NEW YORK — His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America opened the 61st Annual Awards Dinner of the Appeal of Conscience Foundation on Wednesday evening, September 23, with a prayer of thanksgiving for the Foundation and for the man who created it more than six decades ago. This year’s Appeal of Conscience Award went to FedEx President and Chief Executive Officer Raj Subramaniam.

> Read: Archbishop Elpidophoros’s full invocation 

“We give You thanks, O Creator of Heaven and Earth, for the witness of truth, righteousness, and understanding that the Appeal of Conscience Foundation has brought to our world since its inception, under its intrepid leader, our beloved Rabbi Arthur Schneier,” the Archbishop prayed as the evening began at The Pierre Hotel in Manhattan.

Greeting “my dear Rabbi Schneier” and the friends of the Foundation, he asked divine blessings upon the Rabbi and his life’s work, and upon the evening’s honoree for his contributions to “connecting our world in the causes of peace, global health, and philanthropy.”

In June 2022, Raj Subramaniam became only the second chief executive in the history of FedEx, succeeding the company’s founder, Fred Smith. He was born in Trivandrum, now Thiruvananthapuram, in the southern Indian state of Kerala. He earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from IIT Bombay, a master’s in chemical engineering from Syracuse University and an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin. He joined FedEx in 1991 as an associate marketing analyst. Over three decades he held posts in Asia and North America, led FedEx Express as its President and CEO, and served as President and Chief Operating Officer of the corporation before taking the top job.

> Previously: Archbishop Elpidophoros gives benediction at Appeal of Conscience Foundation gathering 

“Raj Subramaniam is being recognized for his international visionary leadership and steadfast commitment to connecting people worldwide through innovation and service,” Rabbi Schneier said in announcing the award. “Under his stewardship, FedEx has advanced a culture of social and global responsibility and international cooperation that reflects ACF’s mission.”

Subramaniam said: “I am honored to receive the Appeal of Conscience Award from Rabbi Schneier and the Appeal of Conscience Foundation. At FedEx, we believe that connecting the world through trade and innovation does more than move goods—it builds bridges, fosters international cooperation, and brings communities closer together. We are committed to leveraging our global reach to build a more connected and unified world.”

The Trustees of the Foundation had one more honor to bestow that night, and they had managed to keep it a secret from Rabbi Schneier himself. To his surprise, they presented him with a Lifetime Achievement Award honoring more than six decades of work for religious freedom and understanding among faiths.

It is a life that began in Vienna on March 20, 1930. Arthur Schneier survived the Holocaust as a boy in Budapest, and the Foundation’s account of his life records the vow he made in those years: if he lived, he would work for a world where people of every faith could live side by side. He came to the United States in 1947, received his rabbinical ordination from Yeshiva University and in 1962 became senior rabbi of Park East Synagogue  on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. He still holds that pulpit at 96.

President Bill Clinton awarded him the Presidential Citizens Medal in 2001, describing him as “a Holocaust survivor who has devoted a lifetime to overcoming forces of hatred and intolerance.” Three years earlier, Clinton had named him one of three American religious leaders to open a dialogue on religious freedom with China’s President Jiang Zemin. In 2008 the Rabbi welcomed Pope Benedict XVI to Park East, the first papal visit to a synagogue in the United States.

The Ecumenical Patriarchate has known him as a friend for decades. In February 1994 the Appeal of Conscience Foundation and the Ecumenical Patriarchate co-sponsored the Conference on Peace and Tolerance in Istanbul. Its Bosphorus Declaration carries the signatures of His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, Rabbi Schneier, Mehmet Nuri Yılmaz, then president of Turkey’s Directorate of Religious Affairs, and Cardinal Roger Etchegaray.

In 2008 the Order of St. Andrew the Apostle, Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, presented the Rabbi with its Athenagoras Human Rights Award. A year later he received Patriarch Bartholomew at Park East Synagogue, the only Jewish house of worship His All-Holiness visited during his 2009 Apostolic Visit to the United States. And last September, as the Ecumenical Patriarch concluded his most recent Apostolic Visit, a farewell luncheon hosted by Archbishop Elpidophoros with Archons John Calamos, John Koudounis and Yannis Sianis was also held in gratitude to Rabbi Schneier.

The Appeal of Conscience Foundation grew out of the struggle for religious freedom behind the Iron Curtain. In January 1965, Rabbi Schneier and Senator Robert F. Kennedy presided over a demonstration for Soviet Jewry at Park East Synagogue, across the street from the Soviet Mission. Within the year the Rabbi had drawn a Jesuit editor, two Protestant ministers and a former congressman into the new Foundation, and in 1966 its first interfaith delegation traveled to Moscow and Leningrad.

From the start he drew executives, clergy and diplomats of every faith into the work. Its guiding principle, that “a crime committed in the name of religion is the greatest crime against religion,” echoes the Berne Declaration of November 1992. That month, the Foundation brought together Catholic, Serbian Orthodox and Muslim leaders of the former Yugoslavia in Switzerland, among them Patriarch Pavle of Serbia, to call for an end to the bloodshed.

In December 2000, the Foundation issued at the United Nations a call to stop the desecration of holy sites. The following May, the General Assembly adopted Resolution 55/254, condemning attacks on religious sites and calling on states to protect them.

Its honors have gone to heads of state and to moral leaders across the world. Recipients of its World Statesman Award include Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union; Václav Havel, the dissident playwright who became president of Czechoslovakia; and former German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The Appeal of Conscience Award has honored civil rights leader Coretta Scott King; last year’s recipients were Cardinal Timothy Dolan and Nigerian business leader Tony Elumelu.

Karen Schneier Dresbach, the Foundation’s Executive Vice President and Rabbi Schneier’s daughter, spoke of “the alarming and surging rates of attacks on religious institutions and people of faith in the United States,” in churches, synagogues, temples, mosques, shrines and other houses of worship: “The Appeal of Conscience Foundation is in action,” she said, “funding security measures to protect houses of worship, pursuing tough federal legislation and prosecution, creating even stronger alliances with the top faith leaders throughout the world, and educating our youth in our Respect the Other program. It’s past time for dialogue. We believe in action.”

At the center of that effort is Stand Up Sunday, which she called “an incredible initiative, now in its second year.” The Foundation organizes it in partnership with Robert Kraft’s Blue Square Alliance Against Hate. Kraft received the Appeal of Conscience Award in 2022. First observed on September 7, 2025, the day returns this year on Sunday, October 18. Parishes can find information at appealofconscience.org.

“With millions of people of faith coming together in a few weeks for Stand Up Sunday, I’m sure you won’t want to feel left out,” she said. “So where will you be on October 18? We are counting on you to join us.”

Two years ago to the day, on September 23, 2024, the Foundation presented Archbishop Elpidophoros with an Appeal of Conscience Award at its 59th gala, in the same hotel. Rabbi Schneier cited at the time the Archbishop’s “outstanding dedication to inter-religious cooperation to advance peaceful co-existence and mutual acceptance.” Archbishop Elpidophoros now serves as a Trustee of the Foundation.

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On Wednesday, September 23 His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros received at the Archdiocesan Headquarters members of the organizing committee behind the inaugural New York Yankees Greek Jersey Night, held this past June.

The celebration brought together more than 1,500 members of the Greek community from across the tristate area and raised more than $37,000 in support of Camp Saint Paul, helping provide young people with opportunities for faith, fellowship, and community.

Present at today’s meeting were Rev. Protopresbyter of the Ecumenical Throne Elias Villis, Chancellor of the Archdiocesan District and Director of Camp Saint Paul; Archons Mike Neamonitakis and Costa Sideridis; and Matthew Kerwin of the New York Yankees.

His Eminence expressed his appreciation to all who helped make this memorable evening possible and celebrated the spirit of collaboration that brought the Greek community together at Yankee Stadium in support of our youth.

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Orthodox Volunteer Corps (OVC) is a year-long immersive program for young adults ages 21-29 to serve with our most vulnerable neighbors. Corps Members live in community with other young adults, explore topics of the faith and leadership, and root themselves in the Church. Housing, transportation, and food are 100% covered. OVC began programming in Pittsburgh in fall 2022 with 6 participants, expanded to Boston in 2024, and by 2026 had over 100 participants across four programs.

OVC is now pleased to announce expansion to a third city: Phoenix, Arizona, beginning in Fall 2027.

Applications are now open for the 2027-28 full-time program. Learn more at orthodoxvolunteercorps.org/.

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The Maliotis Cultural Center of Hellenic College Holy Cross is pleased to announce the recent signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Center for Hellenic Studies at Harvard University, opening a new chapter of academic and cultural collaboration between the two institutions.

Building on an ongoing dialogue and a shared interest in strengthening Hellenic studies, the MOU provides a framework for developing joint initiatives in scholarship, culture, and public engagement.

The partnership reflects a shared commitment to the study and dissemination of Greek language and culture and to meaningful engagement with the Hellenic world in both its historical and contemporary dimensions.

Through this collaboration, the two institutions will explore opportunities for scholarly exchange, interdisciplinary dialogue, academic programming, cultural initiatives, and public events, bringing together scholars, students, and wider audiences.

The first initiative associated with this new collaboration will be the upcoming program “Living Within Planetary Boundaries,” on Thursday, October 15, featuring Alexandra Mitsotakis as a guest speaker.

The event offers an early example of the kinds of conversations the partnership hopes to foster: bringing scholarship into dialogue with contemporary questions and connecting the intellectual and cultural dimensions of Hellenic studies with broader public concerns.

We look forward to the opportunities this partnership will create for future collaboration, cultural exchange, and engagement with the Hellenic world.

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A newly-revised bilingual edition of the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom has arrived at the Orthodox Marketplace warehouse and is now in stock. The Divine Liturgy Pew Edition 2026, published by Orthodox Press, can be ordered by parishes in bulk and by individuals one copy at a time.

The volume was prepared under the direction of the Department of Religious Education of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America and approved by the Ecumenical Patriarchate. It presents the official Greek and English texts of the Divine Liturgy on facing pages.

The new edition follows the official Greek Hieratikon of 2020 and brings a careful revision of both the Greek and the English. Drawing on the liturgical experience of the Church, scholarly review and pastoral practice, the revised translation aims for greater clarity and precision while keeping the theological depth and the familiar cadence that worshippers know.

The book is bound in hardcover, with a gold-stamped cover and an interior design inspired by the Byzantine tradition. Alongside the Divine Liturgy, it includes the Prayers of Thanksgiving after Holy Communion, the Memorial Service (Trisagion) and the Service of the Blessing of the Five Loaves (Artoklasia).

Parishes throughout the Archdiocese are invited to place the new edition in their pews, so that the faithful can follow the service closely and take part in it more fully. Clergy, chanters, readers and laypeople may also order individual copies for personal prayer, liturgical study, use at home or as a gift.

How to order

Parishes can order by the case, with 48 books per case, for pew and congregational use: Place a bulk order (48 books per case)

Individuals can purchase single copies here: Purchase an individual copy

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The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America is pleased to announce the 2026 Archbishop Elpidophoros Nameday Gala will take place on Monday, November 2, 2026, at 6:00 p.m. at Pier 60 in Manhattan.

This year, His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros has dedicated the celebration to honoring the life and ministry of His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios, inviting the faithful of the Archdiocese to come together in gratitude for a life devoted to Christ, His Church, and the people of God.

Reflecting on the decision to dedicate this year’s Nameday Gala to his predecessor, Archbishop Elpidophoros said:

“Archbishop Demetrios has given his entire life to the service of Christ and His Church. His nearly twenty years as Archbishop of America represent only one chapter in a remarkable ministry that has touched the lives of countless people, in Greece, here in America, and throughout the world. His service as Archbishop, his scholarship and teaching, his pastoral care, and his witness on behalf of the Church have left an enduring mark on our Archdiocese. I believe it is important for our entire Archdiocese to come together to honor him, to express our gratitude for his service, and to celebrate the legacy of faith, wisdom, and love that he has given to our Church. I am honored that this year’s Nameday celebration will provide an opportunity for all of us to express our love and gratitude to His Eminence.”

The Archbishop’s Nameday Gala will also continue its important charitable mission. Proceeds from the 2026 celebration will benefit the Archdiocesan Youth Summer Camp Scholarship Fund, helping children from across the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America attend summer camp regardless of their family’s financial circumstances.

The scholarship fund has become an important and growing part of the Archdiocese’s ministry to young people. In 2024, 275 young people received scholarship assistance to attend Greek Orthodox summer camps. In 2025, that number increased to 310 scholarships, with an even greater number of the Archdiocese’s Metropolises participating in the grant program. This continued year-over-year growth demonstrates both the need for this ministry and the tangible difference the generosity of the faithful is making in the lives of young Orthodox Christians.

As the Archdiocese gathers to honor Archbishop Demetrios, it will also look toward the future by investing in the next generation of the Church.

Join us on November 2 at Pier 60 in Manhattan as we celebrate the Nameday of His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros, honor the life and ministry of His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios, and help make the transformative experience of Orthodox summer camp available to even more children throughout the Archdiocese.

• Monday, November 2, 2026
• 6:00 p.m.
• Pier 60 | Manhattan
• Single Tickets, tables and sponsorship opportunities are currently available online. For more information or to make a contribution to the Archdiocesan Youth Summer Camp Scholarship Fund, please visit www.goarch.org/nameday.

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