His Eminence, Archbishop Spyridon of America,
His Grace, Bishop Alexios of Troas,
Dr. William Chace, President of Emory University,
Honorable Guests,
My Beloved Children in the Lord,

We are pleased to be here today, deeply moved that you have invited our Modesty to receive this high honor. Our presence with you fulfills a long-standing wish for us to visit this region of the United States. The rich history of the South, its many contributions to the development of American culture, and its forward-looking vision for the future, has always attracted our attention.

Emory University has been a beacon of progress and educational innovation in the academic world. This University’s reputation is known far beyond this land. Its commitment to a moral and ethical use of the tools of human progress is well known to us. We are very proud of our spiritual son Dr. John Skandalakis who serves this academic community with distinction and honor. We are proud to receive this University’s Presidential Gold Medal.

We are especially proud of this Greek Orthodox community, the seat of the Diocese of Atlanta, which encompasses the southern region of America. This is a most dynamic community, one that has kept the trust of tradition and faith intact. It has also lived up to the challenges of a changing world, a growing and evolving culture that has itself challenged the community to be faithful and contemporary as well. It is this relationship between modernity and tradition that we would like to discuss by way of our small contribution to today’s proceedings.

We represent an unbroken continuity from the time of Jesus Christ to the present. Our humble person has the awesome responsibility of representing the Apostle Andrew who was the first-called disciple of Christ. By the mercy of God, we are the 270th successor to Andrew. We believe as Orthodox Christians, that the authority given to Andrew by Christ has been passed down from person to person through Apostolic succession. This is the foundation of our continuity. This is the foundation of our polity. This is the assurance that we have that Christ’s great commission has been heard by each and every generation. From generation to generation, the message of Jesus Christ, the great commandment to love one another, has been the pearl of great price entrusted to us to proclaim to one and all.

The modern western world has often portrayed this simple message as marginal to the great advancements of science, technology and the arts since the Enlightenment. Modern culture has been portrayed has having its own message, its own truth that is more relevant, more important to the lives of the people of our societies than the Church’s ancient message. The latter has been portrayed as archaic and irrelevant. At the same time, secular culture has often been shown to be empty and without morality.

Contemporary society has searched for a moral compass everywhere, too often ignoring religious traditions. Especially since the since the Second World War, religion has been seen to be in conflict with the hallmark of modernity, which is secularism. Secularism is seen as being the only fair way of not imposing religion upon people against their will, and yet, secularism’s emptiness leaves the culture desiring a moral direction. Contemporary culture has a very short memory. Orthodox Christianity however, has a very long memory.

Orthodoxy does not react against modernity automatically. We have maintained the memory of Christ’s simple and yet profound message unchanged. And we offer this message, humbly, as an apostle of love, peace and hope to a world in conflict; to a world in search of a moral compass.

We believe that progress can and must be centered upon the moral and the ethical values of what is best in our history. As Orthodox Christians, we believe that progress itself must be part of Christ’s ongoing transformation of the world. This is accomplished when the tools of progress are employed in a loving way. Human beings give the tools of science and technology their moral valence. They do this according to the intentions by which they affect the world, as they use the tools of progress.

Orthodox Christianity seeks to affirm the personhood of man, and center it upon God. For us, Jesus Christ serves as the model of perfection, the example of the union between the human and hence the world, and the divine, which is the true source of all that is good. Because of this perfect union between God and man, our use of the tools of progress in the service of God assures Orthodox Christians that we need not disparage the works of man.

We must not blame the culture of intellectual progress for the emptiness of our own souls. If we look to secular culture to feed our psyches, we will starve. If the diverse peoples of a culture look to the memories of their faith traditions, whatever they may be, they will be sustained, they will be fed the food of God’s spiritual knowledge. Nourished in this way, persons may properly apply the tools created by their culture in the service of God.

Orthodox Christian and modernist, Protestant and modernist, Jew and modernist, Catholic and modernist ñ however we worship, as long as we abide in our faith and unite it to our works in the world, we bring the living and always timely message of Divine Wisdom into the modern world.

For us, Jesus Christ is the model of the union of the Divine and the human, and love is the timely message to the modernism of our age. It is our responsibility as the spiritual leader of 300 million Orthodox Christians to proclaim this message. This is our responsibility as the successor of Andrew. It is the heart of Christ’s message to the world yesterday, today and forever (Heb ). We bring this message not as a coercive tyranny of belief, but as an embrace of truth in the service of love and respect for one another, and in the defense of the freedoms for all the people of the world.

Our people, the faithful Greek Orthodox Christians of Atlanta and the Holy Archdiocese of America are living proof of Christ’s presence in the world. We celebrate the Archdiocese’s seventy-five years of growth and accomplishments. We are proud of the faithful, and receive this recognition from your esteemed University on their behalf. This institution is a shining example of furthering the progress of our culture, its science and technology through the moral and ethical commitment to values in the rich, complex diversity of what is best in American culture.
May the Lord bless this institution, its instructors and students, and guide it into the twenty-first century as a light by which others may find the way to love, peace and hope for a better world. Thank you.