His Eminence Joseph, archbishop of New York and metropolitan of All North America of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese, was enthroned on the feast of St. Nicholas at the Archdiocese's mother cathedral, by The Most Blessed John X (Yazigi), Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East. Metropolitan Joseph was recently elected as Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees of St. Vladimir's, and our Dean, The Very Rev. Dr. John Behr, and our Chancellor/CEO, The Very Rev. Dr. Chad Hatfield, were among the dignitaries attending the services and festivities.
Cathedral Dean The Very Rev. Thomas Zain, who lectures in Liturgics at the seminary, coordinated many of the weekend's events, which included Vespers on December 5 and two Patriarchal Liturgies on December 6 and 7. As well, numerous seminarians, both past and present, participated liturgically and as members of the media team.
On December 4, Fr. Chad Hatfield and Fr. John were received by Patriarch John at the archdiocesan headquarters in Englewood, NJ, to present him with a check for $8,000, the tithe on the $80,000 raised during the seminary's successful #GivingTuesday campaign. The gift is intended to aid suffering Orthodox Christians in Syria.
Since its founding in 1938, St. Vladimir's has enjoyed a long and fruitful relationship with the Antiochian Archdiocese. About 16% of all SVOTS alumni have gone on to serve in the Archdiocese and most of the current Antiochian bishops are seminary alumns.
View photo galleries by third-year seminarians Rami Dahdal and Luke Bullock
