed brother, Archbishop Iakovos, be eternal and blessed. At the Patriarchate, April 11, 2005

Chief Secretariat of the Holy and Sacred Synod

Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America