Bishop Paul Sends Letter of Condolence to Locum Tenens of Chicago Metropolis on Repose of Metropolitan Iakovos
CHICAGO, IL [MW Diocese Communications] — In a letter addressed to His Eminence, Metropolitan Nicholas of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America’s Metropolis of Detroit, dated June 5, 2017, His Grace, Bishop Paul of Chicago and the Midwest offered condolences on the repose of His Eminence, Metropolitan Iakovos of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Chicago. His Eminence, 89, fell asleep in the Lord on Friday evening, June 2 at Chicago’s Weiss Memorial Hospital after a brief illness. Metropolitan Nicholas in turn was named Locum Tenens of the Metropolis of Chicago.
Metropolitan Iakovos served the Chicago Metropolis since May 1, 1979. A detailed In Memoriam and biography is available on the web site of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.
The text of Bishop Paul’s letter appears below.
Letter of Condolence of Bishop Paul of Chicago and the Midwest
on the Repose of Metropolitan Iakovos of Chicago
June 5, 2017
The Most Reverend Nicholas, Metropolitan and Archbishop of Detroit
Locum Tenens of the Metropolis of Chicago
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
Your Eminence,
Christ is in our midst!
On behalf of the Diocese of the Midwest of the Orthodox Church in America I extend my condolences on the repose of our newly departed brother and concelebrant in Christ, His Eminence, Metropolitan Iakovos.
Metropolitan Iakovos’ life has a special meaning to me in that, as a young altar server at Saints Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church in Detroit, it was His Eminence who tonsured me as Αναγνώστης, thus placing me on the road of ordination and eventually to my consecration to the Episcopate in 2014.
Thanks be to God for Metropolitan Iakovos’ many years of faithful service to our Orthodox Church in North America. Please be assured of my prayers for our beloved brother who he has fallen asleep. Also, please be assured of my prayers for the Metropolis of Chicago as it grieves this loss to the Church on earth in pilgrimage, while rejoicing with the saints who have fallen asleep in the hope of eternal life and resurrection in the Church of the New Jerusalem.
May the Grace of the All-Holy Spirit continue to guide and lead us to an ever-deepening relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ, Who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
In Christ’s love, the unworthy
+PAUL
Bishop of Chicago and the Midwest
Orthodox Church in America
