News & Updates : Year: 2025

• Board of Trustees Charts Transformative Future with Unanimous Votes on Strategic Plan, Growth

  Under the spiritual leadership of His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America, the Board of Trustees of Hellenic College Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology (HCHC) convened December 9 via Zoom to continue shaping a bold new chapter in the 88-year history of the institution. Facilitated by Board Vice Chairman and Protopresbyter of the Ecumenical Throne Fr. Mark Leondis (Hellenic, BA ’92; Holy Cross, MDiv ’95) and President Demetrios S. Katos, PhD (Holy Cross, MDiv ’94), the Board of Trustees meeting united hierarchs, clergy, and accomplished lay leaders in business, higher education, finance, real estate, and law—all committed to strengthening...

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• Lilly Endowment Awards Holy Cross $7.4M Grant for Parish-Based Practical Training

  Holy Cross Dean Fr. Eugen J. Pentiuc, Dr. James Skedros Author Winning Grant Proposal Hellenic College Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology (HCHC) announces today that the School of Theology has received a $7,466,083 grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to redesign its Master of Divinity program and priestly formation, ensuring that seminarians receive extensive, practical pastoral training in real parish settings. This is the largest grant that Holy Cross received in its recent history.  The five-year project, titled “Koinonia: Priestly Formation in Communion,” is being funded through Lilly Endowment’s Pathways for Tomorrow Large-Scale Collaboration Initiative. The grant awarded to...

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• Offering Gratitude to Everyone Supporting HCHC’s Mission

   This is what gratitude looks like on the Holy Hill. Please watch this brief Thanksgiving message to see HCHC come alive through the faces of our students, the dedication of our faculty, and the serene beauty of our campus overlooking Boston. Thank you to everyone who supports the mission of this school to help form the future clergy and lay leaders of our Church, our parishes, and our communities at large.

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• HCHC Board of Trustees Convenes, Charts Course for Future of the School

  Under the spiritual direction of His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, the Board of Hellenic College Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology convened on campus October 28-29. Two days of focused, productive discussions and frank dialogue about advancing the school’s mission were facilitated by Board Vice Chairman and Protopresbyter of the Ecumenical Throne Fr. Mark Leondis (Hellenic, BA ‘92, Holy Cross, MDiv ‘95) and HCHC President Demetrios S. Katos, PhD. (Holy Cross, MDiv ‘94). “We have a duty before God to provide to the Church, skilled, substantive, well-trained clergy and catechists who are...

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• Lilly Endowment Awards $1M Grant to Holy Cross to Establish Interactive Media Studio

  Dean Fr. Eugen J. Pentiuc and Dr. Tito Madrazo, Director in Religion at Lilly Endowment, Inc. Holy Cross Dean Fr. Eugen J. Pentiuc, the Author of the Winning Grant Proposal Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology has received a $1 million grant from the Lilly Endowment’s Pathways for Tomorrow initiative to establish an interactive media studio to serve as a hub for preaching, digital engagement and continuing education. The studio helps advance the mission of The Scriptorium Initiative: Preaching and Teaching the Word of God Beyond the Seminary. Holy Cross Dean Fr. Eugen J. Pentiuc authored the proposal that...

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• Former Hellenic College Dean Dr. Lily Macrakis Reposes in the Lord

  The former Dean of Hellenic College, Dr. Aglaia ‘Lily’ Macrakis fell asleep in the Lord on Sept. 17 in Boston at age 99. Dr. Macrakis served as Dean of Hellenic College from 2002 to 2011, following an academic career that began with a Radcliffe Institute Fellowship and continued at Regis College in Weston, MA, where she began as a lecturer in 1964 and rose to become Chair of the Department of History. Macrakis also founded the Greek Studies program there. “Dr. Macrakis brought to the deanship unprecedented energy and vision, leading to new programs and courses that enriched the Hellenic...

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• HCHC Alum Serves as First Campus Missionary for OCF

  Said Alexandros Pandazas (MDiv '23), "The point of a missionary is to build up the campus ministry but it's also to build discipleship by experiencing a model of faith. I experienced my model of faith at Holy Cross. I'm constantly referring to my notes and classwork. That's when I realized that all my classes helped prepare me for my work with OCF."

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• Dr. James Skedros Named Director of Continuing Education Program

  Dr. James C. Skedros has been appointed Director of the newly created Continuing Education Program (CEP) at Hellenic College Holy Cross beginning Sept. 1. Dr. Skedros, The Michael G. and Anastasia Cantonis Professor of Byzantine Studies, has served Holy Cross for almost thirty years in various capacities including interim president of Hellenic College and academic dean of Holy Cross. As Director of CEP, he will report to Fr. Eugen J. Pentiuc, Dean of Holy Cross, and Dr. Nicholas Ganson, Dean of Hellenic College.  The Continuing Education Program, suggestively coined Catechism, will serve primarily the learning and ministry needs of individuals...

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• Biennial Seminar to Asia Minor Concludes

  Eight students recently completed the biennial Asia Minor Travel Seminar, an immersive four-week academic program exploring Hellenic heritage in Asia Minor and the Pontos region, including the Black Sea coast. Funded by HCHC’s New York Life Insurance Company Center for the Study of Hellenism in partnership with the Dean C. Zoë S. Pappas Interdisciplinary Center for Hellenic Studies at Stockton University, the seminar was led by HCHC alumnus Professor Tom Papademetriou, Ph.D. of Stockton University. The seminar included students from Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, Stockton University, University of Toronto, UC Berkeley, Fordham University, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki,...

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• Bishop Joachim of Amissos Lectures at Dumbarton Oaks

  On July 18, 2025, His Grace Bishop Joachim (Cotsonis) of Amissos, PhD,  presented a lecture on the iconography of Byzantine lead seals for the group of international graduate  students enrolled in the 2025 Byzantine Coins and Seals Summer Program at Harvard University’s  Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection in Washington, DC. His Grace is the Director of HCHC’s  Archbishop Iakovos Library and Learning Resource Center and an internationally recognized authority on  the iconography of lead seals, of which the Dumbarton Oaks 17,000-specimen collection is the largest and  most comprehensive in the world.  The presentation covered topics including the images found...

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