Institute of Theology

Very Esteemed Hierarchs, Clergy, and Beloved Faithful

of the Archdiocese of New York and All North America

Christ is Risen!

It is with great sadness and much grief that the Faculty, students, and staff of the St. John of Damascus Institute of Theology at Balamand received the news of the repose in the Lord of His Eminence Metropolitan Philip of Thrice Blessed Memory.

Metropolitan Philip was a remarkable preacher of Christ in the New World. He was the voice of Orthodoxy in North America. He made the Good News known to all, after being a well-kept secret for many generations. Orthodoxy flourished in America because of Metropolitan Philip's tireless labor and perseverance in shepherding the faithful and in opening the way for the American people to know about the Orthodox Faith. Being well rooted in the Antiochian Heritage, His Eminence used his many talents in the service of the ministry of reconciliation. His theology was incarnational, practical, and looking at the spiritual and financial needs of every human being, not only in his Archdiocese, but also caring for all those in need, all the "poor" in this world. Pastorally, Archbishop Philip has sought to implement a dynamic form of pastoral cooperation within the one parish, and among the parishes in the Archdiocese. He wrote back in 1994 that since his consecration to the Holy Episcopate in 1966, he has been preaching this simple, but very Orthodox theology: “The Church is not the bishop alone, or the priest alone, or the laity alone. The Church is the bishop, the priests and the laity working together.” For “we are laborers together with God.” As St. Paul puts it (I Cor. 3:9). Thus the participation and cooperation among the members of the North American Archdiocese became vibrant, like a body fully alive and active, having as a goal living the life of holiness in Christ Jesus.