NAMES IN THE NEWS : Orthodox Patriarch Visits U.S.
Dimitrios I, spiritual leader of 250 million Orthodox Christians, arrived here today to attend a service in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church’s oldest American parish.
A crowd stood three deep on the sidewalk outside St. Mary’s Ukrainian Orthodox Church to greet Dimitrios, the first Orthodox patriarch to come to the United States, home of 6 million Eastern Orthodox Christians.
Dimitrios, 75, waved to the crowd as he walked slowly up the steps to the church, which was built in 1917. Young girls dressed in traditional Ukrainian and Greek clothing scattered rose petals in his path.
“We’re really excited. It’s the equivalent of the Pope showing up in Allentown,” said Tanya Miller, 18, whose great-grandparents came from the Ukraine.
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