Friday, April 3, 2009

Pittsburgh: Orthodox Church elects new bishop


Leaders of the Pittsburgh archdiocese of the Orthodox Church in America rejoiced yesterday that an Ohio-born monk, who local clergy and laity had overwhelmingly nominated as their bishop, has been elected by other bishops of the church.

"Glory to God! Glory to God!" said an elated Father Patrick Carpenter, press officer for the Archdiocese of Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania.

He had just spoken by phone to Bishop-elect Melchisedek, 66, who lives in a monastery in Greece.

The bishop-elect said in a Facebook posting that he "has finished waiting and has started packing for Pittsburgh."

Many archdiocesan leaders had worried that the Holy Synod of Bishops would reject November's unprecedented first ballot nomination and that the Pittsburgh archdiocese might be merged with Philadelphia. The late Archbishop Kyrill of Pittsburgh died in June 2007, as the church was reeling amid a $4 million financial scandal at its national headquarters.

In November, Metropolitan Jonah was elected to the church's top post as a reformer, and he responded quickly to a letter last month from Pittsburgh's Archdiocesan Council, which expressed concerns about why the bishops had taken four months to vote on their nominee.

A March 22 meeting between Metropolitan Jonah, Bishop Tikhon of Philadelphia, who has overseen the Pittsburgh archdiocese, and the Archdiocesan Council ended talk of a merger. The Synod of Bishops elected its new member for Pittsburgh at its regular meeting, which ended yesterday.

More here-

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09093/960329-85.stm

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