Archbishop Iakovos and the Greek Orthodox Church
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Wayne State University Wayne State University Dissertations January 2018 A Quest For Human Rights And Civil Rights: Archbishop Iakovos And The Greek Orthodox Church Michael Varlamos Wayne State University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/oa_dissertations Part of the History of Religion Commons Recommended Citation Varlamos, Michael, "A Quest For Human Rights And Civil Rights: Archbishop Iakovos And The Greek Orthodox Church" (2018). Wayne State University Dissertations. 2079. https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/oa_dissertations/2079 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@WayneState. It has been accepted for inclusion in Wayne State University Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@WayneState. A QUEST FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AND CIVIL RIGHTS: ARCHBISHOP IAKOVOS AND THE GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH by MICHAEL VARLAMOS DISSERTATION Submitted to the Graduate School of Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY 2018 MAJOR: HISTORY Approved By: Advisor Date © COPYRIGHT BY MICHAEL VARLAMOS 2018 All Rights Reserved DEDICATION To my wife Tina and our children Niko, Olivia, Stavroula, Panayiotis, and George ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Having completed this dissertation in partial fulfillment of a doctoral degree in history at Wayne State University, I am deeply indebted to numerous people and institutions who have aided me in various ways to realize this life-long dream and who helped make this work possible. I wish to thank His Eminence Metropolitan Nicholas of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Detroit who permitted me to pursue both a Master of Arts degree in classics and a doctoral degree in history while serving as the senior priest of the Assumption Church in St. Clair Shores, Michigan. I am equally grateful to my wife Tina and children Nicholas, Olivia, Stavroula, and Panayiotis who endured my absences in countless church and family social functions so that I could pursue my academic work for the last six years, which would have been impossible to sustain without their constant understanding, encouragement, and support. I am humbled by their love and patience with me. Words cannot begin to describe my deepest appreciation to my professor, mentor, and dissertation advisor Dr. John Bukowczyk from whom I learned the historian’s craft and whose guidance, encouragement, the inspiration for this work, and humor at critical times over the last six years proved irreplaceable. I could not have accomplished this without you, John. I am most appreciative to all my professors in both the classics and history department of Wayne State University for expanding and deepening my knowledge in various subjects. Dr. Kenneth Walters retaught me ancient Greek and was the one who insisted I pursue doctoral studies in history and recommended Dr. John Bukowczyk as my advisor. Thank you, Dr. Ronald Brown for agreeing to serve on my dissertation committee on such short notice. I am most thankful to one of my favorite professors of the history department, Dr. Liette Gidlow, who introduced me to the significance of historiography and historical perspective and who graciously agreed to serve on my dissertation committee. I am also deeply grateful to Dr. Danielle McGuire who also served on my dissertation iii committee but was also most encouraging and helpful during my comprehensive examinations and inspired me to write history to both an academic and popular audience. I am truly blessed to have had such distinguished professors and inspirational men and women who have ennobled me in so many ways. I would be remiss if I did not extend my profound appreciation to my Assumption Church office staff, Administrator Joan DeRonne and Administrative Assistant Olga Cardasis, who covered for me at the church while I was away attending classes and researching and writing my dissertation. Joan and Olga, you are a Godsend to my family and me. I am deeply appreciative of the Graduate-Professional Scholarship of Wayne State University that essentially funded my academic pursuits over the last six years. I am also most thankful to the Taylor Scholarship and the Trakatellis Fellowship of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, which also generously funded my tuition, books, research travel costs, and other academic expenses since 2012. Finally, I would like to thank my seminary professor and current Greek Orthodox Prelate of America, His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios for his prayers and for making available to me the archives of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America under the astute custodianship of its archivist, Nikie Calles, whose guidance was invaluable. I wish to thank my dear friend Jeff Peterson for helping me with formatting this manuscript for submission and publication. Finally, I wish to thank Fr. Tom Michalos, Fr. Dean Hountalas, Fr. Christopher Abell, Professors Eric Ash, Elizabeth Faue, Marc Kruman, Tracy Neumann, Department Advisor Gayle McCreedy, Administrative Assistant Marilyn Vaughn, and Classmate Miriam Mora. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Dedication ................................................................................................................................. ii Acknowledgments .................................................................................................................... iii Chapter 1 An Introduction to Archbishop Iakovos Coucouzes .............................................. 1 Chapter 2 Iakovos Coucouzes’s Aegean World ..................................................................... 28 Chapter 3 Greek America and the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese ........................................ 63 Chapter 4 Iakovos Coucouzes as Deacon, Priest, Bishop, and Emissary .................................. 100 Chapter 5 From Movements Ecumenical to Civil Rights, 1958–1964 ................................ 140 Chapter 6 Selma and Beyond, 1965–1969 ............................................................................ 172 Chapter 7 Archbishop Iakovos, 1970 to the late 1980s........................................................ 217 Chapter 8 The Last Decade and Quest for Unity, 1986–2005 ............................................. 261 Chapter 9 Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 283 Epilogue ................................................................................................................................ 304 References ............................................................................................................................. 309 Abstract ................................................................................................................................. 338 Autobiographical Statement................................................................................................. 340 v 1 CHAPTER 1 AN INTRODUCTION TO ARCHBISHOP IAKOVOS COUCOUZES On March 15, 1965, religious and civic leaders from across the country responded to a nation-wide plea from Martin Luther King Jr. and gathered at Brown Chapel of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in Selma, Alabama. They came to Selma to memorialize two recently fallen heroes of the civil rights movement. The first was twenty-six-year-old African American Jimmie Lee Jackson, a civil rights activist and deacon of St. James Baptist Church in Marion, Alabama. Jimmie Lee, his mother Viola, and his eighty-two-year-old grandfather Cager Lee were among the five hundred voting-rights demonstrators who participated in a peaceful march to the Marion courthouse on the evening of February 18, 1965. Before the marchers could reach their destination, Marion police, Perry County sheriff’s deputies, and Alabama state troopers brutally attacked and pursued demonstrators as they scattered and fled for safety. In the midst of the melee, Jimmie Lee, his mother, and his grandfather sought refuge in a nearby diner. Law enforcement officers cornered the three and commenced to beat Jimmie Lee’s grandfather and mother. When Jimmie Lee attempted to intervene, Alabama state trooper James Bonard Fowler shot him twice in the stomach. Jackson died from his wounds eight days later. The other fallen hero of the movement was thirty-eight-year-old James Reeb, a white Unitarian minister from Boston, Massachusetts, a civil rights activist, and a member of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. After receiving the news of Jimmie Lee Jackson’s death and about the planned voting-rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Reverend Reeb along with Reverends Clark Olsen and Orloff Miller arrived in Selma to participate. On Sunday, March 7, 1965, the three Unitarian ministers marched; both survived the brutal police attacks inflicted upon the demonstrators over the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Two days later, they also participated in the second attempted march, this time with Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. That 2 evening after dinner and on their way back to their motel, a group of white segregationists beat the three ministers outside a suspected Ku Klux Klan gathering place. Reverend Reeb sustained severe brain injuries from the bludgeoning and died in a Birmingham hospital two days later on March 11. The tragic deaths of Jimmie Lee Jackson and Reverend James Reeb spurred a national outcry against the virulent racial hatred that seemed to prevail in the South. The next morning, Dr. King called upon the