TheLeader VOLUME XXVI ISSUE1 Winter2025 - Flipbook - Page 10
Archbishop Elpidophoros Honors Legacy
of Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter
Archbishop
Elpidophoros of
America paid
tribute to former
U.S. President
Jimmy Carter in
a heartfelt social
President Jimmy Carter confers Presidential
media post.
Medal of Freedom on Archbishop Iakovos
in 1980.
President Carter,
a devout Christian and Archon of the Ecumenical
Patriarchate, held a close connection with the Greek
Orthodox Archdiocese of America.
In his message, the Archbishop reflected on Carter’s
extraordinary life, stating:
“The passing of
President Jimmy
Carter, an Archon
of our Ecumenical
Patriarchate and a
close friend of our
Ex-President Jimmy Carter honored as the
Archdiocese,
recipient of the 1987 Athenagoras Human
Rights Award.
reminds us of a life
rooted in faith, integrity, and service to all. His legacy of
compassion calls us to reflect on our shared values. Eternal
Memory!”
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jimmy Carter, the 39th
President of the United States from 1977 to 1981 and the
recipient of the 1987 Athenagoras Human Rights Award,
passed away at his home in Plains, Georgia on Sunday,
December 29, 2024. He was 100 years old.
The New York Times noted that as president, Carter
“signed a strategic arms limitation agreement with the
Soviet Union and helped forge the Camp David Accords
between Egypt and Israel. Mr. Carter cemented his legacy
with a deeper engagement in public affairs than any other
former president of modern times.”
Renowned for his profound compassion, deep Christian
commitment, and consistent dedication to human rights
for all people around the globe, then Ex-President Carter
was presented the Athenagoras Human Rights Award by
His Eminence Archbishop Iakovos of North and South
America and Dr. Anthony G. Borden, National
8
Commander of the Order of Saint Andrew the Apostle,
Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, on February 21,
1987. In addition to receiving the Athenagoras Human
Rights Award, President Carter was at the same time made
an honorary Archon of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
President Carter had
a longstanding love
and respect for the
Greek Orthodox
Church and the
Ecumenical
Ex-President Jimmy Carter honored
Patriarchate. In 1978,
by Archbishop Iakovos as Archon of
the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
when Pope John Paul
I died, President Carter asked His Eminence Archbishop
Iakovos to be a member of the U.S. Presidential delegation
at the Pope’s funeral; two years later, President Carter
awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Archbishop
Iakovos.
In 1985, President
Carter traveled to
Constantinople to
visit His AllHoliness
Ecumenical
Ex-President Carter with His Eminence
Patriarch
Demetrios
Metropolitan Bartholomew at the Phanar,
in 1985.
and His Eminence
Metropolitan Bartholomew of Philadelphia, who later
succeeded Patriarch Demetrios as Ecumenical Patriarch. At
the Phanar, Metropolitan Bartholomew showed President
Carter the burnt-out structure of the Ecumenical
Patriarchate's main building, which had burned down in
1941. Carter promised to speak with Turkish Prime
Minister Turgut Özal to urge him to grant permission for
its reconstruction. Carter gave his chief of staff, George
Schira, the responsibility of working with the Turks until
permission was granted; the ex-President also worked with
Archon Arthur Cheokas of blessed memory to gain
permission from Turkish authorities to reconstruct. The
new headquarters was finally constructed and dedicated in
1989.
President Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in
2002 “for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful
solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy
and human rights, and to promote economic and social
development.”
