New Greek Orthodox Church Leader Coming To Syosset

SYOSSET, NY — The new leader of the Greek Orthodox church of the United States is coming to Syosset. Elpidophoros Lambriniadis will visit the headquarters of the Orthodox Church in America around 12:30 p.m. Monday.

In June, the native of Istanbul and longtime Greek theology professor became the church's first new leader in 20 years. The church is a far-flung denomination with about 1.5 million members, according to The Associated Press.

Elpidophoros was elected by senior Greek Orthodox officials earlier this to succeed Archbishop Demetrios, who retired at 91. Demetrios had held the position since 1999.

The archdiocese, whose national headquarters is in New York, oversees 540 parishes nationwide with roughly 800 priests. Elpidophoros told The Associated Press over the summer he planned to visit every parish to introduce himself.

"It will be a challenge for me to get to know all of the different places," he said. "I have to travel to all our parishes. ... Already my schedule is full for next three months."

Indeed, according to the archdiocese's schedule, Elpidophoros has made other stops in Long Island, including in Port Washington, Greenlawn and Wantagh. He's also visited Wisconsin, Illinois, Florida, Connecticut, Washington, D.C., Arizona, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachusetts, California and Texas.