Please click on this link http://www.goarch.org/en/special/met_anthony/
to view the official announcement.
Subsequest Press releases and news articles
Here are the Oakland Tribune and SF Chronicle stories. Pick up a copy of the Tribune if
you can because it has a beautiful photo spread.
Click to View this Article
http://www.insidebayarea.com/searchresults/ci_2504524
Funeral honors Metropolitan Anthony
'The doors of heaven are opened wide for him'
By Angela Hill, STAFF WRITER - OAKLAND TRIBUNE
Inside Bay Area
OAKLAND - Hundreds came to bid goodbye to a man they called a "dynamo," the
late Metropolitan Anthony, at his daylong funeral services in Oakland's
Ascension Cathedral on Wednesday.
"It's like losing a father," said the Rev. Michael Pappas of the Holy
Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in San Francisco. "He was a dynamo. For the
last 25 years, we've had this dynamic, energetic, tireless bishop. The loss
is great, but he brought us together and gave us a solid foundation on which
to build."
"He had such a creative and dynamic spirituality. There was no superficial
piety," said the Rev. John Bakas, dean of St. Sophia Cathedral in Los
Angeles. "He was as comfortable swinging a golf club as swinging a censer.
He could not keep a dollar in his pocket for himself, always giving. He
would say, 'We don't go to church, we are the church, living and dynamic.'
"And now the doors of heaven are opened wide for him," a shaken Bakas
said. "This child of Crete is now a citizen of Paradise."
More than 1,200 people came to pay their respects to Metropolitan Anthony
Gergiannakis, who served as bishop in San Francisco since 1979, shortly
after the diocese was formed, and was elevated to metropolitan, similar to
archbishop, in 1997.
Parishioners filed in silence past his open casket, some crossing
themselves and placing gentle kisses on his hand.
They honored him as the spiritual leader of the Greek Orthodox Church in
California and six other Western states, as a builder of parishes,
monasteries and youth programs. And also as a loving and spirited man who
had a bad golf swing and would laugh heartily at a good joke, "even if the
punch line eluded him," Bakas said.
Metropolitan Anthony died on Christmas Day. He was 69 and was diagnosed
only five weeks ago with Burkitt's lymphoma, a malignancy of the lymph
nodes. He had planned to retire next year.
"We never expected this," said Kristen Bruskas of Phoenix, who conducted
the choir during the services and had worked with Metropolitan Anthony for
nearly 20 years in the church's music ministry. "His leadership was
unparalleled. I was helping him plan the retirement celebrations, with
events planned for the whole up-coming year. It seems God had other plans."
So they honored him, in a Divine Liturgy and with somber funeral services.
With venerable and precious traditions. With ancient Greek chants, puffs of
incense, candlelight, processions of robed metropolitans, bishops, priests,
clergy and altar boys, in one of the largest and most formal Greek funerals
ever held in the Bay Area.
It was a rare and impressive gathering of some of the church's highest
officials from all over the country. Archbishop Demetrios of America came
from New York to lead the ceremonies. The crowd of priests and bearded
bishops edged the platform, surrounding the casket. A heavenly woman's voice
from the balcony sang a traditional funeral song in slow mournful tones,
with the huge icon of Jesus looking down from the copper-domed ceiling.
Amid the sea of dark robes stood dozens of young people, colorfully clad
in traditional Greek folk garb, members of the annual Folk Dance Festival,
which Metropolitan Anthony so loved and helped flourish.
"It brought a tear to my eye to see them, because he loved the festival so
much," Pappas said.
Metropolitan Anthony was born in the village of Avgeniki on the island of
Crete. He was the third of six children, growing up during the difficult
years of the Nazi occupation. He attended the renowned Halki Theological
School of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, was ordained a
priest in 1960, then came to the United States, where he ministered at
several parishes and earned a master's degree in divinity at Yale
University.
During his tenure in San Francisco, more than 20 new parishes and missions
were formed in the metropolis, as were three monasteries. He was the founder
of St. Nicholas Ranch, the Greek Orthodox conference and retreat center in
the Sierra Nevada foothills.
After a 40-day mourning period, a new metropolitan will be selected for
the region.
"The selection comes from the Patriarchate of Constantinople," Pappas
said.
"The senate of bishops at the archdiocese in New York will review a list
of eligible candidates and forward three on to the senate in Constantinople.
The metropolitan not only is a spiritual leader, but also bears tremendous
administrative responsibility, overseeing 68 parishes in California,
Arizona, Oregon, Nevada, Washington, Alaska and Hawaii with about 150,000
parishioners, Pappas said.
"Metropolitan Anthony is the only bishop this diocese has ever known," he
said. "His passing was nothing we could have imagined."
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Thursday, December 30, 2004 (SF Chronicle)
OAKLAND/1,200 mourn church leader/He was noted for folk-dance festival,
ecumenical work Jim Herron Zamora, Chronicle Staff Writer
Metropolitan Anthony Gergiannakis was known as the "building bishop" who
oversaw the construction of nearly one Greek Orthodox church, monastery or
convent each of his 25 years as the church's spiritual leader in seven
Western states.
But to thousands of children and teenagers who each year participate in
the nationwide Greek Folk Dance Festival, Metropolitan Anthony was the
fun- loving cleric who saw culture, faith and creative activity as
interrelated.
Still others remember him as a friendly, accessible man of God -- as
comfortable in a polo shirt and khakis as in the vestments and veil of the
church he served for more than 40 years.
These memories came forth Wednesday during the 69-year-old spiritual
leader's funeral that drew 1,200 people, including clerics from around the
country, to Ascension Cathedral in Oakland.
"He was the people's metropolitan," said the Rev. John Bakas, pastor of
St. Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Los Angeles. "He would say, 'We don't
go to church -- we are the church, living and dynamic.' "
The funeral service, in Greek and English, began with prayers and
chanting at 7 a.m., followed by liturgy and a funeral Mass that ended just
after 1 p.m.
Metropolitan Anthony -- a metropolitan is roughly the equivalent of an
archbishop -- died Christmas Day at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento,
five weeks after being diagnosed with Burkitt's lymphoma.
Metropolitan Anthony was born March 2, 1935, in the village of Avgeniki
on the island of Crete.
After his graduation from Halki Theological School in Constantinople in
1960, he was ordained a priest the same year.
He spent his early career in Canada before coming to America. He was
enthroned as the first bishop of the newly created Diocese of San Francisco
in 1979. In 1997, the church elevated him to the office of metropolitan,
presiding over 70 parishes in California, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon,
Washington, Alaska and Hawaii.
He also started the most popular festival of Greek culture, the annual
Folk Dance Festival, which began in the Bay Area and spread across North
America.
During the service, Archbishop Demetrios Trakatellis, primate of the
Greek Orthodox Church in America -- the church's highest-ranking American
official -- said there were no words in Greek or English to convey the depth
of feeling and emotion brought by Metropolitan Anthony's death.
"Some things are far beyond human language," he said.
Metropolitan Anthony was remembered as a strong supporter of ecumenical
understanding, especially with the Episcopal and Roman Catholic churches.
Last year he traveled with his San Francisco Episcopal and Catholic
counterparts -- the Right Rev. William Swing and Archbishop William Levada -- to visit
Canterbury, Rome and Istanbul, the centers of their respective branches of
Christianity. They visited other shrines and historic sites, including the
former Dachau concentration camp and a synagogue in Frankfurt, Germany.
"Anthony has been a bridge between faiths," Swing said in his eulogy.
E-mail Jim Herron Zamora at jzamora@sfchronicle.com.
Copyright 2004 SF Chronicle
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Los Angeles Times
Anthony Gergiannakis, 69; Leader in Greek Orthodox Faith
By Mary Rourke, Times Staff Writer
Metropolitan Anthony Gergiannakis, spiritual leader of Greek Orthodox
Christians in California and six other Western states, died Saturday of
cancer. He was 69.
A resident of San Francisco, he had been hospitalized for several weeks at
UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento where he died, according to Father
Paul Schroeder, chancellor of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of San
Francisco.
Metropolitan Anthony, as he was widely known, became the first bishop of the
newly created Metropolis, or diocese, in 1979 and was named metropolitan, a
title similar to that of a Roman Catholic cardinal, in 1997. During his 25
years in church leadership in California, he increased the number of
parishes from 47 to 68. Currently there are about 250,000 Greek Orthodox in
the San Francisco Metropolis and some 2.5 million nationwide, Schroeder
said.
Metropolitan Anthony also built three monasteries in his territory, which
includes Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Alaska and Hawaii, as well as
California.
"He was known as the building bishop," said Theofanis Economides, president
of the Metropolitan Council of San Francisco and a close friend of
Metropolitan Anthony. His most recent building project was a Hellenic
Heritage Library, now in the planning phase, at St. Nicholas Ranch and
Retreat Center in Dunlap, Calif.
Metropolitan Anthony was also known for his commitment to educating the
young. He oversaw the launch of a scholarship fund for seminarians studying
to become Greek Orthodox priests and created a number of programs for
children of Greek heritage, to teach them about their culture in informal
settings.
One of his best-known projects is the Folk Dance and Choral Festival. The
annual event is held in various cities in the diocese and features dozens of
Greek folk-dance groups as well as a dance competition.
"He saw the festival as a way to bring young people together," Economides
said.
"Metropolitan Anthony was a man of the people," Schroeder said Monday. "He
always stayed in touch with his roots, the small village where he was born."
A native of Avgeniki on the island of Crete, Metropolitan Anthony graduated
from the Halki Theological School of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of
Constantinople in Istanbul, Turkey, and was ordained in 1960.
He came to the United States and earned a master's degree at Yale Divinity
School before he was named dean of St. George Cathedral in Montreal in 1974.
He remained in that position until becoming bishop of the San Francisco
Diocese five years later.
Metropolitan Anthony is survived by three sisters and several nieces and
nephews.
Funeral services will be held Wednesday at the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of
the Ascension in Oakland.
A divine liturgy is scheduled for 8:30 a.m., followed by the funeral at 11
a.m.
Contributions in his name can be made to the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of
San Francisco, 372 Santa Clara Ave., Santa Clara, CA 94127.
- - - - -
METROPOLITAN ANTHONY OF SAN FRANCISCO LAID TO REST
Archdiocese Press Release
San Francisco - Metropolitan Anthony of San Francisco was laid to rest
yesterday, after a moving Funeral Service at the Ascension Cathedral of
Oakland, Calif., which was attended by faithful and clergy from across the
country and around the world.
The faithful from the Metropolis were offered a number of opportunities to
pay their respects to their spiritual father, beginning with a Divine
Liturgy on Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2004 at the Bishop Anthony Chapel of the
Annunciation Cathedral in San Francisco. In the evening, His Eminence
Archbishop Demetrios of America presided over a Trisagion (Prayer) Service
in the Chapel. Offering remarks following the Trisagion were Archon
Theofanis Economidis, vice-president of the Metropolis Council of San
Francisco; Rev. Theodore Dorrance, president of the Metropolis Clergy
Syndesmos; His Grace Bishop Anthimos of Olympos; Consul General of Greece in
San Francisco, Dimitrios Touloupas; Honorary Consul General of Cyprus in San
Francisco, Nicholas Theophanous; His Eminence Metropolitan Sotirios of
Toronto, representing Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and Archbishop
Demetrios.
Wednesday morning began with the Divine Liturgy presided over by His
Eminence Metropolitan Iakovos of Chicago, the senior Metropolitan of the
Holy Eparchial Synod of the Archdiocese of America, assisted by five priests
from the Metropolis of San Francisco.
More than 1,500 faithful attended the Funeral Service, which began at
11:00am, and was presided over by His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of
America. Metropolitan Sotirios of Toronto represented the Ecumenical
Patriarch. Also participating in the service were Metropolitans Iakovos of
Chicago, Isaiah of Denver, Alexios of Atlanta, Nicholas of Detroit, Tarasios
of Buenos Aires, Bishops Anthimos of Olympos, Savas of Troas, and Gerasimos
of Krateia. In addition over one hundred priests from across the country
took part in the service. Choir members from the Metropolis sang during the
Divine Liturgy and the Funeral Service that followed. The youth of the
Metropolis, whom Metropolitan Anthony particularly loved and guided over the
years, were dressed in traditional Greek costumes and stood as honor guards
in the central aisle and by the casket of their spiritual father. The laity
of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America were represented by Mr. Michael
Jaharis, vice-chairman of the Archdiocesan Council and Mrs. Georgia Skeadas,
president of the National Philoptochos.
At the conclusion of the funeral service, condolences for and personal
memories of the departed Metropolitan were offered by Rev. John Bakas, dean
of St. Sophia Cathedral in Los Angeles; Rev. Stephen Kyriacou, dean of the
Annunciation Cathedral in San Francisco; Bishop John C. Wester, representing
the Roman Catholic Archbishop of San Francisco William Levada; William
Swing, Episcopalian Bishop of San Francisco, and Metropolitan Anthimos of
Olympos. Metropolitan Sotirios of Toronto conveyed words of comfort on
behalf of His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and shared with
the congregation thoughts, impressions and memories related to the deceased
hierarch.
The Eulogy was delivered by Archbishop Demetrios, who started by expressing
the gratitude of the Church to the clergy and laity, the doctors, nurses and
medical personnel, who assisted Metropolitan Anthony in various ways, during
the difficult time of the final weeks of his life at the hospital in
Sacramento, Calif.
Then, the Archbishop highlighted three specific aspects of the legacy that
Metropolitan Anthony leaves behind, the legacy of faith as a power to build
and to plant (Jeremiah 1:9-10), the legacy of faith as freedom, liberation
and independence (Galatians 5:13) and the legacy of faith as joy (John
16:11).
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Dear Ascension Parishioners and Friends,
It is with deep sadness to announce the passing of our beloved
Metropolitan ANTHONY, December 25, 2004. May his memory be eternal!
Trisagion and Funeral Service Schedule
Tuesday, December 28, 2004 Schedule
Annunciation Cathedral of San Francisco
245 Valencia St, San Francisco, CA 94103
(415) 864-8000
7:30 PM Trisagion Service
Wednesday, December 29, 2004 Schedule
Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Ascension
4700 Lincoln Avenue, Oakland, CA 94602
(510) 531-3400
7:00 am Orthros
8:15 am Doxology
8:30 am Hierarchical Divine Liturgy
11:00 am Funeral Service
1:00 pm Makaria
