To the Editor: 

In an era when our Archdiocese must vigorously work for the Greek language, and must reach out to the thousands of new Greek immigrants who have arrived in the U.S. after the economic crises, it announced a Spanish language initiative. To call it tone-deaf would be an understatement. Under Athenagoras, the Archdiocese took over all Greek communal activities, and committed to helping the Greeks preserve their Greek identity. Announcements like the Spanish-language initiative make the Archdiocese appear all-too-ready to drop that commitment and fill its buildings with non-Greeks. This is called ‘evangelization’, but the reality is uglier. The Archdiocese aims to take away from the Greek community its central institutions. It aims to take the houses the Greeks built, to serve their needs, away from them. Outreach to the Hispanic population is puzzling to say the least, since the Hispanic population is staunchly Catholic. The Archdiocese claims it wants to partner with the Catholic Church in the ecumenical movement. Why, then, would it try to lure people raised in the Catholic Church away from it? It is just one puzzle of many which make up the Archdiocese’s evangelization policy. The Archdiocese has enough work to keep it busy serving the population which already nourishes it, yet it signaled to that population that its focus is elsewhere. A crisis is coming – if the Greeks decide to stand up. 

Kosmas Papadopoulos

Sioux City, Iowa