Opinion: Time for Change: Prominent Church Leader Proposes Reforms

By Nicholas Karakas

The following editorial was submitted by Mr. Nicholas Karakas, a long-time Greek Orthodox Church activist and philanthropist from St. Louis, Missouri who resides in Naples, Florida. The opinions expressed may not necessarily belong to The Pappas Post.

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Thank you for the many comments received in response to the articles placed in the National Herald.  I pray that the issues affecting our church will be resolved soon, as our church is vulnerable to losing the gains made over the last 30 years.  I humbly yet assertively offer these proposals:

1. A mandatory age of retirement at 75 for all bishops and above allowing them Emeritus status.
2. All new bishops, except the Chicago Diocese Bishop, should be replaced.  It’s time to pass the Bible and elect from the pool of the many spiritually gifted, young, available, qualified and eager-to-serve priests who have the social and technical savvy and worldly talents necessary to successfully direct a diocese.  No more “good ole guy” elections sponsored by monetary contributions.
3. The new archbishop and all new bishops should be required to initiate five and 10-year growth plans placing an end to conducting the affairs of their respective offices by the seat of their pants.  The laity of each diocese will have a vital and important role in the organization and implementation of these plans once they are approved by each Diocesan Council and the Archdiocesan Council.
4. Our Orthodox religion should recognize that we are living yet surviving in turbulent times.  Just being alive is a revelation and a gift–think of it!  It is time to bring Christ back to the present age and center of Orthodoxy in our sermons.  Wonders and miracles are happening around us daily.  Let us acknowledge that Christ is here today, is working within us and will never abandon those who walk in His faith.  This even as we revere our early church Fathers, Saints, Apostles and faithful forbearers. 
5. Our church, and I say this reverently, looks to the past for delivery of messages to our faithful, which may account for the loss of believers in whom we have long fostered and nourished through Greek language school, Sunday school, Goya and team sports.  Our people young and old are generally skimpy on Bible passages. I suggest it is these current teaching methods which need revision and change at Holy Cross and Church Schools.
6. Once the new archbishop, new diocese bishops (except Chicago) and a new Archdiocesan Council are installed, as soon as expediently possible, the archbishop should call for a synodal meeting of all Orthodox bishops for the specific purpose of discussion and implementation of the union of all Orthodox ethnic jurisdictions in American to unite.  An agreed upon plan of, say, 10 years, would allow the church as a whole to carefully counsel and prepare its parishioners and to advise their overseas religious leaders.  Those city areas that have up to six bishops, these religious people should be reassigned and sent to other cities as we can better blanket America with firmly grounded Orthodoxy.  This is a simple statement of an extremely complex matter, yet an important scrawl on uniting Orthodoxy in America.  One can only pray that it could be initiated during our lifetime.
7. Under the uniting plan, all bishops would be reassigned to other cities.  This would help unite our ethnic diversity.  No more Greek, Romanian, Bulgarian, etc. bishops preaching to their own ethnic faithful.  No more bishops and priests occupying their positions some 30 to 40 years, becoming more like actors stale in their preaching and catering to their supporters and yes- men and women.  Think how salvific it would be to be among those privileged to hear the Word of God from bishops and priests of diverse ethnic and experiential backgrounds.
8. Let us unlock the huge number of religious treatises, books, papers and sermons available to the faithful of all jurisdictional brothers.  Let’s make an effort to translate these wonderful religious works into English so that all Orthodox people can enjoy, be inspired and enlivened by our monks and bishops throughout history. 
9. For your information, dear reader, St. Louis University is a repository of a duplication of the Vatican library books and manuscripts.  These papers are a valuable trove of religious history of the Catholic Church and including, where it applies, of when the two churches were one.  It is difficult to forecast the kind of government that will rule Turkey, present and in the future, when it can unleash hooligans to ransack our churches, its multinational Christian people and the main depository of our Orthodox church history on Halki.  That is why we should strive to record and duplicate these critical and religious papers in a safe place, perhaps at Holy Cross Seminary.  This move, though expensive, would allow seminary students of Christianity access to the tomes that helped build our Orthodox faith. 

Let us be honest with ourselves.  Greek and the many ethnic languages used in Orthodox services has helped and served our wonderful parents and grandparents well.  But today, the use of these languages stands as one of the many barriers to the faithful and must be curtailed or eliminated entirely in favor of the English language of our nation.  If, as we believe, Orthodox Christianity is a world class religion, then let’s act like it and mean it.  How else are we able to encourage and seek the lapsed, minimal Orthodox and the unchurched to join us in worshipping Christ?

I ingloriously offer these proposals for your review.  The current Ecclesiastical Administration and the feeble Archdiocesan Council are bereft of ideas and programs to rejuvenate or bring our moribund church to life.  It’s past time for His Eminence to resign so that we faithful can begin building the church anew. 

Please know that this message is submitted with love and respect for our parish priests who are the sturdy anchors of our faith.  Your comments are gratefully accepted. 

Lord Jesus, if I have offended anyone, please forgive me.

Nick Karakas / karakasn@yahoo.com

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Mr. Nicholas Karakas, a prominent businessman and philanthropist, is well respected for his many contributions to the Greek American community and for his benevolent philanthropic pursuits. He has received numerous commendations for accomplishments in business, education and community service.

Karakas helped found the chair of the Greek Professorship which bears his name at the University of Missouri, St Louis. He and professor of Byzantine Music, Diane Touliatos, secured the $550,000 to fund the Professorship Chair.  In 1988 he was awarded the presidential Gold Cross of the order of the Phoenix, the most notable commendation conferred by the Hellenic Republic, for his contributions to the cause of Hellensim and to the culture and nation of Greece.

He is a recipient of various medals and awards from the university and has also been awarded with an Honorary Doctoral Degree.

Along with his brother Tony Karakas, he is also cofounder of the Karakas Family Foundation, an organization which has awarded scholarship grants to college students in need since 1998. The foundation has awarded more than 350 scholarship grants to young students. During its first six years of operation the foundation donated money to winners of the National St. John Chrysostom Oratorical festival — sponsored by the Greek Orthodox Church. 

Karakas is responsible for the establishment of the Mathews-Dickey Endowment Fund, an organization dedicated to the service of 40,000 children in the inner-city St. Louis.  He is one of the founders of the Hellenic Spirit Foundation, comprised of a benevolent group of Greek Americans who organize various events ranging from community service to musical performances and educational programs.  For ten years, the foundation has annually honored notable Greek Americans such as John Catsimatides, Ike Pappas and Admiral Kallares, among others.

Karakas has been an avid Orthodox, having served two term as Parish Council President of St. Nicholas Parish in St. Louis, one term in the Archdiocesan Council and two terms as President of the OCL. Finally, he is one of the Orthodox faithful who established the Antioach All Saints mission church in St. Louis where he served two terms as president.   

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