Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Attica and Boeotia of the G.O.C. Visits America and Speaks to The National Herald

Theodore Kalmoukos | October 2, 2026

 

 

BOSTON. Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Attica and Boeotia of the G.O.C., of the Archdiocese of the G.O.C. of Greece under Archbishop Kallinikos, speaks for the first time in an interview with The National Herald (“TNH”) about the remarkable work being carried out in his Metropolis, which is supported exclusively by the faith and love of the faithful. It should be emphasized that the Church of the G.O.C. receives no financial or other support whatsoever from the state, unlike the Church of Greece, whose hierarchs and priests are salaried as civil servants.

He is visiting the G.O.C. Metropolis of New York because Gerontissa Synkletiki is to be honored at the Cathedral of Saint Markella in Astoria. She taught the Greek language and the Orthodox Faith to hundreds of children of the Greek-American community.

The interview is as follows:

TNH: Your Eminence, thank you for your willingness to speak with The National Herald. What is the purpose of your visit to New York?

Metropolitan Chrysostomos: I, too, thank you for giving me this opportunity, and I pray that you may have the strength to continue the work you carry out among the Greek-American community through The National Herald—a work of preserving our Romiosyne identity under difficult circumstances. The principal purpose of my coming to America is the Hierarchical Concelebration of the Divine Liturgy that will take place at the Holy Cathedral of Saint Markella in Astoria, New York, on Sunday, October 4. There, following a decision of the Holy Synod, a special tribute will be paid to the ever-memorable Gerontissa Synkletiki Strati, that emblematic figure of the Greek-American community who devoted her life to the education of thousands of children and to nourishing them with the life-giving streams of Orthodoxy and Hellenism, while making a significant contribution to the broader society of New York.

TNH: When was your Metropolis founded?

Metropolitan Chrysostomos: It was initially founded as the “Diocese of Attica and Diavleia” in 1971, with the ever-memorable Akakios Pappas [the Younger] as its first hierarch, while the following year it was designated a “Metropolis.” It received its present name in 1999, when I was elected its ruling hierarch. It comprises twenty-five parish churches, sixteen chapels, and thirty holy monasteries. Within our metropolitan district are, among others, monasteries well known in ecclesiastical life, such as the Monastery of Venerable Irene Chrysovalantou in Lykovrysi, the Dormition of the Theotokos Monastery in Thrakomakedones, the Panachrantos Monastery in Megara, and the Monastery of Saint Sophronios in Kouvaras. Twenty-one priests, two deacons, and one hundred and fifteen monks and nuns serve within the Metropolis.

TNH: How is the Metropolis supported financially? From where are the salaries of the Metropolitan and the priests paid, and, more generally, how are the churches and monasteries maintained, since, as far as I know, you receive no financial support from the state?

Metropolitan Chrysostomos: Indeed, we receive no financial support from the state. We are sustained through the sacrifices and love of our flock. One thing that moves me in connection with our livelihood is that quite a few of our priests have large families. When we carry out our duty with love and the fear of God, the Lord does not abandon us.

TNH: Approximately how many thousands of faithful comprise your flock?

Metropolitan Chrysostomos: About thirty-six thousand. This is due to the fact that, with God’s help, we succeeded in incorporating into our fold the large influx of repatriated Greeks from Pontus, who followed the traditional calendar.

TNH: How was this made possible?

Metropolitan Chrysostomos: When I was consecrated a bishop, a devout man came and asked me to visit Aspropyrgos, where there was the Church of the Holy Trinity, saying that the people there were in need of spiritual guidance and, moreover, were outside any Synod. I visited the small church and immediately came to love both the people and the place. The church was received into our Synod, and every week I would give a talk. For a long time, the audience did not exceed five faithful. I persevered. In time, the five became ten, the ten became twenty, until it became necessary to enlarge the church and, initially, to build three more churches to meet the needs of the growing flock. For several years, every week I gave a talk in all four churches, with large numbers of the faithful attending. Also, for eight years, every week I visited four homes where families would gather, and I would convey two spiritual messages, while giving them copies of Holy Scripture, icons, and the Greek flag.

It should be noted that the first time I visited Aspropyrgos, knowing that many Pontians lived there, I thought, “A Soumela must be established here.” I did not confide this thought to anyone until 2013. In the end, this dream was truly fulfilled as if by a miracle in 2022, when the opening of the doors of the Holy Pilgrimage Church of Panagia Soumela in Aspropyrgos took place. There God deemed us worthy to enshrine the holy relics of the Holy New Martyr Kassandra of Trebizond (1677), an ancestor of the great heroes of the Greek Revolution, Alexandros and Dimitrios Ypsilantis.

TNH: What does your pastoral ministry include?

Metropolitan Chrysostomos: With the invaluable cooperation of dedicated volunteers, we care for the formation of our young people through the Catechetical Schools. Every week, material prepared according to academic standards is distributed to the catechists for three different age groups. Alongside ecclesiastical subjects, we have also incorporated topics from Greek history into the curriculum. Furthermore, since 2017 we have organized the “Garden of Soumela” Camps in Vilia, Attica. This year they were dedicated to the 200th anniversary of the Exodus of Mesolongi, as part of the Metropolis’s commemorative activities under the title “Έξοδος στην αιω‘ΝΙΟΤΗ’τα” [“Exodus into Eter‘YOUTH’nity”, a Greek wordplay combining eternity and youth].

A noteworthy cultural initiative consists of the large-scale productions we stage on religious, national, and literary themes, several of which have been posted online, as well as the free provision of Byzantine chant lessons. Our social outreach also includes the distribution of goods and blood drives, which are held three times a year with significant results.

TNH: Your Eminence, to which Archiepiscopal “faction” of the Genuine Orthodox Christians do you belong? If I am not mistaken, there are more than five.

Metropolitan Chrysostomos: I would prefer not to use the term “faction,” but rather to say that I belong to the Church of the G.O.C. of Greece under Our Beatitude, Archbishop Kallinikos. Unfortunately, the “factions” are far more than five, a situation due to the absence of legal protection. The struggle of the Old Calendarists began with great purity of intention, but this most unfortunate fragmentation has undermined that just struggle. Nowadays, anyone can put on a mitre and pose as the “Archbishop of the G.O.C.”

TNH: How many Metropolises make up your Synod? Where is it headquartered?

Metropolitan Chrysostomos: It is headquartered in Athens and consists of the Archdiocese and thirteen Metropolises within Greece, as well as sixteen Metropolises and Dioceses abroad. Of these, in America there are the Holy Metropolises of America and Toronto, and the Dioceses of Boston, and Etna and Portland.

TNH: Why do you think this “schism” between the Old and New Calendars has continued to exist for more than a century, given that the New Calendar is essentially the Old Calendar “corrected”?

Metropolitan Chrysostomos: The calendar was changed not out of concern for correction or astronomical accuracy, but for the sake of the “simultaneous celebration of the great feasts by all the Churches” (meaning also the heterodox communities), according to the 1920 encyclical of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Yet, as we have seen, this simultaneous celebration was disrupted within Orthodoxy itself. What, then, was the benefit? If astronomical accuracy had been the objective, the calendrical practice of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem could very easily have been maintained. The truth is that, if the Church of Greece had treated the first Old Calendarists with the appropriate love and understanding, the situation might have been different. Unfortunately, mistakes were made on both sides. As for why the schism continues to exist, this is directly connected, on the one hand, with Ecumenism and, on the other, with the self-interest of many who make a source of gain out of the piety of unsuspecting faithful.

TNH: Has a century not been enough to heal the wounds?

Metropolitan Chrysostomos: Unfortunately, the wounds of the first five decades after 1924 widened the divide. Even today, there are elderly people scattered throughout Greece who still speak of the harsh persecutions.

TNH: What do you think should be done today, in an age of dialogue with every kind of Christian confession, and even with non-Christian sects and factions? Can the power and dynamic of love, goodwill, and unity still be brought to bear?

Metropolitan Chrysostomos: “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever.” He continually exhorts us to let our inner light shine before men, so that they may see our good works and glorify our heavenly Father. This must be our direction. The world needs to see the light with which the human soul can be flooded only through Orthodox Theology. We see this in countless examples from the lives of the Saints.

 

Greek source: https://www.ekirikas.com/o-mitropolitis-attikis-kai-voiotias-g/