The first American presentation of The Lonely Path of Integrity,
a book written by journalist Justine Frangouli-Argyris, took place two days
ago in Montreal, Canada. The new book is a biographical account of Spyridon,
former Archbishop of America, with particular emphasis on his stormy three-year
ministry in America (1996-1999).
The event, organized by the Cultural Department of the local Hellenic Community,
was dedicated to the presentation of the new work of literature. The proceeds
from book sales made during the event will go to support the Community’s
Greek-language day schools “Socrates”.
In the Hellenic Community Center hall, packed with Greek Canadians, Greece's
Consul General in Montreal, Ioannis-Gavriil Papadopoulos, spoke at length
of the Archbishop’s personality. Mr. Papadopoulos who knew Spyridon since
the times he served as consul in Rome, stressed the fundamental role played
by the Archbishop in organizing the Greek-Italian community and his tireless
efforts to set up a Greek-language school in Rome. He commented that Spyridon’s
ousting from the archiepiscopal throne of America was clearly due to the fact
that the antiquated institutions of Orthodoxy are perhaps not yet ready to
bear a new generation of church leaders.
