Iakovos Koukouzis

Iakovos Koukouzis was born on July 29, 1911, in the village of Agios Theodoros on the island of Imbros, which was then part of the Ottoman Empire. He enrolled at age 15 in the Ecumenical Patriarchal Theological School of Halki, where he graduated with high honors. He was ordained a deacon in 1934, taking the ecclesiastical name Iakovos. He served as Archdeacon to Archbishop Athenagoras, the Primate of North and South America, who later became Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. He was ordained a priest in 1940 and served in various parishes and theological schools in the United States. He also earned a Master of Sacred Theology Degree from Harvard University in 1945. In 1954, he was ordained Bishop of Miletus by his mentor, Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras, and served as his personal representative to the World Council of Churches in Geneva. In 1959, he was elected as successor to Archbishop Michael as primate of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. He was enthroned on April 1, 1959, at Holy Trinity Cathedral in New York City, assuming responsibility for over 500 parishes in the United States. He also served as Exarch of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople and president of the board of education of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America. He was the founder and chairman of the Standing Conference of the Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA), the first pan-Orthodox organization in the Western Hemisphere. He was also the chairman of the Orthodox-Roman Catholic Consultation in the U.S., and of the Bishops' Committee for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs. He was an honorary member of the Advisory Council on Religious Rights in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, and of the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. He was a pioneer of the ecumenical movement and a champion of civil and human rights. He was the first Greek Orthodox archbishop to meet with a Catholic pope in 350 years, when he met Pope John XXIII in 1959. He also met with Pope John Paul II several times and established dialogues with other Christian denominations and faiths. He was a friend and supporter of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and joined him in the historic march in Selma, Alabama, in 1965, for which he appeared on the cover of Life magazine. He vigorously supported the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights legislation and spoke out against the violation of human rights and religious freedom in various parts of the world. He opposed the war in Vietnam and advocated for peace and justice in the Middle East. He initiated a massive campaign to assist Greek Cypriot refugees following the invasion of Cyprus by Turkish armed forces in 1974. He was a friend to nine U.S. presidents and many religious and political leaders worldwide. He was the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including honorary degrees from some 40 colleges and universities. He was cited in 1979 by both Houses of Congress and paid official tribute in the Congressional Record. He was the recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, bestowed by President Jimmy Carter in 1980. He was also awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in 1986 and was cited by the Academy of Athens, the National Conference of Christians and Jews and the Appeal of Conscience, among others. He retired at the age of 85 on July 29, 1996, after 37 years of service as archbishop. He died on April 10, 2005, at Stamford Hospital, Connecticut, from a pulmonary ailment. He was buried on April 15 in the grounds of the Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Brookline, Massachusetts. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential and visionary leaders of the Orthodox Church in the 20th century.