c. 1998 Religion News Service

CLEVELAND _ Amid loud roars of approval, a dissident lay Greek Orthodox group has renewed its call for the removal of Archbishop Spyridon, the embattled spiritual leader of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.

The action by Greek Orthodox American Leaders (GOAL) follows extraordinary criticism of Spyridon by more 130 members of the church’s hierarchy and priesthood, giving GOAL added hope that support for its position is growing within the tradition-oriented denomination.”We see a fabulous time in the history of the church, which has been in crisis for two years,”Dr. John Collis, a Cleveland neurosurgeon and GOAL co-director, said during a weekend meeting (Dec. 5-6) here of GOAL’s national committee and board of directors.”We suddenly see a light at the end of the tunnel.” However, a church spokesman dismissed GOAL as representing a disgruntled minority that retains strong ties to retired Archbishop Iavakos, a grandfatherly figure who served for 37 years before Spyridon’s appointment.”Everything is personality driven,”said the Rev. Mark Arey, archdiocese communications director.”To be quite frank with you, these people don’t know (Spyridon).” Spyridon, born George Papageorgiou in Warren, Ohio, was enthroned in September 1996 as the first American-born spiritual leader of the Greek Orthodox Church in America. Upon his arrival, he referred to former President Kennedy’s inaugural address in stating the”torch of Orthodoxy in America has been passed to a new generation as well, born in this new land.” However, his critics say the New York-based Spyridon, who spent most of his career in Europe, is out of touch with American culture, and has behaved as an autocrat rather than a servant of the church.

Spyridon was appointed archbishop by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the American church’s Istanbul-based spiritual overseer. Bartholomew so far has shown no inclination to reassign Spyridon or force his resignation.

GOAL was formed last year after Spyridon fired the president and three faculty members at Hellenic College/Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Brookline, Mass. All four had served on a disciplinary committee that reviewed charges a priest sexually harassed a young seminarian.

The committee’s recommendation that the priest be expelled was never carried out.

GOAL charged Spyridon with seeking to cover up the incident, which it said was part of a pattern of heavy-handed policies involving denominational institutions, clergy and the use of church funds. Archdiocesan officials said the dismissals were based strictly on personnel needs. Two bodies that accredit the school are currently reviewing the matter.

However, the school situation is but one of a number of challenges facing Spyridon.

When the archbishop decided in September to sue GOAL for having”misappropriated”the church’s mailing list, all five U.S. metropolitans, or regional Greek Orthodox spiritual leaders, urged him to drop the litigation”and the enormous damage to our Christian image and to the well-being of our Holy Archdiocese and Church in America.”In late November, a New York federal judge rejected the church’s request that GOAL be enjoined from using the list. In a second statement last month explaining their actions, the metropolitans wrote Spyridon that”after many fruitless efforts to achieve communication with your eminence, our brother and fellow bishops decided to sound the alarm of danger regarding the course which ecclesiastical realities are taking in America.” Also in November, more than 130 Greek Orthodox priests signed a statement decrying an”absence of love and understanding in the church, which has resulted in the autocratic and abusive treatment of people of all ranks _ metropolitans, bishops, priests and parishes.” Even retired Archbishop Iavakos recently lamented how the archdiocese has come”to be torn apart, or to be in the process of being torn apart.” During the weekend meeting, some 100 GOAL activists from across the country unanimously voted to renew the call made at their national conference held last March in Chicago for Spyridon to step down or be reassigned.

Among them was George P. Kokalis, head of Leadership 100, the archdiocesan endowment fund.”We must act in a responsible and respectful manner to impress upon the Ecumenical Patriarchate that we can no longer accept the catastrophic situation that exists in the church in America,”he said at the GOAL meeting.

However, the archdiocesan spokesman said there is no reason for Spyridon to even consider resigning. Arey said the church is running smoothly, near or at a balanced budget for the first time in years, and Spyridon has committed no acts of heresy.”What GOAL has tried to do _ it seems to me _ is to invent an impeachment process,”Arey said.”The archbishop has not done anything that would obligate the faithful to remove him as archbishop.”

IR END BRIGGS