- On Saturday, December 11, 2021 Fr. Bartholomew Mercado was ordained to the Holy Priesthood and subsequently elevated to the rank of Archimandrite by His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America. In addition to continuing his duties as Archivist at the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, Fr. Bartholomew was appointed the parish priest of Sts. George and Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church in New York City.

 

 

 

- On Friday, December 3, 2021 the Vice-President of our Society, Dr. Lewis Patsavos, will receive a doctorate honoris causa from the Pontifical Oriental Institute. The conferral of this honor will be within the framework of a conference titled: The Fiftieth anniversary of the Foundation of the Faculty of Canon Law of PIO.

Receiving the physical document on behalf of Dr. Patsavos will be the President Emeritus of the Society, His Eminence Metropolitan Kyrillos (Katerelos) of Krinis. 

 

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-His Eminence Metropolitan Gregorios (Papathomas) of Peristeri was elevated to the Holy Episcopacy on October 17, 2021 after being elected the Metropolitan of Peristeri by the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece. We wish His Eminence a long and fruitful ministry in his new diakonia as the Metropolitan of the Sacred Metropolis of Peristeri.

 

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-Rev. Deacon Mihai Constantinescu was ordained to the Holy Diaconate on June 29, 2021. We wish the new deacon a fruitful ministry in the vineyard of the Lord and a good continuation to all of his ecclesiastical and academic endeavors.

 

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 -Professor Péter Szabò was appointed a member of the Commission for Theology which assists in critical works for the Synod of Bishops. Professor Szabò’s has been appointed for a term which concludes in 2023. We wish Professor Szabò every good and perfect gift from above in all his endeavors.

 

 

- On June 4, 2021 His Holiness Pope Francis appointed the Dutch ordinary professor for canon law at the University of Erfurt (Germany) Prof. Dr. Myriam Wijlens as consultor to the Synod of Bishops.  Already on March 23, 2021 Pope Francis extended her term as a member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, where she serves as the moderator of the Working Group "Safeguarding Guidelines and Norms". In 2008 the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity (PCPCU) appointed her on the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches, where since 2015 she has been serving as co-moderator of the Study Group "Churches and Moral Discernment". Because of this engagement, she was also appointed by the PCPCU as an expert to the Anglican Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC) in 2019.

 

 

- The Society celebrates the publication of a new volume of one of its own members, His Excellency Bishop Dimitrios Salachas, published by the Edizioni Dehoniane of Bologna (EDB). His new book is entitled, “Ecclesiologia e Normativa del Codice dei Canoni delle Chiese Orientali” [Ecclesiology and Regulations of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches] (Bologna 2021).

 

 

 

 

- Recently, Fr. Prof. Varghese Koluthara CMI and Fr. Prof. Lorenzo Lorusso O.P. were re-appointed by His Holiness Pope Francis as consultors to the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts for another five year term.

 

 

 

 

- On February 16, 2021 the President Emeritus of the Society, Metropolitan Kyrillos Katerelos (formerly Bishop of Abydos), was elected by the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople as Metropolitan of Krinis and appointed as Patriarchal Exarch of Malta at the suggestion of His All-Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew. 

 

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- On January 20, 2020, His Exc. Mgr. Cyril Vasil', SJ, Archbishop of Tolemaide of Libia, was appointed by His Holiness, Pope Francis, Apostolic Administrator sede plena of the Eparchy of Košice for the Catholics of the Byzantine rite (Slovakia). Formerly, His Excellency was Archbishop Secretary of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches in Rome.

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- His Exc., Mgr. Georges Gallaro, former Vice-President of our Society and Bishop of the Eparchy of Piana degli Albanesi in Sicily, was appointed on February 25, 2020, by His Holiness Pope Francis, Secretary of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches with the personal title of Archbishop. (See the articles below in PDF format for additional information.)

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- Fr. Cristian Crişan, has been elected by the Synod of the Bishops of the Greek-Catholic Romanian Major Archepiscopal Church as Auxiliary Bishop of the Archeparchy of Făgăraş and Alba Iulia (Romania) conceding him the titular see of Abula. Formerly, Fr. Crişan was parish priest of the parish of St. Georges in Paris and Rector of the Mission for the Greek Catholics of Romania in France. Since April 2018, he has been the Apostolic Visitator for the Romanian Greek Catholics in Western Europe.