2004 -- S 2984 ======LC03064 ======STATE OF RHODE ISLAND
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2004 ______
S E N A T E R E S O L U T I O N
CELEBRATING THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF METROPOLITAN METHODIOS' TENURE AS THE BISHOP OF THE GREEK ORTHODOX DIOCESE OF BOSTON
Introduced By: Senators Raptakis, J Montalbano, Paiva-Weed, F Caprio, and Ruggerio
Date Introduced: March 25, 2004
Referred To: Recommended for Immediate Consideration
1 WHEREAS, Metropolitan Methodios, whose baptismal name was George, was born on
2 November 19, 1946 in New York City and was the third child of Stavroula and Vasilios Tournas;
3 and
4 WHEREAS, Methodios was educated at the Orthodox Cathedral Parochial School in
5 New York City and the Burney School in Manhattan. He received his Bachelor of Arts Degree
6 from Hellenic College in Brookline, Massachusetts, in 1968; The Master of Sacred Theology
7 from Boston University in Boston, Massachusetts in 1972; and Theological Accreditation from
8 the University of Thessaloniki, Greece, in 1975. Additionally, Boston University awarded him the
9 honorary Doctor of Divinity Degree on May 19, 1985; and
10 WHEREAS, Metropolitan Methodios was enthroned as the Bishop of Boston in 1984
11 following his election to that post by the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate meeting at
12 the Patriarchal Church of the Phanar in Istanbul, Turkey. Since July 18, 1982, when he was
13 consecrated Bishop of the Greek Orthodox Church in the Americas, Bishop Methodios served as
14 an auxiliary Bishop to Archbishop Lakovos, the former Primate of the Greek Orthodox Church of
15 North and South America. Metropolitan Methodios was the youngest clergyman ever elected to
16 the Episcopate in the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of the Americas. In December of 1997, the
17 was elevated to the rank of Metropolitan; and
18 WHEREAS, Metropolitan Methodios is the spiritual leader of the Greek Orthodox
19 Diocese of Boston, which includes all of Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, 1 Vermont, and the Connectic ut towns of Danielson, Enfield, New London and Norwich. The
2 Diocese, whose offices are located in Brookline, Massachusetts, consists of 63 parishes which
3 minister to the needs of 150,000 Greek Orthodox faithful; and
4 WHEREAS, Metropolitan Methodios has served for several years as a member of the
5 National Orthodox-Roman Catholic Consultations. As a member of the Appeal of Conscience
6 Foundation, an organization devoted to the cause of worldwide religious freedom for all religions,
7 Metropolitan Methodios traveled to Hungary in 1981 and, in the fall of 1982, was a member of a
8 three-man religious delegation that visited the former Soviet Union. He made a second visit to the
9 former Soviet Union in 1984 and has fought fervently throughout his professional life in support
10 of religious freedom for all people and all faiths; and
11 WHEREAS, Under the leadership, vision and direction of Metropolitan Methodios, the
12 Diocese of Boston has prospered and flourished. His first undertaking was the construction of the
13 Boston Diocese Center in Brookline, Massachusetts. He also lead the establishment and
14 expansion of the Philoxenia House, a hospitality house for families of hospital patients. Under his
15 direction the Boston Diocese became the first Greek Orthodox Diocese in America to implement
16 Marriage Preparation Seminars. Most recently, the Diocese purchased a Diocese Camp and
17 Retreat Center; now, therefore be it
18 RESOLVED, That this Senate of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
19 hereby congratulates Metropolitan Methodios for his 20 years of devoted service to the Greek
20 Orthodox Diocese of Boston and its faithful followers, and furthermore thanks Metropolitan
21 Methodios for all of his hard work on behalf of religious freedom for all people and all faiths;
22 and be it further
23 RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and he hereby is authorized and directed to
24 transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to Metropolitan Methodios.
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