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June 18, 2002 St. Dimitrios Greek Orthodox Church Mr. John Êartas,
President 22 Head Street Hamilton, Ontario L8R 1P9 Dear Mr. Kartas, I
am writing this letter to express my concerns about the negative message
being sent out to the Greek Community regarding the 50th
Anniversary celebration dance. It
is my understanding that the council members of the Greek Orthodox
Community of St. Dimitrios Church have decided to have their 50th
Anniversary Celebration in October of 2002. Having done some research on
the history of the Greek Orthodox Community of St. Dimitrios Church, I was
surprised to discover that the church was actually bonded in 1954 not
1952. This would put the 50th Anniversary celebration of St.
Dimitrios Greek Orthodox Community to 2004 and not this coming October. I
am sure that this information was either not available to the members of
the council or it was somehow misinterpreted. Unfortunately many in the
community do not see it this way. There are those who maintain that this
is just another ploy by the St. Dimitrios council to not only maintain the
division within the Greek community, but also to somehow sabotage the 25th
Anniversary celebration of the Panagia Greek-Canadian Community scheduled
for this coming November. Although
I do not share in these views, I am however distressed that no one has
taken the time to clarify this matter. I am sure that upon further
investigation the St. Dimitrios council will come to realize that their 50th
Anniversary Celebration is actually being planned two years ahead of
schedule and will take appropriate steps to rectify the problem. It is
only inevitable that if both the untimely St. Dimitrios’ celebration and
the Panagia celebration both go ahead at the same time the only result
will be disaster of both churches. It
is very sad that our small community already stands divided along church
loyalty lines. I
am sure that you and the council members feel as strongly as I do that we
must do everything in our power to promote a different kind of environment
for our future generations, we are after all their role models. As with
all immigrants in this country, it is our priority to build a healthy
community and try to preserve our culture as best we can. Many
members of our community cannot understand why our younger generation is
pulling away from our culture, religion and customs. They question why
these young people get married in the Greek Orthodox Church, baptize their
children there, but will not come back to participate in the community,
the church or our Greek schools. There
is no question that many members are dedicated to our church and our
community and work very hard to maintain a strong and healthy culture.
However, for some reason the negative messages we are sending to them by
appearing to be a divided community with many petty and insignificant
squabbles is what they see of us. I
would suggest that it is time for both churches to reunite and promote one
common front. We must all find the love in our hearts to forgive the past
and show our community positive examples. I
am certain that with some effort we can reach an amicable solution to this
perceived problem so that everyone, including our community, will benefit. Sincerely yours,
Åleni
Christophorou c.c.
His Eminence Metropolitan
Archbishop Sotirios Rev.
Fr. Constantine Marinos All
members of St. Demitrios Council Rev.
Dimitrios Tzaneteas Mr.
Carl Pappas President of Panagia Council
June 18, 2002
His Eminence Metropolitan Sotirios Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Toronto
Canada 86 Overly Blvd. Toronto, Ontario M4H 1C6 His Eminence, Please find enclosed a copy of a
letter that I sent to the Council of St. Dimitrios Greek Orthodox Church
in Hamilton concerning the celebration of their 50th
Anniversary. Having the understanding of how busy
your schedule is, at your convenience I would appreciated very much any
advice you could offer in this matter. Sincerely yours, Eleni Christophorou To Whom It May Concern: I Eleni Christophorou authorizing
anyone to publish the letter which I sent to Mr. John Kartas the president
of St. Dimitrios Greek Orthodox Church on June 18th 2002. Sincerely yours, Eleni Christophorou
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