Elpidophoros' enthronement: what transpired

NEW YORK - When he was ordained a Deacon at the Patriarchal Cathedral of St. George in Istanbul in 1994, the 27-year-old Elpidophoros Lambriniadis couldn't possibly dream of the day the Greek Diaspora of the Americas would salute a new era in his person. Born in 1967 in Istanbul, Archbishop Elpidophoros of America bears the burden of huge expectations, as the primate who will incarnate Orthodoxy's Renaissance in the US. It was not a coincidence that he used this word, resurrection, in his first press conference on American soil.

In his splendid enthronement at the Holy Trinity Archdiocesan Cathedral, the new Archbishop appeared calm and determined to fulfill his duty.

The long red carpet had been put in place already from dawn yesterday, a Saturday, and a police patrol car had cut access to the block of East 74th St where the Cathedral rises. The crowd started coming...