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Catholic San Francisco
August 11, 2006 issue. This article is reprinted below.
SF Roman Catholic Archbishop Niederauer meets with Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Gerasimos of SF
San Francisco Archbishop George H. Niederauer was welcomed July 28 to the home of Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Gerasimos of San Francisco. It
was an initial step by the two recently installed leaders of their respective communities to greet each other and share fellowship. The two
spoke privately for about 20 minutes and then joined officials from both dioceses for lunch. The success of the first encounter was summed up
by Metropolitan Gerasimos who told Archbishop Niederauer, “You are not only welcome . . . I consider you a brother in Christ already. The two
toasted each other and discussed opportunities for future meetings of friendship and cooperation between the churches. For his part, Archbishop
Niederauer graciously thanked Metropolitan Gerasimos and said he was welcome also at the Archbishop’s home. Following lunch, Metropolitan
Gerasimos presented Archbishop Niederauer an icon of the Holy Trinity hand painted by Greek Orthodox nuns near Fresno.
Father Michael Pappas, pastor of Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in San Francisco and ecumenical officer for the Greek diocese, said it was
an historic time for ecumenical relations in San Francisco. Following the long and close friendship between the former Greek Orthodox,
Catholic and Episcopal leaders in San Francisco, each of the churches had recently installed new leaders.
Metropolitan Gerasimos was enthroned in April of 2005, Archbishop Niederauer was installed this last February, and Rt. Rev. Marc Handley
Andrus was invested Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of California July 24. Their predecessors, Metropolitan Anthony (deceased), Cardinal
William J. Levada, and recently retired Episcopal Bishop William Swing enjoyed a particularly close and productive relationship. The three
former leaders had made an historic pilgrimage together in April 2003 to their respective ecclesial homes; Constantinople, Rome and
Canterbury, meeting with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in Constantinople, Pope John Paul II in Rome and leaders of the Anglican Communion
in Canterbury and London.
Metropolitan Gerasimos, a member of the North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation, told Catholic San Francisco he hopes for
similar signs of unity in the future, as well as practical forms of partnership between the faithful. Quoting Archbishop Iakovos, former
leader of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of the United States, Gerasimos said, “Let the theologians dialogue, but let’s do the work of
theology as people of God.”
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